Well I got some discus!!

[swinters66]

I am happy!! They are doing well tonight, been watching them most of the day. I had the lfs guys test my water, turns out the PH (7.8) is what their discus are in, they check while I watched.  I had bought just one...and all he did was hide. So, about an hour later, I was back at the fish place and got another one.  And lo and behold, once the second discus was floated, and dripped some water from the tank into the bag (what a process THAT was!), the first discus came right out and they started cruising around together! They were from the same tank, so I didnt have to worry about quarentining or any of that. I am going to get 2 more this week (I blew what little spare money I had on these 2) and I know people have said to not keep 2 discus, since they are social and one might start picking on the other, but so far, so good. No chasing, nipping or bullying The fish guy also gave me some of the food his discus eat (some mix he makes, vitamins added, shrinp, fish or krill or something...he rattled off a list), but he told me not to feed them until tomorrow. I also have some frozen bloodworms here, but dont know when I should try adding that.

I am wondering on why one of the discus is picking at a piece of the wood in the tank. I cant tell if he's eating it or just picking at it out of curiousity or what. Is this normal for discus? I mean if he's eating what little algae or whatever is on this wood, I dont know if that is safe or what....

I took some pics, but have to get them burned on a cd tomorrow...then I can post them.

[Obed]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

sounds like you are having fun. I am mostly into angels, but do keep a couple of tanks of discus here at the house. Your lfs guy gave you some good advice about not feeding for the first 24 hours, and I would add one more thing, do not feed live foods or frozen bloodworms etc for about a week. Stick with the flake he gave you. This is not a hard and fast rule, by any means, but I believe that the stress of shipping, bagging, netting and transitioning fish, weakens their immune system, so I take precautions and try not to do anything that can hurt them until their immune system has time to strengthen. I don't like the idea of possibly introducing any unnecessary bacteria into their tanks while their immune system is low.

[szidlon]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

Welcome to the world of Discus!  What size are your new finned children? How large is your tank?  How may do you intend to have?  Mind you I asked how may you intend to have, not how many you will end up with  :wink: .

My Discus will pick at the driftwood.  Not sure if it's curiosity, as they are curious fish, or if they are nibbling on algae.  

When you get ready, there are several sites that have excellent recipes for making your own beefheart.  It's not hard to do and gives you the comfort of knowing exactly what is in what they're being fed.  Not to mention it's much more cost effective.

[swinters66]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

This food he gave me is frozen. They make it at their shop. I watched them feed a few different fish in different tanks, and boy....they were going crazy!! Even the discus. Mine.....didnt touch the small piece I put in there this morning....so I had to scoop it out, I didnt want to leave it in the tank all day...one of my corys went right past it...so I dont know if he didnt think it was food, or just didnt like it.  I had to give my rasboras some crushed flakes, and that was eaten, but the discus? Nope...they just hung lazily in the water....looking around....so....I dont know. Are they still settling in maybe? They sure arent acting stressed out.  I am still concerned about that one that was picking at the wood.

The lfs has had these discus for a few months...I know this since every time we've gone in there in the past few months...I went straight for those discus tanks and watched them....wanting them haha.

[swinters66]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

szidlon!! We posted at the same moment haha.....

They are about 3 inches....roughly. I'm bad at eyeballing size. But I would like 4 total. Its a 40 gallon. The tank itself has been up for a week, so when do you think I should do a water change? It will be a small one, but i'd like to try and keep the gravel as clean as I can...with the corys help of course...but I dont want waste or uneaten food just sitting there, but I also dont want to stress out the discus with too many water changes....I sure got enough filtration though!

[szidlon]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

Discus like very, very clean water.  Most of mine are still young and need very frequent water changes.  I'm out of town for a few days each week, but on the days I'm home, I do fifty percent water changes daily.  I know I should be doing it daily, but simply can't.  I do have two Eheims and one HOT Magnum running to assist in keeping it clean (105 gallon) until I'll back in town on a permanent basis and can do the water changes as recommended.  I'll probably still keep all the filters running, I like really clean water  myself.

I've found my Discus actually seem to like the water changes.

There are several folks here that are really better at giving advice and guidance on Discus than I.  I've just gotten back into them myself.  I will sit for hours and just watch them, can't even tell you what was on TV last night.  

Four sounds like a good number for a 40, when are you going to get a bigger tank for just Discus?  It's only a matter of time before you won't be able to control the addiction.

Did you get the BioSpira from Smokin'?  If not, are you sure you tank is cycled?  What flavor of Discus did you get?

Humm, seems like I'm asking more questions than giving answers.

[swinters66]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

No I wasnt able to get down to where Smokin lives...I need to email him...thanks for reminding me  :)  But yeah the tank is cycled. The first discus I put in was hiding...until I brought home #2....I love that fish! He settled in from the get-go! No hiding or skittishness...he just swam and stared at me a few times...and then the hider came out, now they swim together, check out the plants and wood. They arent gasping or hiding as much...just swimming! They didnt eat though...that is my worry...

The 2 filters I have together filter 300 gph...not bad for a 40!

Now the rasboras..when they ate some flake food, they were darting all over...do you think maybe the discus were unnerved by that and maybe thats why they didnt want to eat? I know they are calm fish.

I am not sure which kind of discus I have. #1 is blue with some red on his fins and his body has the squiggle marks. #2 is gorgeous...orange and yellow...like he's on fire haha. Solid colors. Hopefully Ill get the pictures uploaded today and I can put them in my gallery.

[wvgdiscus]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

If they dont eat with in 48 hours which is a stretch. Raise the temp in the tank to 89 or 90 degrees. Heat will kick start their hunger. Sounds like you did get a nice pair. In a 40 gallon 4 discus will be fine. It does start with just one then before you know it you will be looking for a bigger tank & more discus. As far as WCing goes You can change as much as you can handle doing. I my tanks I change 3 75% times a week.

Walter

[swinters66]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

I'll raise the temp and check on it...thanks Walter...right now its sitting at 86. I am going to post the discus pics later this afternoon...I'd love to hear what you think of them!!

[Obed]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

If you do large enough and frequent enough water changes, a filter is not even necessary, but I am curious as to how a tank that has been set up only one week is cycled. Did you move filters from an existing tank?

[swinters66]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

Yes and we added established water from one of my husbands tanks...he over filters his tanks, and he has good water in his tanks. My hubby knows more about this kind of thing than I do.....

[Obed]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

Cool, if you moved a filter from an established tank and used water from that tank, you should have no problem. I do that all the time. In my hatchery I use exclusively sponge filters and I keep extra filters in each tank going all the time, so if I add a new tank or need to move fish into a tank that has been empty for awhile, all I need to do is move some sponges around. In fact I moved two bunches of silver pearscale angels into two 75's that way this morning. It works every time. Have fun, I love to see people enjoying this hobby.

[swinters66]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

Now I know why my husband wont let me get rid of aquarium stuff!! We have gravel, decorations, filters and parts...ALL over the house! He keeps telling me "See? I told you not to get rid of all this stuff!" And its a good thing he has wet/dry filters going on his tanks PLUS the filters he has hanging in the back of all his tanks. He is a firm believer in overfiltration!

I guess you do learn as you go in this hobby!! Thanks for all you guys' advice! I added some pics to my gallery...fish are HARD to photograph! most of the discus shots were totally blurry!

[Smokin_Cache]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

Congratulations!! I am sure your fish will start eating. Mine are pigs.

[swinters66]

Re: Well I got some discus!!

Yeah I hope they eat too...may I ask what you feed your discus? I've seen frozen beefheart, and all the reading Ive done online about discus (must have hit 60 different sites in 2 days!), they like a varied diet, and Ive found lots of homemade beefheart recipes. Once article I read, some discus breeder also feeds a frozen food called Emerald Entree...and I actually have that and a few more frozen bloodworms (the SA loves the b-worms, which is why we have that here already). Would discus eat the emerald? I do eventually want them on a varied diet, if it means they will be healthier. Actually I'd like them to eat anything at this point!! I'm trying to be patient, and I know they are still settling in....