DiscusKeeper403

Yup, just be careful. A lot of cooler temp. species won't last more then 6 months in a tank that hot.

Very nice. What temperature is your tank at? I am not sure if the guppies and corys will be able to handle temps Discus need for very long : /

Cycles junk and a waste of money, as is all "bacteria" products with the exception of Bio-Spira which I have heard good results on. Problem with it is, it needs to be frozen even during shipping. Is your tank new? Normally you want to do 20-30% weekly as a minimum, so you should definitley step those water changes up. If you have plants though, you can tend to get away with a little less as they will use nitrogen as food.

Glad to hear you got that all sorted out. I normally feed until you can see their bellies are slightly rounded. Remember to offer some foods that are high in protein/fat but not as a staple.

Thanks Ray. Wayne's fish are known for their high fins :drool: I can tell these guys are going to be monsters :thumbs:

Heres a few shots from today of the new tank and some of my bigger Discus during feeding. Quality isn't great, as I don't have a light on the tank yet. http://img513.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=p1010222s.jpg

Thanks. Sooner or later you're going to get some. They are cool to watch, but cost $$$$ for their meals. Ray Yes I can imagine. Whats your filtration system like? All your tanks are so clear!!

Will do. Going to snap a few pictures off tomorrow. Will include my existing stock also.

Ray, they are super nice! Makes me want some arrowana! Will need to get a bigger tank :P

Got my Blue Knight Discus today. They came very well packed, all of them triple bagged and then all of them in a bigger bag on top of that. Also had heat packs just as a precaution and were also all packed with Wayne Ng authenticity certifies. Discus arrived in excellent health, eager to get our of their bags and every one of them has great color and shape. Bob was so generous, when I asked for pictures and he wasn't able to get them for me, he told me to hold off on paying, and if I received em' and didn't think they were up to par, I could have them for free! Definitley going to pay though! :P Thought I would post my overall experience with him. He comes highly recommended from me.

As mentioned, fish become stunted, a lot of times they cannot produce a slime coat well (their immune system) thus are more susceptible to disease. There lifespan is drastically lowered by this. Mine as well invest in a bigger tank or pond and you'll save money keeping these guys for years and years rather then a few months and replacing them.

The ones at pisces are Hydrolycus Scomberoides. Not rare at all and definitely not as hardy as the Armatus. The Scomberoides have problems making it past 12". People usually lose them to unknown reasons. Read this Payara captive care guide Hey thanks for the info. Shows how much I know about this species of fish lol. I know a little more now!

Nice! There's some of those at Pisces right now!

I do water changes every 2 days 30% one and 50% the next, ect. I feed 4 times a day 8am NLS discus pellets, 12pm NLS flakes 5pm NLS discus pellets 9pm Hikari Frozen blood worms or Hikari frozen brine shrimp. They are in a 30 gallon hex right now with an XP3 filter. They will be moved to a 75 in the next 3 weeks once I get it set up for them and get the cichlids out. They are all an average of 3-4 inches. Or some breeders send them to LFS which is where some of mine came from. I love them the way they are, stunted, peppered doesnt matter to me. Yeah, some breeders will. They call then "LFS quality" :P Your feeding and water change regime sounds fine. They should grow out nice and big! Remember, no gravel in your 75g! You won't be sorry (much, much easier to clean.)

Only breeders will cull sub par fish. How often do you do water changes and feeding?

So that means that it is going to be alright? Is there any reason at all that there should be cause to worry? I really have no experience with the structural integrity of a tank. Yes, ok, most likely I am over reacting, but if I wanted to add support somehow, what is the best way to do it? Build a wood casing like most huge tanks have.

Crushed coral will increase your pH. I don't think I would use glass shards as a substrate, seems risky to me...

Fish love the stuff, and it is at warding off internal parasites too!

Yes, I have heard all about the battery operated air pumps and I understand how to set them up and how they work, but I am still concerned about loosing the bacteria in my 6 canister filters (three big tanks). The bubble filters will keep the fish safe during the power outage, but then I might loose most or all of the bacteria in my canisters. So in the long run, my fish may be affected or even killed by a mini cycle once the power is restored. Should fair much better if you put the media in filter bags and keep them in the tank. As long as the water is oxygenated I don't think they will die?

That's too bad, heard it was because of weather? I talked to one girl who had a generator. You might want to look out for a few battery powered air pumps. I have one tucked for emergencies.

It could be some sort of water flea, a term almost always used for daphnia, but also for crustacea in the genius including Cyclops, Bosmina and Diaptomus. I wouldn't rule out copepods either though, but I think it's a cyclops?

Hahah I was just going to say!

I wouldn't be so worry yet. They are still settling into your quarantine tank and most fish won't accept anything other then blood worms at the moment. What else are you going to offer? A blood worm only diet is not very good for any fish, but I would also recommend offering something other then just dry food. I feed my Discus 4 types of flake, 4 types of pellets, home made seafood mix with the main ingredients tuna,salmon and clams, blood worms, brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, glass worms, beef heart strictly once a month and also the occasional green peas. This insures that all requirements of the diet are met, something that can rarely be attained by offering one food alone. As the above said, Garlic Guard is good as a parasite preventative but also as a palatibility enhancer. Buy some frozen blood worms (if you don't have them already) and just feed until they are settled in, I wouldn't be too worried about switching them over to new foods quite yet, better to let them settle in first. Once you choose to start switching them over there are two ways to do this. The easiest way is to starve them for a week or two, and then offer new food. They should readily take anything you throw into the tank. This is the easiest method, but should only be used on healthy and ADULT discus. If the fish are still growing, starving them can set them back on growth, so this method isn't recommended, instead simply try feeding a new food in the morning when the fish are most hungry, siphon out any uneaten food and offer foods they take readily throughout the rest of the day. If they do not start taking the new food after a few weeks of this method then leaving them to get hungry for a day or two isn't a problem. I have always wanted to try a method I thought up myself but never have, I thought that maybe putting garlic guard in a food they readily take for a few weeks, and then putting it into a new food may work and trick them into taking that new food more readily. The garlic guard would act as a common taste in the food and hopefully make them take it more readily.

It can last a while but I have been told even 24hrs can have a greatly adverse impact on a bacteria colony.

One more I see commonly used. HTH (hope this/that helps/ed)