Fish_Frenzy

Not the best pics...but here is an old friend of yours Kevin! She is easily 6"x6" and spoiled rotten! Had to keep walking away because she was right in my face as you can see...lol

My Discus lay eggs on a regular basis in regular aged Calgary tap water. I have had wrigglers numerous times, but due to the fact that they are in a community tank, the eggs/fry always become a snack. I have tried to move the bredders to their own tank a few times and they pout and refuse to eat, much less breed so I leave them in their community setting. I would rather have happy Discus. Tammy

I hope you didn't take offence from my advice as I was just trying to be helpful. We have been keeping Discus for 3 years and have learned alot through trial and error. I was just trying to give you a few short cuts. Kevin is a great resource for advice on Discus as he was the one that sold us our first group of Discus...now we are up to 26! As for how many Discus you can put in a 55 gallon tank...Geleen is pretty accurate in my opinion. A school of Cardinals looks awesome with Discus. We have a good size school (23) and I find the Discus more relaxed with the dither fish. And plenty of water changes are key to keeping Discus happy and healthy, it really is. Your fish don't look stressed any more than fish anyone would add to a new tank, a new home. Geez, I have juvies here that have stress bars and have been here for a year. I just moved them to a different tank with new tankmates and they haven't yet established their position in the pecking order yet. Tammy

Well said Kevin and they are gorgeous Discus! :drool: Great find! That being said... I have read that it isn't a good idea to keep Discus and Angels together because Angels carry a parasite that is natural for the Angels, but bad for the Discus. Angels are also more agressive at feeding time and the Discus will not get the required amount of food to sustain them. I have 5 tanks of Discus and have tried a variety of fish to compliment the Discus. I currently have: Cardinal tetras ( great dithers, add lots of color and thrive in the warmer water) German Blue Rams (colorful and occupy the lower third of the tank) Small Clown Loaches (2-3 inches or smaller as larger clowns get too rambunctious) Bristlenose Plecos (just gotta keep an eye on them as some have a tendancy to eat the Discus slime coat) Sterbai cories (they love the warmer temperature and are great clean up crews) Just take this advice with a grain of salt, what works for some may not work for others, but Discus are a more delicate species and require greater care. Lots of water changes and steady temp and ph etc are a must. Enjoy your beautiful new wet pets...they have a great personality that you will come to love. I have one Discus in particular (her name is Crush) that has stolen my heart...she is the boss and when its feeding time, she slaps her tail against the thermometer (repeatedly) to "remind" me that she is waiting... lol! Tammy

A minimum temp for Discus should be 83-84F. Do they have any hiding spots in the tank? Is the tank well cycled? Discus need an aged system. They can't handle alot of fluctuations in PH or temperature. A large tank like that probably seems huge to them and therefore they will be nervous. The more Discus that are together, the more comfortable they will be. Try to keep lighting low for a few days as they get skittish in brightly lit tanks. Young Discus should be kept in groups of 5 or more to really thrive. If you have some, adding bogwood/driftwood/mopani wood will provide them with hidey holes and is a natural occurance where they come from. (I realize yours aren't wild caught) but they really do love wood in the tank. No charcoal in the filter either. Some say it causes hole in the head...I don't know for sure but better to be safe than sorry. We just use sponges in our Discus tanks. I would wait a day or two before you start feeding them. It will achieve a few things 1)Will ensure they are hungry when you do start feeding 2)Will prevent the food from fouling the water (discus can be very picky) When you do begin feeding, feed a few small quantities a few times a day. We feed Tetra Colorbits, NLS Discus Formula, Flake, and frozen bloodworms. Wow! Did I rattle on! Sorry bout that, hope this helps you with the new additions. Tammy

I started out with 50 eggs and I counted this morning and have 44 little swimmers...not bad for first try I think. The funny thing is, the tank from which I removed the eggs has 4 different batches of fry. It looks like I have 3-6 week old, 2-3 week old and 2 or 3 fry from the same batch I am raising. This tank has been running for 2 years and just the last few months the Corys have really started to breed (spawning every nine days) 2 females, 7 males. Also in this tank are 3- 4" clown loaches, 2 albino BN plecs, 9 adult Corys, a Chinese Algae Eater, and a huge Moonlight Gourami and yet the fry find a way to survive which I think is so cool. Tammy

He is adorable! I love the pouty face!! Tammy

A few crappy pics of my baby Corys. They are about 4-5 days free swimming.

I bought a product called Kent Freshwater Pro-Clear from Big Al's back when there was a Big Al's in Calgary and it worked great. Easy directions and cleared a 50G tank in just over an hour with an Aquaclear 110 loaded with sponge and floss. I hate using chemicals unless absolutely needed. But back when I was a newbie, no clue what I was doing, same situation as you..cloudy from adding sand. I bought this and used it without any issues. Is safe for all freshwater fish and plants it says. Tammy

Bump for an update

If you are interested, I could sell you 2 of these guys...I am assuming they are same sex as they have never bred and get along well. Or I have a marble named stinky cause he is so miserable, you put your face to the glass and he tries to attack you. Pm me for more info---have no idea how I messed up the copy/paste thingy lol [attac hment=4672:DSC00210_edited.JPG] Tammy

Gorgeous Rays! :drool: Tammy

You might find something at a craft or hobby store...someplace like Michaels? I had a friend on the coast that used to do dried flower arrangements on driftwood(it was lighter than mopani). She bought it at Michaels. Hope this helps. Tammy

Sorry for your loss Jonah, he was a gorgeous fish! Tammy

I didn't get to go to the auction because of my back :cry: but the hubby went and brought me home a few little clown loaches, some huge Cories, a few Sterbai Cories all of which I was happy about. All have settled in and no losses so far. It's the first auction I have missed since we entered this hobby. Oh well, there is another one 6 or 7 months! Tammy

Well, the three bronze Cory babies that survived in the community tank are growing like weeds! They are already 1/2 the size of the adults in 5 weeks! About March 21, the Corys spawned again and this time I removed some of the eggs to see if I could raise them. I removed about 50-60 eggs and put them in a container with a few drops of Hydrogen Peroxide to keep the fungus away. Approx 4 days later they started to hatch and I removed some of the little guys to a small tank with an established sponge filter...should have left them alone. Out of the 12 I moved, only 4 made it and I removed them and put them back into the original container with an airstone. I then began 90% water changes, 2x a day and feeding better than brine as my cultures of microworms died...don't know why but oh well, they pig right out on the better than brine. As of today, I have 45ish babies left, and all seem to be doing really well. I love seeing their little eyes and full bellies as the scurry around the container. On a side note, my females that spawned are both Albino Corys and the males are the normal bronze/green color. Out of all the babies, only 1 is an Albino Cory...the rest are normal color. The albino really stands out against his brothers and sisters! I can't seem to get a good picture of them as I only have a phone camera right now. A question I do have... How many times a day should I be feeding them? I feed 3-4 times a day (small amounts). I do water changes after every second feeding as I only have an airstone for circulation (no filter on this container) it is just a candy tub..unorthodox, I know, but it works and has a good amount of surface. Once they grow a bit more, I will move them to a 2.5 g tank with an established sponge filter. While they are in this container I can really keep a good eye on them...and it is easier to do WC too. Tammy I was feeding tonight and I noticed 3 baby bronze cories swimming and scrounging for food just like the parents! I am really surprised they lived as this is a community tank with 3 Clown loaches, 9 Bronze & Albino Cories, a Moonlight Gourami and 2 Bristlenose plecos! Both females spawned last week and neither the clowns or the cories ate the eggs at first...had to be hundreds...then the eggs all gradually over the next few days, disappeared, so I thought they all got eaten. It was a pleasant surprise and they are soooo cute! Kinda nice something is going right...I herniated a disc this week and I am hurtin! This is the first time in days I can sit for 5 minutes to type this... :boxed:

I have only gotten as far as wrigglers and then poppa ate em. Temp was 82, used aged water...other than that, I left them alone as I wanted to see if they would raise the fry. Tammy

I have 2 pairs in a 50G and they still bicker back and forth. Start with 8ish, and once they pair up thin them to 2 pairs. They like it warmer too, about 82 is what mine are at. Hope this helps. I found they bred quicker and with less fighting if I let them pick their mate from a group. Tammy

Ooooh Shai, if you can find "purple passion" danios they are really pretty too! A metallic light blue with lavender highlights. Purple Passion Danio I had some and they are really nice fish. Tammy

I myself haven't had any luck keeping Panda Cories. I love the look of them and have tried and tried but they always go that great pond in the sky. :cry: Yet I have Sterbai, Albino, Bronze, Pepper and some that I have not yet identified and they are thriving and breeding like mad! Tammy

Hi and welcome to AA! I have to admit I giggled through most of your post (I love sarcasm!) Not laughing about the scarring your kids for life part but the way you tell the story was funny! Ummm, the Yeti isn't real??? Hehehe! Tammy

Gorgeous fish! Almost makes me want to get back in to africans! Tammy

I usually give my plecos wafers just after the lights go out so the other fish don't bother with it as much...if she is hungry enough, she will eat. Tammy

I agree with the Hatchets. A tight fitting lid is a must though. Hatchets love the warmer temps and they are an excellent schooling fish. I have Silver Hatchets and Marble Hatchets and both are wonderful. Tammy Oops...I was writing this as you posted lol!

Plecos will eat zucchini, cucumber, green beans, frozen peas...and of course they will eat algae wafers or NLS h20 stable wafers and some love shrimp pellets too. I even have a pleco that loves banana and cantaloupe (which I give to the goldfish as treats but the pleco fights for it). Hope this helps you supplement her diet. Tammy