Bought Some Discus For The First Time.

[pinkdolphin_113]

GORGEOUS new fish you have there! how much did the fish cost altogether??

i hope one day i will have something like that

pink.

 

[angelmouse]

Wow some stunning discus you got yourself there, i have an albino like yours they are beautiful, mine has gone yellow though due to feeding tetra prima. Your tank looks great, a credit to you.
regards Angel

 

[poconoboss]

Who was the breeder you bought those discus from? Did you ask him how old the fish were? You're right, they do have a lot of color for juvi's.

Here is the breeder's website: [URL="http/www.discusmadness.com/"]http/www.discusmadness.com/[/URL]

I forgot to ask the ages of my specific fish, because I went back and forth with which I was going to get. It was like being a kid in a candy shop, I had my mind set on which I wanted before I got there, but changed my mind when I saw some of the colors on the juvies of other strains. But I believe they are a few months old. Three are 2-3 inches and one is about 3.5 inches.

This guy ran a tip top operation. I noticed he disinfected his hands each time he touched the water in a tank or a fish. One thing I thought was interesting was that he heated the room rather than the water in the tank. That's got to be expensive since he kept the room at 86 deg. so that the water temp would be 84 deg. He makes all his own food, and he builds custom tank backgrounds and habitats.

 

[poconoboss]

GORGEOUS new fish you have there! how much did the fish cost altogether??

The 3.5 inch Blue body Red Leopard was s $85.
The 2-3 inch Brilliant Blue was $35.
The 2-3 inch Deep Red Turquoise was $40.
The 2-3 Albino Pink White Rabbit was $69.

The adult Rams were $15.

Wow some stunning discus you got yourself there, i have an albino like yours they are beautiful, mine has gone yellow though due to feeding tetra prima. Your tank looks great, a credit to you.
regards Angel

Thank you, and thanks to all others for the compliments. I work hard on my tank, it's nice to know it shows!

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

They have a lot of color for their age as others said, hopefully no steroids!


Keep up with the water changes, and feed lots of food. Lots of shrimp and occasional spurilina mixed with the food will aid in most red, yellow and orange colors and shades in between. Other colors can not be intensified unfortunately.

 

[poconoboss]

They have a lot of color for their age as others said, hopefully no steroids!


Keep up with the water changes, and feed lots of food. Lots of shrimp and occasional spurilina mixed with the food will aid in most red, yellow and orange colors and shades in between. Other colors can not be intensified unfortunately.

No hormones or steroids. His breeders were absolutely STUNNING specimens.

Not all strains had such good color at that age, which is why I think I was enticed to get the ones I did.

I do 40% water changes twice a week. I change the water polishing pads weekly and my carbon and ammonia remover media monthly. My readings are perfect and water is crystal clear with no odor.

Ordinarilly, with all of my fish, I do supplement spirulina. The homemade beefheart mixure I bought from him, which I am now feeding to them also contains spirulina.

His ingredients are:

Ingredients: Beef heart, plankton, shrimp, White Fish, spinach, Peas, Garlic, Gel Binder, krill hydrolysate, marine fish meal, refined marine fish oil, wheat germ, Spirulina, vitamins (choline chloride, ascorbic acid including stabilized vitamin C, vitamin E supplement, niacin, thiamin mononitrate, folic acid, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, vitamin A acetate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, beta-carotene supplement, biotin), amino acids (dl-methionine, taurine, lysine), and trace elements (manganese sulfate, zinc sulfate, cobalt sulfate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, sodium selenite).

I am going back next month to get these beauties:

Apricot Rainbow:

Red Checkerboard:

Either Blue Diamond High Fin or Super Cobalt Green Hue:

Either Sunshine Gold or Yellow Face Red Melon:

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

So you are getting the fish from Discus madness?


I meant to say hormones, not steroids



Anyways, if you are getting them from Discus Madness then I must say bravo! I have been trying to get my hands on a few super cobalt hue for a while, but unfortunately they do not ship to Canada

 

[Jim Curtis]

DL, I have one of his super cobalt's and the color even after owning it for 7 months is nothing even close to those photos. Dont be sad. I ordered from him blind and wouldnt do it again. The fish were all poor quality.

 

[poconoboss]

Wow, I am surprised Jim.

All the fish I saw there looked awesome.

 

[Jim Curtis]

Well, you had the advantage of being able to pick the exact fish you got. Besides that, who knows if the fish in his showroom are the same ones he sells via his website.

Heres a picture of my "super cobalt green hue" or whatever it was called 7 months on, which according to him makes it 9 months old...
It's the fish on the far right.. Shape wise it is miles ahead of the two Marlboro reds I got from him.. but the color is nothing like the pictures of the supposed parents. Ill give it a few more months before I can say for sure it will never look like them..

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Now don't get my wrong Jim, that fish is nice, but the color is NOTHING like the color of the parents. I guess I ain't as upset after all

 

[blodhi74]

Great fish.

 

[poconoboss]

Jim, I only can hope that your fish will still develope more color when he gets older.

He did tell me that some strains do not reach their full color potential until fully mature (about 1 year) I hope this is the case with yours.

BTW, what is the name of the strain that is in your avatar, I LOVE that color!!

 

[Jim Curtis]

Thats just a blue turqoise in my avatar. How many gallons is your tank? It dosen't look very large. I dont think I would add anymore discus to it if you want them to have any chance at acheiving good growth. Discus are extremely sensitive to water quality, it wont necessarily kill them but it will without a doubt stunt their growth. When my discus where the size of yours I changed my tank to a barebottom and did 75% water changes everyday. With how much decor and gravel you have I would try to do them twice a day if you're not considering stripping down that tank, which I suggest you do if you are serious about keeping/growing out discus.

Discuslova has barebottom tanks too, and if you go to a real discus forum you will find that everyone one those sites does it as well. I just added that sand to my tank a few weeks ago and im already realizing my mistake and am preparing to remove it.

40% water changed twice a week is not going to cut it in your tank, I dont care what your water tests say. Its been shown time and time again that the only way to successfully grow out discus is with fresh water and a lot of it. You should be feeding 6-8 times a day, and a varied diet, not just beefheart.

 

[beechey]

on your 5th pic what is the the discus called the one on the far left?