New Discus Tank

[shibby]

set one up at work, 215 litre tank with a bit of added filtration. planted with amazon swords, pygmy chain swords, valice, java moss and sagitaria i think its called.

to avoid aggression and attempt to get a pair there is 7 juv discus in there 2 absolutely stunning wave pigeon blood they came in as, 1 leopard. 2 ocean green and 2 red marlbourough.

also 5 sterbae corys, gold nugget plec and a few xray tetras.

im considering 2/3 40% water changes a week with 80%ro 20%tap. il get some pictures tomorow..... just a quick query for now!

whats the best diet for them? im thinking flake, prima, discus diet, novotab and novopleco, what would and in quantities be the best food for growth/colour?

 

[rabbut]

Feed then anything and everything, appart from store bough fozen discus diets, they are usualy 100% poor quality beefheart that has more anti-vitamins in than any nutrients....

If you choose to use Beefheart, make the mix yourself and ensure that only about 20% of the mix is heart. Make up the rest with veg frozen and dried foods Some research I read about it caursing fatty liver disease means I will never offer it to mine An excellent grow out food I'm told, but why risk it if there is a potential health risk is my way of looking at it

I personally use Vipakraft Discusin mostly (though a stock shortage at work has temerarily put me on the Tetra equivilant, that my fish seem less fussed for...) and Ocean Nutrition's Tropical quintette frozen food. I feed half and half across 4 daily feeds a day where possible, or two feeds of the dried diet where not

On a side note;

Watch that gold nugget pleco. I have known them latch to discus before I had a L18 gold nugget, but L81 and the L7something have also been reportedly latchers. They are Byransistrus so need protien in their diet, and a slime coat on the discus is an ideal protien sourse... TBH, I'd lift the plec now rather than waiting for it to kill a fish If you want a fancy plec, I have had suscess with L66 The Frog pleco L82 (I think, make use of Google to confirm) has also been successful for some The most common Gold Nugget plecs in the trade are L18 and during Winter, L81 crops up from time-to-time, so the chances are that your nugget is a terrorist in disguise

All the best
Rabbut

 

[beechey]

 

[shibby]

haha im working on it they keep hiding i did take some but too many lights in the fishery kept getting reflections!


il get some soon ive had a million things to do lately: orders, and today i moved alll tropical fish around to make it more themed and easier for beginers, and so i could make a discus and oddball bay of course

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Not sure what Rabbut said, as I am too lazy to read, so forgive me if I repeat information.


You want to feed your Discus a large variety of foods.

Frozen I include in my Discus diet:
Blood Worms
Brine Shrimp
Mysis Shrimp
Glass Worms
Beef Heart (some say yes to this, others say no, I say as a treat)

There are probably a few I didn't mention or don't feed that would work too but that's the bulk of what I feed mine. If you want color enhancing foods feed lots of shrimp, as they have a natural color enhancer (I can't remember the name of it though.) Another good color enhancer is spirulina.


Dried I include in my Discus diet:
Hikari Discus Red

My Discus go nuts for this stuff, but they don't really accept any other dried food. I believe they like these because they are quite big compared to smaller granules.


Now, one of the most important parts of the Discus diet that is always missed out is vegetation. Recent studies have shown that a lot, sometimes most of a Discus diet is actually vegetation.

I like to feed mine cooked, and de-shelled green peas as they pretty readily accept these. I also will occasionally puree Garlic, adding into some water to let soak, and then adding blood worms and letting the combination soak in the water for a while. You can also try lettuce too, as some people have had luck with this, but I never have.


As long as you are feeding the fish 3-4 times a day, a mixture of the above foods (excluding the beef heart, and Peas should be fed at least twice a week) the fish won't be stunted. What you will find though, is that this strict feeding regime may go to waste if you are not doing enough water changes. Weekly may not cut if. I would recommend splitting it up to minimum of 20% twice weekly. If you can do 20% every other day, this would be better.

Best of luck,

DL

 

[beechey]

Blood Worms
Brine Shrimp
Mysis Shrimp
Glass Worms

ive never tried any of these,,

mine wont eat lettuce either, will eat pea`s and cumbumber, and prawns,

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Blood Worms
Brine Shrimp
Mysis Shrimp
Glass Worms

ive never tried any of these,,

mine wont eat lettuce either, will eat pea`s and cumbumber, and prawns,

You have never tried blood worms or brine shrimp!? That's a pretty common food that most people have on their Discus menu.

 

[beechey]

im goin to th efish shop today ill try and get some

 

[beechey]

got some brime shrimp today little white wiggle things with black eyes lol fish ate them but there 99p for a bag lol bit much for what they are aint it..

 

[joecoral]

Beechey, if you buy the frozen stuff you generally get better value for money (and more) than live

 

[jpjagged]

i use frozen bs with spirolina
frozen bloodworms
frozen mysis shrimp
tetra bits
and flake

all the frozen food i buy in 16 oz flat packs and that is much more cost effective than buying the 3.5 oz cubes...
i stay away from beefheart as it fouls the water quickly and studies have said that it may be bad for the discus

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

beefheart as it fouls the water quickly and studies have said that it may be bad for the discus

Sorry, but I am really interested in seeing this study, I know I have been looking for some legitamit ones online but can't find any. Do you mind posting a link to it?


Beef heart really shouldn't foul the water if you are doing your regular water changes.

 

[mike os]

Sorry, but I am really interested in seeing this study, I know I have been looking for some legitamit ones online but can't find any. Do you mind posting a link to it?

yup......

 

[shibby]

pics soon i promise, someone made an offer on 4 of the discus in there however so they got sold, but i managed to get in 3 stunning 4" pigeonbloods, i believe there pigeonbloods, ones got half the markings though and rest is red, i think he was listed as a red wave pigeon, anyone heard of them?

il get pics soon there a bit shy at moment, just constant feeding and waterchanges for them.




edit: quick query instead of starting new thread, what would you expect to on average pay for discus, 3" and 4" sizes, say red marlbourgh, turqs and pigeonbloods.

 

[mike os]

£20-22 max