Discus Post

[Ryan]

Okay. I am listenign and i will try to get into calgary to get some better sponges lethbridge doesnt have any good ones perhaps the hat does. I do not have the bubbler bar in there anymore i use a lees lime wood air stone.
What is a hydro sponge?? Where can i get one?? What do they cost?? Okay so pull out all the fish?? or can i leave my Clown loaches in there?? I dont think i said i change 95 percent daily maybe every 2 days i would change that but not in 1 day. O ic ya i used to do 95 percent with my other 4 but i thought that was too much and cut back. Doesnt papaer towel have contaminats can i use my algea scraper )magnetic) do i just squeese the sponges or can i rinse them? so do i just feed and let it sit in the tank for 5 or 10 mintues then siphon it out?? If they dont eat when should i try to feed them again the next day or that night.

[AndyL]

If you send me 18$ I'll send you a 2 GOOD sponge filters (same as the one's you'll find in blkwolfe's large tanks). Or you can find some on aquabid etc (in quantities of 8-10).

Yes remove all fish that aren't discus, it's bad enough you're getting discus from many difference sources and plopping them in without proper quarantine, you don't need to make things worse by keeping other fish of questionable source in there. As a newbie with discus - you should have nothing other than discus in the tank.

If you're using a plain paper towel (nothing printed on them etc) then they're fine to use in tank. Generally they are just paper, and anything that may leech will be massively diluted by the water as you refill.

If they're not eating what you put in the tank - then there's a problem, they should be relatively aggressive feeders. They may wait for the food to fall from the surface to 'eye level', but then the feeding should start. If it doesn't you have a bigger problem that needs to be investigated and solved. 30 minutes of the food spoiling in the tank isn't a good thing, remember that old "as much as can be consumed in 5 minutes" that's printed on just about every can of food and parroted on every website/FAQ?. Start with a pinch of flake, if they eat it then add a little bit of something more substantial (bh / blood or black worms).

That picture of the tank bottom basically covered in bloodworms says a lot about your care. I don't think I'd feed a dozen discus that much food in one sitting - that's more than mine would eat in a day (And my 6 are much bigger/fatter than yours).

Andy

[Ryan]

Okay Andy I get payed on the 17th if you send me a mailing address i will have a money order sent to you on friday.
Aww I have to remove my clown loaches thats sucks. but okay.
I tried to get off alot of the algea and stuff off of the sides and bottom using my magnetic algea scraper it seems to be working great but takes a little arm work to get that algea off.
Well they are eating but when i open my lids then rush to the back. Once the beefheart starts to fall to the bottom 2 or 3 will rush out to eat. Then one by one they all come oput to eat. It takes about 3 minutes to get them to finaly come out. I cannot seem to find to get my fish to eat flake?? They just wont take it. I have even tried to take them off everything else and just feed flake but it didnt work. Only fed flake for a week and they didnt feed so i brought back the BH. This is new stuff that walmart stuff. I am tried it but i would realy like to get my hands on some earthworm flake.
I will also slow down the feedings.
One more thing how do i train my discus to feed out of my hand. Shorthairs do i have seen it but i cannot seem to get mine to do it. I even rest my hand on the bottom of the tank with food all around it and on it but they wont come near. The angelfish and swords do but not the discus.
I thought you got rid of your discus?? I seen u selling them on AA.

[Chaloupa]

So Ryan-how are the fish now? I read this post as I keep discus, a reef tank and a FOWLR. I am interested to see where this has gone. Did they survive? Did you follow the advice that you were given? It was some really good advice...did you change what you are feeding to include a more balanced diet...did you add garlic. I am just curious as this was quite the post. I keep many colors of discus and have quite a lot of success.....but I would never consider feeding them only beef heart and bloodworms, nor would I have them with swords and guppies....I am interested...let us all know what has happened.

[Ryan]

I got accepted to college so i gave them away seeing i dont have time to take care of them. THe people they are with now are awsome. 180 gallon for the bunch. The colours are unreal with the green background. They are being kept with schools of tetras and are pairing off.

[AJ_77]

Hey Ryan, you got power?!? Tornadoes in the vicinity and golfball-sized hail!!

Yow!