New Discus Owner in NJ - Pics of Tank

[gfindura]

Hello, here's a few pics of my new discus in their 55gal tank. There are 8 discus (which I just got 5 days ago), 20 congo tetras, 4 small tiger datnoids, 1 small S. jardini arowana, and 5 L-204 plecos.

I'm also putting some pics of one of the discus on the disease/medication section. On one of the discus, the left pectoral fin looks like it got beat up and might have a little fungus on it. It's yellowish in color. Anyway, please look at my pics on the disease/medication section if you have any experience with fin lesions.

[Hail2Pitt02]

Its a nice tank but you are are now officially overstocked. That arrow is going to be about 18" after year or two one and eventually get to about 30" eventually. He's going to make a snack sooner or later of the congos and tigers. I'm not sure if Congos cost as much in the UK at they do in the US but here they are about $12/piece.

Sorry...I don't want to put the tank down...its looks beautiful but you have some major issues coming your way and the first ones to suffer will be your Discus.

Can you post you Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph, KH and tank temp?

[gfindura]

Hail2Pitt02,

84 deg F, 6.0 pH. I don't have any NH2,3,4 test kits now. I do weekly 25% water changes.

I disagree with your opinion on my tank being overstocked. Anyone with any fish experience will know the arowana and the datnoids alone would eventually get too big for that tank.

Currently, the tank is not overstocked. Before I added those discus (and the datnoids), I had everything in there going with 20 3-4" Uaru a.'s. I was quickly running out of room as the Uaru's were growing very fast. Traded the Uaru's for the discus and datnoids (and a batch of 20 brass tetras which are in a separate tank).

I appreciate your input, Hail2Pitt02, however, in the present, the tank is not overstocked. I do realize, however, that all those fish will not last in that tank and that's why I have larger tanks.

It does crack me up when I talk to a kid working at a LFS and he tells me he's going to keep an aro or a S.A. redtail cat in a 30gal tank.


-Greg

[gfindura]

Yeah, I do wish I knew the water hardness in my tap water. I hear it's important with discus. However, I hear it's important in breeding Uaru's as well and I haven't had any problems there. My adults have been going nuts lately--I've got Uaru eggs coming out of my nose.


-Greg

[scott bowler]

nice looking set up well done gfindura

[Hail2Pitt02]

I think it would be worth you money to pick up a nitrate kits. Those readings should be well under 20 ppm for your discus to really thrive. The reason I said the tank is overstocked it because adult discus generally need 5 gallons each at full size minimum and 10 ideally. Keeping that in mind lets take a the aveage of that at 7.5 gallons per fish. Your tank would need to be at least 60 gallons at that rate for the discus alone, forgte about the other fish.

More power to you if you have larger tanks to move them to but your situation is far from ideal as it stands now. You will have to be a water change machine (I'm thinking at least 2-5, 50% WCs a week) to keep nitrates at an acceptable level.

Sorry to be a nag but water test readings would tell the whole story.

Definitely a nice setup though. Kudos on that. Congos are my favorite tropical fish. They go for about $15 each here so I have 0. I would love to get a 72 gallon bow and have a nice school of 20-25 congos.

[gfindura]

Oh yeah--there's no way I'd try keeping 8 adult discus in a 55gal. That'd officially be torture. At full size, I'd probably keep 1 breeding pair in a 55gal.

$15 for congo tetras? Wow, that seems steep! The LFS's around here usually have them for $5 each. Of course, I picked mine up for much less. It helps to have connections.

I will pick up the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kits soon. I am curious to see what those levels are at as well.

Thanks for the input!


-Greg

[DiscusEden]

I love the look of the tank - you've done a great job!

The guys are right about stocking levels down the track - but I've gotta say, for now it looks very impressive!

Is that the L number in the 1st photo? It's very nice! How big is it going to get? (Not having a go, just having thoughts of jealousy.)

[gfindura]

San!

Yes, it's an L-204. If you'd like, I'll take some pics of them. They get to a maximum of about 4" and should never outgrow that tank. I'm hoping to eventually get them to lay eggs. I bought 5 of them about 6 months ago at 1.5-2" long. They are now all over 2". One of them has almost 1" long filaments coming off the caudal fin (tail). Of course, that one hides the most. But, I'll try to get a decent pic.

Wish I had a real camera--I have a point and shoot Canon SD600. Not enough control of all of the parameters in order to get good tank shots. One of these days, eh?

I just ordered NH3, NO2, & NO3 test kits. Will post some levels on my post on the disease section once I get them. The one discus with the bum fin is looking better and moving the fin now.

-Greg

[DiscusEden]

Glad to hear there's some improvement!

I'd love to see some photos of the L-204 if you could!

Good luck with the tests - let us know...

[Dangerous Dave]

You may not be overstocked, but that jardini is going to be way to aggressive for the discus and will bully/shred them. It and the dats will outcompete the discus for food and will also eat the tetras.

I would remove the dats and the jardini to a separate tank.

Good luck

[gfindura]

I will try to get some good shots of the L-204's--fingers are crossed.

Just about all of those fish in that 55gal will eventually go into a bigger tank. Only the congo tetras and L-204's will stay in there.

Thanks for everyone's advice on how big this fish will get or how this one will eat the other but it is not necessary. I know all that. Anybody can look into a book or do a little internet research to find out that info.

I have kept 30"+ S. jardini and S. formosus in 300+ gallon tanks. I have kept just about everything under the sun (freshwater) in the past 25 years. I even did surgery on a very expensive S. formosus to remove curled out gill flaps--because the own did not want to hire a vet. So, please, do not give me your opinion on if you think the fish in my tank will be alright or not.

If you really want to help and you have the proper knowledge, go onto the disease and medications section and help some of the people who are really in trouble with their discus collections. Thanks.


-Dr. Greg (for those of you who did not read my intro)

[Dangerous Dave]

Congratulations Doctor. I am glad that you have kept however many fish for however long you have.

The fact of the matter is that you are keeping fish together that are not compatible and that it will most likely end up in disaster at some point.

They are however your fish and it is your money. I wish you all the very best of luck.

[gfindura]

The fact of the matter is that you are keeping fish together that are not compatible and that it will most likely end up in disaster at some point.


Correction: That is your opinion of the matter.

[DiscusEden]

Play nice boys.

[gfindura]

Sorry, sorry. You know how us boys can get, though. Especially in this day and age of differing opinions and the internet. I'm on quite a few doctor-only forums and the same stuff goes on from time to time. Boys will be boys. Sheesh!

Anyway, here's a few more pics of one of my L-204's. This is the one with the most impressive caudal fin filaments. The superior filament is about 7/8" long and the inferior one is about 1". This guy always hangs out in the back corner of the tank. I never see him on the front glass or completely on the superior surface of any driftwood. Good survival instincts, I suppose.

The top pic is taken from the side of the tank. The bottom pic is from the front of the tank.

And, sorry about the pic quality, however, I don't have a good camera... yet.

[Dangerous Dave]

I have made my point.
Good luck is all I have to add.

[gfindura]

Just got the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kits.

As for my discus tank: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10ppm nitrate. That is the high end of accepted limits for discus, correct?

Time to do a water change. I did the last one 4 days ago. Actually, I'm going to test my tap water first. I know the maximum limit for nitrates in tap water in NJ is 10ppm. If my tap water has that much nitrates in it, I have to figure out another water source, or a way to eliminate the nitrates in it. Waiting four more minutes for the test kit to be ready...

Tap water nitrates are between 0 and 5 ppm. Time for a water change. And, I think I'm going to start letting some sunlight hit the tank during the day in order to encourage algae growth. That should help control the nitrates some.

A year ago, when I moved into this house, I didn't have curtains for the windows in the room with this tank and algae grew like crazy all the time because the room is a Southern exposure. However, I have since acquired thick, light-blocking curtains and I usually keep them closed in that room to control the algae growth. I don't think it would hurt to encourage a little more algae growth as explosive vegetative growth eats up quite a few nitrates. Plus, it'll give my L-204's something to do. And, if they don't eat it, I'll get some little Labeo bicolors. They do a fantastic job on algae.


-Greg

[Robdog]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I would have thought that an S. jardini would be a Saratoga and not an Arrowana. :?

As far as your tank goes, I like it. The discus all being the same strain is a nice effect. The L's look good in there too. But that's only my opinion so take it as you will.

[gfindura]

Robdog,

Yeah, in America, we call the S. jardini an "Australian arowana" and, more specically, a pearl Australian arowana. I think they call the S. leichardi a spotten Australian aro... but you hardly see those around. They wholesale for $100 a piece at 2-3" long.

Although, I've also heard it called a "saratoga" and a "baramundi". Isn't there another fish native to Australia called a "baramundi"?

Thanks for your opinion. And, I'd like to thank everyone again who commented on my tank. While I do not need to be told that these fish will not work in this tank forever, I see how it could be helpful for the neophyte aquarium hobbyist to know that they shouldn't expect a tank like mine to last more than 6 months with this fish in it. Maybe a year, depending on how nasty the S. jardini gets--and I've taken care of some incredibly nasty ones.


-Greg

[Robdog]

Thanks to good ol Wiki I just found out the same info. The S. jardini and leichardti split from what are now the Asian arowana family about 140 million years ago when the continents shifted or something like that. I guess they are named after the locations they are found in. The Jardine and Leichardt rivers in far far far nth QLD.

Speaking of Leichardt, gotta get down to the oval to watch the Tigers smash Manly!

[gfindura]

I know this is a little off subject, but... the oval? Is that rugby? Cricket? In America, no one really says, "I've gotta get down to the oval." Just wondering what that means.

So, I figure there's a lot of Aussies on here. How's about Stuey O'Grady winning a classic this season? Or perhaps Robbie McEwen winning the green jersey again? Or Mick Rogers coming in top five GC in the tour? And what ever happened to Bradley McGee?


-Greg

[stonedavid]

Yeah both rivers are situated in cape area, there is also another species in CQ on the mckenzie river. But unsure of the scientific name for that spieces is, dont know if the call it like the other two after the river it was found in. The other rivers in CQ are the fitzroy and dawson so they cld even take after one of those names.
Pete

[gfindura]

Allan Davis got 2nd today in Milan San Remo!

[gfindura]

Anyway, just a little update. 2 of the discus died. They started to behave stressed: dark color, no eating, hovering in the corner. No signs of infection--gills looked clean. Another one was starting to behave the same way but has since snapped out of it. For the past three days, all the discus in that tank have been eating like pigs and showing the best colors I've seen yet.

Nitrates had gone up to around 30ppm--which I supposed was affecting the weaker individuals. A quick 25% WC brought it down to <10ppm.

I am removing some of the gravel in that tank as I feel there is too much--it's probably holding more organic material and not helping with nitrate level control. Trying to do everything I can think of to streamline that tank with regards to water quality without adding any supplements or chemical-based filter material (like nitra-zorb).

-Greg

[Robdog]

"Going down to the oval to kick a footy around" is just Aussie for going down to the park or football field to kick a football.
Leichardt Oval is home to the mighty Balmain Tigers (they will always be Balmain!) and they are the greatest team that ever lived.

Speaking of kicking the footy around there are a few Aussie boys playing in the NFL as punters. Ben Graham for the Jets and Darren Bennett but I think he may have retired.