New discus advice

[Dave76]

Hope everyone is having a great New Year so far :)

After waiting for a number of weeks for Discus to be shipped from the Eastern States due to Christmas / New Year etc I've just been informed by my LFS they will now be here tomorrow...bit quicker than I and they had anticipated unfortunately...

The dilemma I am faced with is where to put them. Here are my choices -

1. Straight into my 8x2x2 planted show tank (where they will end up eventually anyway)
2. Into an old 50gal 4ft ex marine that isn't clean as yet - still got some sand & muck all over it.
3. I've got 4 20gal 2ft tanks connected to a trickle - all empty atm - I had a nasty case of anchorworm & bacterial infection that wiped out 4 tanks worth of fish in the space of a week. I've dosed with bleach, filled and drained twice with heaps of declor etc so should be ok to fill and use.

I think the best bet would be to fill the 2ft setup as it gives greater overall volume tonight, add a bit extra Prime and go with that. I can pull some filter mat and/or bioballs from one of my other trickle filters tomorrow when the fish go in tomorrow. I'm taking the day off work so I can drip acclimatise over a few hours etc.

What does everyone else think ?

Thanks in advance

Dave

[mtchye]

Hi Dave,

I think I agree with you and the trickle setups seem to be the best option depending on the size of the tanks relative to the fish.

What discus are you getting in? Perhaps the store has a spare quarantine tank for them?

If you are from Perth Vebas recently got in a shipment from Hong Kong which includes some nice leopard snakeskins as well as interesting looking reds.

Cheers
Vincent

[africandiscus]

I'm taking the day off work so I can drip acclimatise over a few hours etc.


I dont think you need that long. Surely your LFS water parameters are similar to yours

[Trebs]

Don't go with option 1, that's just asking for trouble.

It's going to be from day 2 to the end of the first week that's going to the problem. If you follow the steps with the second option there will not be enough bacteria and you'll have ammonia and nitrite problems in the first week. If you're not ready, you're not ready. Don't go to the lfs until you are ready, the temptation of just having a look may be too much.

My advice is to get the 4ft fully clean, add some bio media and water from your show tank and run a fishless cycle. Should take about 2-3 weeks.

If you do end up taking step 2, I'd avoid feeding for the first 3-4 days and very lightly for the first 2 weeks. Test your ammo and nitrites daily.

[Dave76]

Thanks for the quick replies guys.

Trebs
Unfortunately they were special ordered in - some for me, some for a couple of other customers to get minimum order number, save on shipping etc, so the LFS doesn't want to hold them as they aren't making any money off them, just combining the order.

The water they are coming from has a ph of 7.1 - my tap water comes out about 7.8, but after being in the tank for a few hours drops to about 6.8 so I'm going to do a mix to get them about the same.

I am going to pick them up as soon as they arrive basically so they aren't going seller -> bag -> LFS -> bag -> my tank - cut out one bag trip & the LFS.

psx2doctor
I like to slow drip all fish I get over a few hours - it's the way I've always done - so far I have lost 2 rummy nose tetras out of over 400 fish doing so over the years....

mtchye
I am getting 6 7-8cm fish from queensland - not sure if I can use their name, as they aren't a sponsor of the site....

I am in Perth and may take a trip down to Vebas - I've been there once trying to track down some cichlids - they only had a couple of really unhappy football shaped turqs :(

Regards

Dave

[mtchye]

Hi Dave,

The high quality discus are in the quarantine room still. THey generally don't move them out so fast as there are regulars who will buy them and as you can see, most of the tanks there are not really suited to discus. In the Q room they have tanks of their own and mine came out really healthy.

I was just wondering what varieties of discus you were getting as its interesting to see whats around... :)

Good luck with your discus. If possible minimal feeding in your new tank would be the best way to go I reckon. Try to get as much old media as possible from your display tank into your filter.

As for drip acclimatisation, its generally a bigger problem going from water with high TDS to low TDS than vice versa. I usually temp equalise then net and place in tank. Lots of shops and wholesalers do the same and do not bother with drip system. There were some theories around about pros and cons of this but I can't really remember the address of the articles.

Good luck,

Vincent

[Trebs]

Ahhh, In that case you're kind off obliged to take them. Go with step 2, and do daily w/c's from your planted tank. Also feed lightly.

Definately avoid letting them or tubes or buckets come in contact with your display tank. If they have worms it needs to be treated in the bb q tank. If that stuff gets into the gravel of your planted tank it'll be a nightmare.

[ml29]

Dave

Has the 8x2x2 been setup for a while, and have you started planting the tank yet. If it has been established for a while I would put them in there.

Vincent

Would you know the prices that Vebas are charging for their discus. I didn't realise that they were in their quarantine room. I went there last Thursday night and was very disappointed.

Regards
Marvin

[Dave76]

Hi Marvin

I ended up with option 3 - glad I did as the Discus in my 8x2 are acting a bit funny atm - see

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=15128#15128

Heres a few pics of the fish about an hour after going in - bad reflection & lighting as I left all the tank lights off.

Regards

Dave