Purchasig Discus

[Karen A]

HI All

Have had my discus tank for about 4 years now and like to change the look every now again.

My biggest frustation is when perfectly healthly fish die overnight, doesnt happen all the time but maybe twice a year, and all waters everything test fine.

Does anyone now of decent discus suppliers in Southern Sydney near
Sutherland/ St George area. Its so annoying when an aquarium shop says they have goo stock and you get there and they are terrible.

[Hollowman]

Karen,
Welcome to the forum,

Fish dont just die for no reason, maybe you are missing something, could be something small, post up all your water parameters and we can make a few comments, tell us everything about how you keep your fish.

H :)

[swampy1972]

St George aquariums, Rockdale. Slippery Little Suckers and B and C aquariums in South East Sydney. If you're willing to travel though, have a look at Sydney Discus World, Homebush and JC aquariums, Carlingford.
I travel from Wollongong to the last two, never been disappointed yet.
HTH.. :)

[Karen A]

Sorry for taking so long to reply, I have been away, water is as follows:

Tank size is 7 x 2 x 1.5, planted with gravel after reading this forum thinking of changing to silica sand.


temp 30
pH 5.8
kH 0 oH
gH 60 oH
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5

I change the water twice per week:
35 % of water once a week
20% a fews days later, I occasionaly miss this one if I am away

I use seachem products prime and stability. I usually use a blackwater extract also.

[Karen A]

have uv light also and two aquaone filters which will up grade when money permits to eheim

[Old Dave]

Karen,

Are your fish looking perfectly healthy before dying?

Have you tried checking parameters before & after your re-arrangements?
You could be missing sudden changes, especially ammonia??

Do you follow a worming routine?
Varied diet?
Do you feed live foods?

JMS at Carlingford is my personal LFS :wink:
Ring to see when new stock comes out of quarantine.

Quarantine all new fish & treat new plants as if carrying diseases.

jmo, hth,

Old Dave

[Karen A]

Hi dave

Ive only changed the look twice in 4 years so I dont think that is connect and fish dont die when i change things around.

I do worm the fish every 3 months, I dont feed live foods been there done that and it kills to many fish

I feed beef heart in the early mornings, blodd worms in the after noon and HBH tropical flakes early evening.

Have you been to Aquapets at Bondi? they are supposed to be good, I have purchases fish of hurstville aquariums and had no problems also.

[spawn]

hello and welcome here...

[Old Dave]

Hi dave

I feed beef heart in the early mornings, blood worms in the after noon and HBH tropical flakes early evening.

Have you been to Aquapets at Bondi? they are supposed to be good, I have purchases fish of hurstville aquariums and had no problems also.

"My biggest frustation is when perfectly healthly fish die overnight, doesnt happen all the time but maybe twice a year"

Sounds like you are way ahead of me in understanding your discus.

I have been to Hurstville once or twice before taking on discus, but parking was insane.
Haven't quite got to Bondi either, but I think TW picked up some of here excellent fish out that way. :wink:

I find Mal's FD Blackworms are good for soaking in medications like watered down prazi so if they get them as a treat it is helpful when you need them to eat..

Have you posted any fish or tank pics?

I had one lovely spotted discus suddenly crash into the back wall of the tank for absolutely no reason. Went spiralling down into the plants and expired overnight.
Sometimes things just happen that are out of our control.

Old Dave

[Karen A]

am aiming to post some pics tonight

[Karen A]

The are moving shop at the moment to

110 Queens Rd
Hurstville

which is near the library,

Yes HUrstville is a pain for parking but once you know the good spots park, Forest RD is great, its like being in another country and the shop keepers are great, I love all the cooking smells.

[Karen A]

hi pics are up, not the best photos but a start.

Cheers
Karen

[spawn]

where's the picture?

[Karen A]

in my personal pics LOL

[blackwater spa]

The only concern I have is that your water's pH is on the low side, with quite low water hardness as well, meaning that there could very well be a high danger of acid crash due to there being very little buffering capacity. While that kind of pH is what the water is like in the discus' natural environment, my guess is that it's not what the vast majority of discus being kept in Sydney are used to. Certainly, all the reputable people in Sydney from whom I've bought discus have told me that their pH is 6.5 to 7. I wonder how you get your pH to 5.8, as the tap water coming out of my Sydney tap has a pH of 7.5. I would especially be concerned if you have ever used any pH reducing chemicals to lower your pH. If you've ever used any commercial pH reducing chemicals or buffers, consider testing the phosphate level in the water, as many commercial pH lowering agents are phosphate based, including, I am very sorry to say, Seachem's Discus Buffer. Buffers by their nature tend to stay in the aquarium water for a very long time, unless you remove large volumes of the aquarium water in every water change. By the way, how are you testing your water's pH? Does your test register pH that is lower than 5.8? If the lowest pH that your test can register is 5.8, perhaps your actual pH is even lower, but you wouldn't know about it?!?

As for discus shopping and supplies, I like to visit (in alphabetical order):

B & C AQUARIUM
Shop 2, 505 -507 Bunnerong Road
Matraville NSW 2036
Tel: 93117799
I've bought some discus from them in the past. I also saw some nice leopard snakeskins and ring leopards there this week.

CRYSTAL PALACE
50 Ramsay Rd
Five Dock
Tel: 97137571
I've bought some discus from them in the past.

FISH ROCK
280 North Rd
Eastwood
Tel: 98583377

JMS
Shop 7, 1 Coleman Ave
Carlingford
Tel: 98718868

SLIPPERY LITTLE SUCKERS
632 Anzac Pde
Kingsford
Tel: 93155288
I've bought some discus from them in the past. I also saw some extremely nice Albino Alenquers, Red Ghosts, Rafflesias, Super Sapphires and White Butterflies (which have a shiny sheen to them) there this week. Ron really impressed me by how much care he took to pack the discus safely for me to take home.

SYDNEY DISCUS WORLD
Shop 2, 26 Henley Rd
Homebush West
Tel: 87460225

TRANS AQUARIUM
121 Railway Pde
Canley Vale
Tel: 97266669
I've bought some discus from them in the past. I also found they have very cheap prices for all fish-keeping equipment and supplies.