Finally, I have taken the plunge!

[Wendy]

After many months of reading I have finally decided the time is right, the tank is ready and I found some locally bred juveniles that are in excellent shape....lets hope I can keep them that way! So far all is good, I bought them home yesterday afternoon and they settled in very well. By this morning I was able to take these pictures....they don't seem timid at all. I even took a couple with a flash and they didn't seem to mind. They are brilliant blue turquoise according to the breeder and they are just lovely!!! according to me!!

[Merrilyn]

Congratulations on taking the plunge Wendy. You've chosen well. They look like a lovely, even, healthy group.

Now the fun starts, lots of food and lots of waterchanges to achieve optimal growth. :D

[Wendy]

First water change was done this morning, I plan to do 25 percent every other morning. Do you think this is enough?
Food ...apparently they are used to your beefheart receipe, so I'm about to discover the joys of "cooking" for your fish!! I have got them nibbling at NLS Grow in the meantime, I have tried a few other dry foods that I had on hand and will shop today for the ones that they are used to.

[iro11a]

Nice purchase they look healthy and will turn out nice when they grow up. 25% water change would be great for them to keep them healthy and growing well. Good luck.

Jon

[Merrilyn]

First water change was done this morning, I plan to do 25 percent every other morning. Do you think this is enough?
Food ...apparently they are used to your beefheart receipe, so I'm about to discover the joys of "cooking" for your fish!! I have got them nibbling at NLS Grow in the meantime, I have tried a few other dry foods that I had on hand and will shop today for the ones that they are used to.


Sounds ideal to me. Good luck. :D

[Discus Planetarium]

looking good wendy well done your tank looks great...keep the pics up..

[swampy1972]

Good start Wendy. I hope they give you a lot of pleasure.
I always use the recipes listed on this forum for DIY beefheart mix, and my fish always loved it. Just take the time to get all the sinu (sp?) out of the heart first - better still, get your butcher to do it. I buy mine from the local Woolies, so I have to do it myself.
Invest in a good little bench top manual meat grinder. It doesn't have to be an expensive one, but it needs at least a couple of grades of mincer to get it fine enough. I tried the electric food processor, but found that it makes it into a paste that dissolves into a cloud when it hits the water - no good!!

[Wendy]

Thankyou everybody for the encouragement, so far the fish all look great and are now eating the NLS grow with some enthusiasm.
I went on the shopping spree this afternoon and have all the ingredients for Merrilyns Mix. It will have to wait till after work tomorrow before I can make it but as they are eating the NLS now I think that will be fine. I already have a good meat mincer so it should be easy peasy!

[swampy1972]

Sounds good Wendy. Like any living thing (us included), they benefit from a varied diet so great to hear they're taking other foods as well.. :wink:

[scoob]

Hi Wendy,

Good to know they have settled in well.

Regards
Mike

[Wendy]

One week on......and they are going very well. Eating NLS Grow, NLS Discus formula, Merrilyn's beefheart mix and I occasionally chuck in some EJet Discus Granulated food....they seem to like it but I don't know how good it is. I also tried some Sera Flora Flake which they kinda poked at a bit. Oh and I tossed them some grindal worms once and they went nuts over them, it seems things that wriggle are very much appreciated.

They don't seem timid at all and todays photos are taken with an IPhone flat against the glass....they seemed to think it was something that needed investigations rather than a threat of any kind. I'm thrilled at how much time they spend "lookin right back at me!"

[Ghoti]

Great to see it all going so well for you Wendy.

Cheers,
Scott

[Wendy]

Discus babies are all still doing great....all are eating well and their colour is good. Do any of you feed grindal worms? they go absolutely nuts for them....is it ok to feed them with these more than once or twice a week???

[swampy1972]

Like any form of feeding, a varied diet is always the preferred option. It gives them the best chance at getting all they need to grow well + it minimises the chance of them getting fussy and only accepting 1 type of food.
Good to hear they're coming along well for you :wink:

[iro11a]

That is some great growth from the first photo's to the second lot. seems you are doing everything right. Congratulations wendy.

Jon

[Wendy]

All is still well with the Discus babies, sorry I haven't had time to take pics this week (xmas is busy here).

They swim to the front of the tank when they see me now.....these fish are just awesome!!!!!

[swampy1972]

Great news Wendy.. be careful, it sounds like you're close to becoming hooked :P

[aussieant32]

look great! Growth looks well too. Shows it can be done in a community aquarium, personally I am not a big fan of the BB setups, hope my new ones in my community have the same growth!

[Wendy]

Oh sorry for the confusion, they are not in a community tank they are in their own tank with one very small bristle nose in there for cleaning duties,(it will be replaced when it gets too big with another small one). There is a thin layer of white sand on the bottom of the tank as I really think the reflections on a completely bare tank can make them very timid. I also have 2 small pieces of wood in there with a plant growing on each piece of wood (java fern and bolbitus). Cleaning the tank is easy as the wood is just lifted and vacuumed under and the white sand shows up all the dirt. The only other things in the tank are two sponge filters, a heater and a small stocking of shell grit, about the size of a tennis ball or slightly smaller. I only have rainwater available to me and the shells help to stabilise the ph. I'm doing a 25% water change every other day and feeding 3 times daily, they are eating well and now look for me heading towards their tank to see whats on the menu!

[scoob]

Keep up the good work Wendy, they are growing well.

[Wendy]

Oh and by the way I'm already well and truely hooked!

[swampy1972]

Oh and by the way I'm already well and truely hooked!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Your setup sounds great for their needs and to make the maintenance as simple as possible. Your feeding and water change routine sounds good too..

[Wendy]

Today's pics of the Discus youngsters, so far they seem to be doing well. The last pic shows a mark on the fishes eye which caused me some concern, but when I went down and checked again its not on the eye at all....its just my dirty glass!

[Nev]

How old and what size are they Wendy?
Nice looking fish btw.

[Wendy]

I'm not sure of their age, I have had them 3 weeks.
Size when I bought them was 6 - 7 cms and I think they are a little bigger now.

cheers

[iro11a]

They are a really nicely shaped fish. It will be fantastic once they colour up a little more.