Baby Discus

[Discus Tribe]

Hi guys.

First i would like to say what a great forum this is, it has helped me alot over the past few weeks.. now its time to post my first topic.

I have 11 baby 10 week old discus in a 4foot 250L tank which a bought for $10 each from a lovely aquarium here in Cairns they were abot 3-4weeks old when i bought them.

Specs:
4foot 250L tank
2x fluval 3plus internal 700L/h filters
1x plain 4foot fluro tube (white)
300w glass internal heater
"aircurtain" along back of tank
started off with just gravel and a broken barrel,
but have slowly added 8 plants over 6weeks
and a piece of slate for feeding.

Anyway i HAVEN'T got a PROBLEM theyre very heathy fish. I have a few questions instead:

1: How long should i keep 11 in the tank.. i mean how will they cope in a 4foot when they get bigger if not how many should i remove/keep in there.

2: Growth.. any tips on growth?? they seem to be growing ok however 3 are lagging behind a bit still eating well though (they all get a fair share). I feed them 4 different foods (two unknown types of pallets from discusbreeder (was given for free highly recommended) , frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms) 4-6 times a day (sometimes 2-3 a day so they scavenge a bit and help clean the tank)

3: Maintenance.. any tips? I change water 15-30% every weekend with gravel pump everytime. I have a 90L bucket filtered+heated outside for aging water I use simple tapwater conditioner + GeoLiquid for aged water.
Can tell the Discus love water changes!
Cairns water is a perfect 7.0ph with very soft water. tends to be lower ph after lots of rain also. although i can smell the chlorine which of course gets treated.

4: Cycling! i have never heard about cycling before i seen this site! Aquarium keepers/breeders tell me its 'bullshit'! and not needed if a have the right additives. My water was in my tank for only 4 days with conditioner and Geoliquid before putting my new baby discus in but seem fine! has been 6weeks since already so i guess tank is cycled. Anything i should look for? Or be worried about??

5: Temperature.. I try to keep it at around 29C but hovers between 29.0-30.5 (slowly goin up and down between that range) depending if its hotter or colder (27.5-29.0 or 30.5-31.8) but never more than 2c degree change in 24hours.. is this normal? or stressing the fish? Is the thermometer faulty or too week? Or is it because i have a digital thermometer and IM STRESSING?

6: Attitude.. Like i said earlier they all get theyre fair share of food but a few tend to be a bit aggressive toward the end of feeding time, 3 of them have they're own little "pad" (or territory) where they peck any leftovers from the gravel in that process they turn dark and chase any other discus away from thier "pad" once all the food is gone they're fine with eachother (they're also the biggest 3 and get so fat it scares me how much food they find in that gravel) they seem to associate me with food. 80% of the time they see me they get exited i can tell theyre hungry.

7: Chemicals/additves recommended?
I've thown in 2 "Indian almond leaves" in,, has not turned the water brown yet. but fish seem happier!
i also use "Geoliquid" sparingly (so expensive) it claims to add natuaral minerals which is ok with me. also does a great job at clearing water!

8: My pair of dwarf loaches..
i have bought a pair of dwarf loaches (only 2cm long) in the 4th week both were fine until after a week one turned uhh.. Retarded?
Other one is fine.. anyway he has started to swim real funny,, like how do i explain it.. like a twirly wirly kind of swim land on the gravel upside down and just lays there for a while and goes for another swim.. wierd thing is he swims absolutly fine at all levels of the tank when hes feeding. then retarded again. he seems to live ok and gets everything he needs to do done. just in hes own little way (quite funny, just hope he's comfortable)
anyone know whats wrong with him?

9: Other tank mates??
At the moment 11 discus 1 sane and 1 insane dwarf loach.
would like minimal mates with plenty of plants
would a pair of gouramis and 10 cardinals do fine?
maybe a betta floating in an isolation tank let him out now and again see how he goes?

10: Any other advice would be great!

Wow..
sorry for the big post but thats me. i've studied about discus as much as i can before posting. Im now 23 and have been maintaining at least 1 aquaruim myself since i was 7. Im just an begginer with discus but i do know the basics. Just after any advice u guys might have.
Thanks in advance!

Also i will post pics ASAP!

[Discus Tribe]

Sorry forgot one last question.

Will they turn out colourwise as:

A. a mix between the parents
B. like one or the other
C. all of the above

referring to this link http://www.jjphoto.dk/fish_archive/aquarium/symphysodon_aequifasciata.htm

The father looks like a "Leopard"
and mother a exactly like a "Red Eye Blue Diamond" red eye and all just bigger.

some of the babys look like a "Blue Alenquer" already

Thanks again . :D

[marg]

Discus Tribe,

I'm no expert, but here's what i think:

They will be O.K. in that tank for a while yet.

Growth : Feed small amounts often. Any food not eaten after 1/12 hour should be vacuumed up. I’d rather the 4-6 meals a day rather than 2-3.

Maintenance : You need to do more frequent water changes – they need clean water at all times. Good Food and good water are really essential for growth.

Cycling : I was a bit surprised when you said you put them in the tank after only 4 days - maybe the Geoliquid had something to do with it - your tank is already cycled by the sounds of it, they’ve survived in it for six weeks. Just keep on doing your usual water checks (PH, GH, KH etc).

The Temp. sounds o.k.

I wouldn’t worry about attitude unless they start to really pick on one Fish in particular – they all sound pretty normal to me.

Chemicals : Geo Liquid is pretty pricey when you are doing frequent water changes – why don’t you try Prime – one of our sponsors (APW) has it on Special at the moment - $25.00 or thereabouts for 500ml. 5ml. treats 250 litres. I swear by it since I have started using it, and i think most Members would agree with me.

I can't advise you about what Colours you will get - someone more experienced will have to answer that.

Any Photo's?

Hope this helps. Welcome to the wonderful world of Discus. I'll bet you will get as sucked in by them as the rest of us are :lol: :lol: :lol: ).

Marg.

[G-1000]

Crossing a leopard to a blue diamond is a bit tricky to determine offspring genotypes.

Blue is most often recessive to a lot of strains, but a leopard is a snakeskin based which means that you will have a number of blue snakeskins (14 bars) and then a few "throwbacks" which have 9 bars (i.e are not really snakeskin). So I would assume 50% to be blue snakeskin type, 25% to be cobalt/blue turk and the remaining 25% would likely be a blue based spotted snake.

It is a very difficult cross to predict.

G

[Dee]

a leopard is a snakeskin based

Correct me if I am wrong, but I was always under the impression that a Leopard is a 9 bar based fish. Once crossed with a 14 bar fish (snake skin) you start to get some Leopard Snakes (14 bar fish).

As for the out come from a BD and Leopard cross, could be any number of out comes ... from BD's to Striated Blues to Leopards and all inbetween. JMO

HTH

Cheers,

Dee :)

[Discus Tribe]

Thanks everyone.

I will increase water changes to 30-40% every weekend and a bucket or two a day. I have yet to see any Seachem products in Cairns but i havn't been looking too hard may have to order...

I will borrow my dads camera soon and post some pics!
i've added a few tankmates today with 50% water change:
1x 2" black ghost knife
1x "glass catfish"
11x neon tetras

my dwarf loach is still insane, anyone know whats wrong with him?

Cheers :)

[marg]

Discus Tribe:

Contact one of our Sponsors - APW - they stock Seachem, and are doing some great deals for us !!

Marg.