New Discus arrived safely

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Cearbhaill

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Mar 22, 2003
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My 10 new discus babies arrived semi safely via Airborne Express yesterday- all alive. They came from an Aquabid vendor and were very well packed- individually bagged even.
They settled into their new home right away- and I mean settled. All 10 are huddling together almost as one- I feel so bad for them. Knowing how discus are raised this is probably the first time they've seen live plants, the first time they've seen gravel, the first time they've seen another species of fish- culture shock!

About every 20 minutes its as if a signal sounds and they all start venturing out in random directions- peeking over the plants and scoping out their new territory. Then the return signal (?) and they all gather back together.

I didn't observe much more than that as we kept the light low so their stress level didn't zoom right off the chart.
But I did peek long enough to establish that they are of decent enough conformation- fairly nice profiles. Broad little faces- as broad as a 2½" fish face can be, anyway. Nice small eyes. No glimpses of their true color (they are all 10 Blue Diamonds)- they stayed in dark mode.

These fish will be raised in my planted community tank.
I've heard the naysayers insist that juvie discus must have a dedicated tank and 3000 feedings a day. As I am interested in display fish only I won't be pushing for phenomenal growth, so they will be left to make it or not in this tank.

I figure if 80gJoe can do it so can I :cool: :cool: :cool:

Of course I've had to add some extra ghost shrimp to eat all the flotsam food I expect them to generate, and of course I'll keep the water clean. But they will sink or swim so to speak in the community tank and I think they should be happy to be here!

They'll have a great life if they just cooperate and live!!
 

125gJoe

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Jul 6, 2002
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Congrats!!

Their huddling together is normal for awhile. What is the temperature and pH of the tank? I'd like for you to get some Tetra Color Bits -- diet variety is good... While they're young they will eat Brine shrimp too; Bloodworms are also small enough..

Try not to disturb anything inside the tank for as long as you can. Weekly water change should be fine...about 1/3 to 1/4 water...

Hope things go good --- as they did for me! I was so leary that Discus would be about impossible to keep, but it's not true.. :)
 

Cearbhaill

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Mar 22, 2003
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The tank is pH 7.0, KH 3, and runs a steady 83ºF even without a heater. I set the heater at 83.5 to insure it remains steady.
High enough?

They've picked at bloodworms and brine shrimp though I wouldn't necessarily call it eating. They've also come out and begun looking around, and their colors have lightened considerably.
I read about the Color Bits thing on Simply Discus and they are on my list along with Hikari frozen bloodworms.

So far so good- I was ready for them not to survive shipping, and I was ready for a floater or two this morning but they were all fine. I am really only wanting 4-5 but got such a good deal I figured I'd get extra "just in case".

I think I might need to add a new flock of cories or extra shrimps for clean up duty. I'll do regular water changes of course but I'm already feeding the tank way more than usual and don't want to go in with a siphon before I have to. I did a really thorough cleaning the day before they got here for just that reason.

Fingers and toes crossed for a few good appetites.
 

125gJoe

2009 VMAX
Jul 6, 2002
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I would bump up the temp to 85 degrees.
That's just me, but from many suggestions and articles, .........
I do know I won't go below 84 degrees.

When you do decide on adding other fish, like the catfish, quarrantine them. Make sure they are safe.

Keep updating! Glad they are doing good! :)
 

djlen

Fish?.......What Fish?
Aug 19, 2002
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If you don't mind my asking, where did you get them? I'll always have the Discus bug. And I'm always looking.

Len
 

Cearbhaill

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Mar 22, 2003
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Aquabid
I've purchased fish (mainly goldfish) from several vendors there and have had excellent luck both with the quality of the fish and the whole shipping experience.
Just read the feedbacks and ask on species appropriate boards and someone will know who's good and more importantly who to avoid. My discus came from "WB0305".

They're eating with gusto- seems I didn't have the right brand bloodworms. Since I picked up the right ones they haven't stopped chowing down.
 

SnakeIce

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May 4, 2002
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watch how much blood worms they are getting cause they are not the easyest thing to digest.... I lost a danio cause she pigged out on them and got blocked up.... I know that is nowhere as expensive or as nice as a discus but just know that blood worms can do that to a fish
 
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