11 month discus newbie

I started a trial of discus keeping in Feb of 2009. Initial gusto with daily almost 100% water changes in 55 gallon grow out and 3-4 time daily feeding lasted about 6 months before my case of discus "burn out". Got side tracked with my venture into saltwater as well. Here are some before and after pics of my discus. Probably about 4.5 in...i think, Not sure if a couple are stunted, but are showing good color and are healthy. Thought of giving them to LFS for credit, but am too attached to them. Now am planning a display tank in my office hopefully in the next month or so.

- Prashanth

fishorama said:

Pretty! I have only had mine since Aug but I hear you on the burnout, lol. I still change water almost everyday but only 40-50% usually

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Thanks fishorama. I wish I had some sort of automated water changes. All mine were manual ofcourse. Have flooded the room where this tank has been atleast half a dozen times in the past year! (I left when filling up the garbage can with with water, and......well forgot to go back.)

Thanks. In the future think I will try to purchase older fish/ subadults. May even be less expensive in the long run, less food, less meds..if the older fish presumably are more hardy. I had 9 juveniles originally, 3 died from various things I think. Big learning curve with these fish.

pinkertd said:

They look nice!

Older fish are definitely easier.....much less work!!

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Thanks pinkertd. Still going back and forth in my head with the office tank about committing to discus. Trying to sort out the logistics of water changes etc..not too sure how happy people will be if I flood the office!

snoopy65 said:

Your discus look nice. I got my discus back in July and still do daily water changes. For me it is therapeutic. I also am a stay at home mom so having time is not an issue. I could see how for someone who works outside the home, it would become hard to do after a while. Fortunately for me, I have had no major issues with their health except for one O2 problem. I lost one then, but the rest are doing well. I look forward to hearing more about yours.

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Thanks very much. I had a schedule down of stopping by the house for noon feeding inbetween my commute around town for work. Got late a couple of times! It seems like there are quite a few people who care for discus at AC, That's great. I have lurked here and at simply for many months learning about husbandry issues and have tried my best. I do not consider myself a hard core discus person / hard core reefer etc. Just seems like a more friendly atmosphere at AC and am happy to post here. More to come once the actual tank/stand comes in.

- PRashanth