My discus tank - new look re-scape

[jasonG75]

I think I have decided ONCE my 2 Angels are gone I'm going to get 4 discus for my 75 Heavily planted.

 

[nc0gnet0]

One of the biggest reasons discus keepers feed tetra bits is it once was one of the first foods to contian astaxanthin, a color enhancer. It was also a pretty clean food as opposed to flakes etc. Now that almost every other food on the market contains astaxanthin, many are moving away from it, but old habits die hard.

astaxanthin is also what you want to avoid if trying to maintain yellow discus, unless you want them to turn orange. I am not going to go so far as to say tetra bits is a low end food, but it is definitaly not on the high end. I myself don't feed it as I have lost several Alfbn to bloat after consuming the pellets too quickly.

 

[discuspaul]

One of the biggest reasons discus keepers feed tetra bits is it once was one of the first foods to contian astaxanthin, a color enhancer. It was also a pretty clean food as opposed to flakes etc. Now that almost every other food on the market contains astaxanthin, many are moving away from it, but old habits die hard.

astaxanthin is also what you want to avoid if trying to maintain yellow discus, unless you want them to turn orange. I am not going to go so far as to say tetra bits is a low end food, but it is definitaly not on the high end. I myself don't feed it as I have lost several Alfbn to bloat after consuming the pellets too quickly.

Many thanks for the info.
Without knowing which, if any, specific dry foods do ensure the maintenance of the yellow color, I guess I'll just have to check on which foods have no astaxanthin.

 

[discuspaul]

I think I have decided ONCE my 2 Angels are gone I'm going to get 4 discus for my 75 Heavily planted.

When you're ready to dive into discus Jason, do yourself a favor and get 5 or 6 instead of just 4, or you may be faced with undesirable aggression issues. And please keep in mind, I'd be glad to help you get started in any way I can. Don't hesitate to PM me anytime.

 

[jasonG75]

5 or 6 instead of just 4, or you may be faced with undesirable aggression issues.

I am heavily planted and its a 75..Isnt 5-6 going to be to much eventually when they get bigger?

 

[wesleydnunder]

Nice scape, Paul. Very clean. While I'm not a fan of many of the color varieties available I do like healthy discus. Yours always look well-cared-for.

Mark

 

[discuspaul]

Nice scape, Paul. Very clean. While I'm not a fan of many of the color varieties available I do like healthy discus. Yours always look well-cared-for.

Mark

Many thanks, Mark
I work fairly hard at keeping the tank & water conditions as pristine as I can. Can be a little difficult in a planted tank, as you no doubt know.

I am heavily planted and its a 75..Isnt 5-6 going to be to much eventually when they get bigger?

Depends how heavily planted your tank is Jason.
If other types of tankmates are kept to fairly low numbers, your discus have reasonable swimming space, and you're prepared to put in the extra effort it takes to maintain an above average cleansing routine of your tank, along with good filtration & reasonably large, frequent wcs, it shouldn't be any problem, even for adult fish.

If and when you're ready to give it a go, post me a full shot of your tank, along with details of your equipment and tankmates for the discus, if any, and I'll be happy to walk you through an effective intro to discus for your circumstances. Fair enough ?
Meantime, if you haven't already, you may wish to have a read of my Beginner's Guide to Discus - a sticky in this section of the forum.

 

[tonytheboss1]

Great scape, beautiful discus (as usual) Paul!! Interesting discussion on the Tetra products. Although not presently using them, have had great success in the past with SA's & CA's. I believe the diversity in your overall diet for your guys is key to them looking so well. I haven't been at discus very long but I put together my OCD (lol) diet list to incorporate a broad spectrum. Food varies every couple a days - live blackworms, Hans frozen beef mix, San Fran Bay Frozen Bloodworms, Mysis Shrimp, Ocean Nutrition Discus Flakes, Als Austrailian freeze dried blackworms, O.S.I. Spirulina Flakes, NLS Discus Formula pellets & Dainichi Cichlid - Color FX + Vita-Chem once a week. "T"

 

[platytudes]

Do discus eat Spirulina at all? I've noticed that it works as a color neutral color enhancer.

What about turmeric? It seems to be safe to feed to fish, as evidenced by this report:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/h3423482m4663897/

And there is nothing more yellow...believe me, I take the stuff as a natural anti-inflammatory (when needed) and it makes my palm turn yellow if I leave the capsule in my hand too long

 

[discuspaul]

Great scape, beautiful discus (as usual) Paul!! Interesting discussion on the Tetra products. Although not presently using them, have had great success in the past with SA's & CA's. I believe the diversity in your overall diet for your guys is key to them looking so well. I haven't been at discus very long but I put together my OCD (lol) diet list to incorporate a broad spectrum. Food varies every couple a days - live blackworms, Hans frozen beef mix, San Fran Bay Frozen Bloodworms, Mysis Shrimp, Ocean Nutrition Discus Flakes, Als Austrailian freeze dried blackworms, O.S.I. Spirulina Flakes, NLS Discus Formula pellets & Dainichi Cichlid - Color FX + Vita-Chem once a week. "T"

Sounds like a great varied diet, Tony.

Do discus eat Spirulina at all? I've noticed that it works as a color neutral color enhancer.

What about turmeric? It seems to be safe to feed to fish, as evidenced by this report:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/h3423482m4663897/

And there is nothing more yellow...believe me, I take the stuff as a natural anti-inflammatory (when needed) and it makes my palm turn yellow if I leave the capsule in my hand too long

My discus are not crazy about spirulina, but they eat it.

As for your turmeric suggestion, Platytudes, that's very interesting - I'll have to try that.
Thanks.