My girlfriend got me an early x-mas present...

Hahaha... I took those maybe 15 minutes or so after putting him into the tank, so I wasn't expecting to have his colors truly shine through. His body, which looks white in the pictures, is actually irridescent blue from certain angles... but from dead on like that and dependent on the angle of light, it looks almost white. (that's with the light actually shining through his body as opposed to reflecting off of it... he was right up against the glass in that shot)
 
Discus are wonderful fish to keep and they will color up (IMO they are one of the most colorful cichlids out there)
as far as pricing goes..it varies considerably from source to source.

I get mine from a local breeder I get pigeon bloods for $15 ea or 4-$50he also has a strain he calls cobalt reds a cross btwn cobalt blues and red turq. tha adults when about 3-4 years old are striking but it takes awhile for them to get there.

so if varies..if you find local breeders you will get the best stock available..
I do not keep shrimp with mine..Discus like to forage any shrimp hiding will usually become discus fodder.

mine will actually turn upside down to get to food.

Hahaha... I have noticed them exploring the bottom of the tank more, and I believe they even munched on some hikari sinking algae wafers that I had in the tank earlier. I broke one up into 4 pieces for my cories, and in perhaps half an hour, it was gone. (usually the cories just sit and munch on it all day)


This last picture it definitely looks like a red turq. You can see it's colors better than the other pictures. And they are beautiful! The red turqs are one of the all time favorites with people who buy discus. I had two at one time. The blue one looks real nice too. The first picture the darker color makes me think cobalt...but we'll see as you take more pictures.

I can certainly see why people love them! They are absolutely gorgeous! :D


Gat, your pics are great.:) That's a Blue Diamond.

Hahaha... thank you. :-) When I get more than 3 minutes to take pictures, I'll set up and take some really nice ones. :-)
 
How visible are the current bottles? If she already knows there is an air line going in, just hook up your CO2 tank to the existing line, and hide the tank wherever the current bottles are. She'll never know the difference, unless of course she watches you mix your solution every so often. :-P

Haha, if it were only that easy. I have the 4 bottles in a 10g tank under my tank now, inside the stand. The little tank is filled with water and a heater to keep the mixture warm as to allow the mixture to ferment. I also made a shelf under the stand so putting a CO2 tank under it wouldn't fit. Also, you should never put a CO2 tank under a fish tank in case that 1 out of 1,000,000 chance that something happens and a gasket shoots straight up and breaks the tank...wouldn't want 70+ gallons of water everywhere. Idk, I'm old enough now to put of a real argument and its not like I can "get in trouble." Whatever, I can always use the ***** and moan technique until she goes crazy...worth a shot.:devil:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Haha, if it were only that easy. I have the 4 bottles in a 10g tank under my tank now, inside the stand. The little tank is filled with water and a heater to keep the mixture warm as to allow the mixture to ferment. I also made a shelf under the stand so putting a CO2 tank under it wouldn't fit. Also, you should never put a CO2 tank under a fish tank in case that 1 out of 1,000,000 chance that something happens and a gasket shoots straight up and breaks the tank...wouldn't want 70+ gallons of water everywhere. Idk, I'm old enough now to put of a real argument and its not like I can "get in trouble." Whatever, I can always use the ***** and moan technique until she goes crazy...worth a shot.:devil:

How would you go about storing a CO2 tank safely then? Build it a 2x4 cage and house it off to the side of the tank, perhaps in the corner of a room? Sounds like it could be dangerous if it happened to go off while you're near it...

Good luck convincing them... my parents are too effing stubborn. If I act like I'm going to do it anyway, they just insist they'll boot my *** out of the house. :angryfire:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
How would you go about storing a CO2 tank safely then? Build it a 2x4 cage and house it off to the side of the tank, perhaps in the corner of a room? Sounds like it could be dangerous if it happened to go off while you're near it...

Good luck convincing them... my parents are too effing stubborn. If I act like I'm going to do it anyway, they just insist they'll boot my *** out of the house. :angryfire:

Usually people bolt it to the side of the stand so prevent it from falling over. I'll see what I can do, but its hard since the tank is in the dining room where the computer is located...whatever, I'll deal with sugar and yeast for now.
 
I just now noticed this today on one of my discus, and realized that it was in one of the pictures I posted earlier this week. My red turquoise discus has what almost looks like 2 damaged rays in his right pectoral fin, but I can't tell for sure if that's what it is. I'll repost the image I had up which shows it, but I will aim to get a better picture of it tomorrow. (I'm stuck at work, so all I can show you is what I already have online for the time being... sorry the picture isn't very clear... he's certainly not one to hold still for the camera)

bluediamond2.jpg


Does anyone else think that its just damaged rays? Could this be a precursor to ich or another parasite? Goodness... I really really hope not......
 
He has two white spots on that pectoral fin, so just keep an eye on them. Sometimes discus get areas like that on their fins that come and go. His pectoral fin may have been damaged a bit in netting him or may be from getting harassed by a tankmate. It's nothing to worry about, just keep up with your water changes. It will heal on its own.
 
HAHHAAHAHAHAAaaaa

I was worried the first time i saw that on my Discus too.

He should be fine. If your Discus get ill you probably wont be asking questions like "is this an illness." You will be saying, "oh man my fish are gonna die."
 
If your Discus get ill you probably wont be asking questions like "is this an illness." You will be saying, "oh man my fish are gonna die."

RedScare - you know you're pretty right about that. It's not a little of anything with discus! They are either perfectly fine or have a serious issue. Never seems to be just a tad of this or that like other fish.
 
Thank you guys. :-) I was really worried that I was going to get my whole tank infected and lose all of my beautiful discus. :-\ Another question for you: (this might sound kinda lame, but here goes anyway) What method do you guys usually use for enticing your discus to eat new foods? I've tried plankton twice now (little tiny shrimp... perhaps 5-10mm total length) and the discus are showing interest by hovering towards them, but if they happen to try to eat them, they spit them out right away and leave them alone. Should I try some of that garlic stuff seachem sells? Also related to feeding... the 2 blood parrots (assuming the red one is a red blood parrot) seem to be quite the hungry hungry hippos... while the blue diamond and red turq are kinda shying away from food, even if I put food in multiple spots. I've been including some hikari aglage wafers, broken into 4-5 pieces, and they seem to be disappearing within an hour or so of putting them in the tank, but I never actually see the discus chewing on those either. Perhaps they're just "camera shy"?
 
AquariaCentral.com