New Discus Have Arrived + Pictures

[the biffster]

i think it makes them look
sad when they show there
stress marks i remember some
i had i took them six months
before the settled in properly
an they still showed there stripes
if some one or thing went past the tank to quick

 

[Carlovel1]

its not hard to get the black bars trust me its getting them looking beautiful thats the hard part

Id really like a Blue Cobalt like Markandhisfish has

 

[markandhisfish]

i agree cobalts are indeed nice , blue diamonds are too.

to the OP . the tank you have is not suitable for discus . you want a minimum 55g with 6 discus. some clearer pics would be useful too if poss. the 1 in the 1st 2 pics looks very beat up , make sure you keep the water pristene. best advice tho would be to take them back to wherever you got them aqnd change them for something more suited .

but assuming that you will keep them , what temp are you keeping them at? whats your feeding / maintenence regime?

 

[gunman]

This is all too familiar a thread

As a newcommer to this forum and relative newcommer to fishkeeping in general I can see how disheartened one may become. You buy a tank, get some fish you like, come on here with some pics etc to show your new setup and mostly you get told off for wrong fish\wrong tank\not having cycled correctly. OK, you guys are right in what you say of course, but it must put a lot of people off. I'm not specifically talking baout this thread either, this is just something I've felt about fish forums in general for a while.

Problem is, I don't know the solution . People usually get their tank\fish then come on here for advice on how to care for it\them. By this stage it's too late. I set up my community tank all wrong before I was on here, it's still not right with the fish I have. When I set up my 2nd tank (mbuna) I read up on here and asked questions and got it about right (well, kind of ).

I almost gave up fishkeeping because of a tropical forum (not this one), the people were right in what they said but sometimes it can come accross wrong. I felt some questions were leading me down a path so I'd give a specific answer only to be told I was wrong. I know some of you guys who have been doing this a while must get fed up with us noobs and I realise you are only trying to help but I can see how off puting it can be.

Sorry, this is kind of off topic.

 

[markandhisfish]

yes it is all too common , but the problem isnt the answers from experienced fish keepers. it is ( and not being nasty but this thread is a prime example) that people rush in and buy tank then get fish without doing some simple research beforehand. then they proudly show off their "beauties" only to get offended when they are told that they are keeping fish in unsuitable conditions.

so sollution........... RESEARCH its not hard to type "discus care" or oscar , severum , whatever fish it is into google and then read a few simple paragraphs regarding the fish's BASIC requirements. or ask on a forum .

people dont get fed up wioth noobs guunman , after all we were all noobs once. thats the whole point of these forums. people are only too happy to answer questions and give help and advice .

but these questions should be asked before the fish are bought not after this is where ( for me anyway) it becomes annoying.

 

[gunman]

I agree, but it isn't what happens. What usually happens is they go along to the LFS, get sold a tank and some fish, usually as they are new to this they don't buy a hugh tank because that in the LFS would set them back a grand or more. Then they come on a forum and (as you have indicated, you find it annoying)they get what could be mistaken as hostility from experienced members.

Hand on heart, how many on here decided to keep fish, went on the internet and researched exactly what they were doing before buying a tank or fish? I'm talking about the very first tank, not your last one. Most will go with the advice from the LFS as most of us would would go by the advice from a butcher about sausages, or the advice about putting up shelves from the guy behind the local DIY centre's counter. It's what we do, we go to the specialist shop and ask them, in fish terms that's not always right! I was sold 4 tinfoil barbs, 2 clown laoches and a bala shark for a 160l tank , I was told by what I considered an expert this was grand, then got hosility from a forum for it! The guys were right but it could have been put better.

 

[mizzflick98]

Hey everyone,

We decided after reading all your comments that we should get trade the discus in. We tested all the ammonia, nitrate, pH etc.
But we decided that they were too hard of a fish to look after. So we traded them in for a fish I DEFINITELY know how to keep as I used to keep them before. Mollies, Platys and guppies.And don't anyone tell me about cycling because the fish store said we could put them in straight away and they look really happy. We're still progressing on all the plants and everything. But the discus' are where they belong and they will go to a more experienced person later on.

Thanks anyway!

P.S. I got some balloon mollies and they look great. I'll probably put a new thread with pictures about them later

 

[Carlovel1]

Hey everyone,

We decided after reading all your comments that we should get trade the discus in. We tested all the ammonia, nitrate, pH etc.
But we decided that they were too hard of a fish to look after. So we traded them in for a fish I DEFINITELYknow how to keep as I used to keep them before. Mollies, Platys and guppies.And don't anyone tell me about cycling about because the fish store said we could put them in straight away and they look really happy. We're still progressing on all the plants and everything. But the discus' are where they belong and they will go to a more experienced person later on.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

P.S. I got some balloon mollies and they look great. I'll probably put a new thread wit pictures about them later

It was for the best.

 

[walkers101]

its not an inconvenience to us its more us trying to advise on you not losing your fish etc as we all know how expensive and hard to care for they can be

 

[markandhisfish]

the fish store will tell you they are fine to go in cos they want your money. if the filter wasnt cycled before adding fish you are now in a fish-in cycle which isnt ideal. be sure to test the water regularly , and bew prepared to do daily waterchanges to keep ammonia etc down .

you deffinately made asmart choice in not keeping the discus .

 

[BethK]

the fish store will tell you they are fine to go in cos they want your money. if the filter wasnt cycled before adding fish you are now in a fish-in cycle which isnt ideal. be sure to test the water regularly , and bew prepared to do daily waterchanges to keep ammonia etc down .

you deffinately made asmart choice in not keeping the discus .

Agreed, LFS's have a habit of spinning a white lie or two; if your tank is not cycled, said fish will suffer, even if they look 'happy' to you, you can not tell if they are suffering or not.

I would invest in an API freshwater test master kit; if you can't afford that for now, conduct daily water changes.

We are not 'telling you what to do', we are trying to help you in the right direction.

 

[snowflake311]

Hey everyone,

We decided after reading all your comments that we should get trade the discus in. We tested all the ammonia, nitrate, pH etc.
But we decided that they were too hard of a fish to look after. So we traded them in for a fish I DEFINITELY know how to keep as I used to keep them before. Mollies, Platys and guppies.And don't anyone tell me about cycling because the fish store said we could put them in straight away and they look really happy. We're still progressing on all the plants and everything. But the discus' are where they belong and they will go to a more experienced person later on.

Thanks anyway!

P.S. I got some balloon mollies and they look great. I'll probably put a new thread with pictures about them later

You did the right thing. Keep your mollies for awhile have fun with all the fry. Start to save up your money and look for a bigger tank then try the discus again. Read up on discus and you will be ready for them next time I'm sure.

 

[mizzflick98]

the fish store will tell you they are fine to go in cos they want your money. if the filter wasnt cycled before adding fish you are now in a fish-in cycle which isnt ideal. be sure to test the water regularly , and bew prepared to do daily waterchanges to keep ammonia etc down .

you deffinately made asmart choice in not keeping the discus .

Agreed, LFS's have a habit of spinning a white lie or two; if your tank is not cycled, said fish will suffer, even if they look 'happy' to you, you can not tell if they are suffering or not.

I would invest in an API freshwater test master kit; if you can't afford that for now, conduct daily water changes.





We are not 'telling you what to do', we are trying to help you in the right direction.

well i have already tested the water and yes we have cycled the filter so i think we're quite right!

Hey everyone,

We decided after reading all your comments that we should get trade the discus in. We tested all the ammonia, nitrate, pH etc.
But we decided that they were too hard of a fish to look after. So we traded them in for a fish I DEFINITELY know how to keep as I used to keep them before. Mollies, Platys and guppies.And don't anyone tell me about cycling because the fish store said we could put them in straight away and they look really happy. We're still progressing on all the plants and everything. But the discus' are where they belong and they will go to a more experienced person later on.

Thanks anyway!

P.S. I got some balloon mollies and they look great. I'll probably put a new thread with pictures about them later

You did the right thing. Keep your mollies for awhile have fun with all the fry. Start to save up your money and look for a bigger tank then try the discus again. Read up on discus and you will be ready for them next time I'm sure.

Thanks, but I think I'll focus on breeding the guppies, mollies etc. Last time it almost worked but then we gave our old tank and fish to a friend.

 

[markandhisfish]

sounds fine then. good luck with your plans