Problems all ready

[Nativefish Boy]

Ok, i just purchased what the store called a "red snake skin" discus. I onlu got one and they said he would be fine. The reason i didnt get 3 is because money and they didnt have 3 i liked. They had 2 but i didnt want to have any problems with them fighting. Anyway, i got him home, floated and did the drip aclamaking thing and then let him free. He sank to the bottom and sat on some driftwood. then my big male ram ( ~~1.5" ) comes over to look at the new fish. He stares and twitches and then swims up to him, and bites at his anal fin!!! Im like WTF?? So then the discus moves and comes back to his driftwood, then the ram comes back over to him, looks again and does the same thing!! I'm watching this the whole time and im like NO!!! Anyway..his fins are still intact, which is good, and there aren't any visible wounds/cuts or anything. So then i fed my fish, and the ram ate and has yet to go looking for the discus again. So what happened? Was he hungry? or just intregied by the red and blue stripping on his fin?

Anyway, he is some other info on the tank. 55 gallon. pH-6.6 temp-80 everything else 0 getting more live plants tonight bunch of driftwood 4 rams, and 4 rummynose tetra.

 

[RedTurquoise]

LOL! That driftwood may be part of the rams territory! If no physical damage, dont worry about it! Maybe he's trying to make friends! I can take up to a couple of weeks before the discus will feel at home. Just keep an eye on him!

How big is he? Another factor may be loneliness! Discus are similar to people, some people are friendly, outgoing and need to be around other people, others are shy and like to be alone!

Good luck!

 

[Nativefish Boy]

thanks for the info. Ok..so here the new update. After that the ram kinda left him alone. The discus hid all day and then came back out later at night, before lights out. He was still dark and dis-colored, but he( or she ) was picking through the gravel.

Day-2 He's still alive!! He has a small bruse where the ram bit him but no damage. He is fully colored and swiming around with the ram! Almost like they're friends. But then the ram gets retarded and chases him.
He ate some flake food and a few frozen brine and then went about picking through the gravel. I also added some plants and a pair of twip cats.

Today--hes still alive! I'm doin good. Havent feed yet and the ram is ok with him. Gonna take some pics soon so every one can see.

P.S.--i will be getting 2 more for Christmas. *celebrate

 

[RedTurquoise]

Congrats and Im happy to hear that it is working! Nice pics btw! Is the 55 quite new? Look good!

 

[Nativefish Boy]

The 55 has been up and stable for 3 years now.

 

[Gnome]

Originally posted by RedTurquoise
Congrats and Im happy to hear that it is working! Nice pics btw! Is the 55 quite new? Look good!

which pic?
red, how big are your discus babies now?
do they form a mated pairs yet?
how long does it take?

native, how big is your discus?

 

[Nativefish Boy]

My discus is about the size of the bottom of a soda can. right now he has a fungus though. Anyway..hes doing ok. ANyway..the pics hes talking about are in the lounge section under "heres some new pics"

 

[RedTurquoise]

The biggest discus is around 4" Im guessing, the smallest around 3"! This is my first discus growout and believe that discus take quite a long time to 'grow out'! No pairs yet but I must be patient!

 

[Gnome]

Originally posted by RedTurquoise
The biggest discus is around 4" Im guessing, the smallest around 3"! This is my first discus growout and believe that discus take quite a long time to 'grow out'! No pairs yet but I must be patient!

that's nice have you sex them yet?

Red, I just visited my LFS and I saw there are 4 discus about a soda can size bottom's diameter, it was 2 pigeon red bloods(some peepers on them), 1 cobalt blue w/ orange eyes! wow (he's just recover from some diaseas I'm not sure, and a red turq, What really impress me is the cobalt blue w. orange eyes and the red turq is really nice, they costs around $35-$45, the LFS staff told me that they have been there about 1 month or so, I'm thinking about getting 3, oh my god they are so adorable, healthy, and beautiful, they told me that in another 3 weeks or so they will have another batch of discus come in this january'03. but too bad I still haven't got a place to take care of them now, red do you know how to acclimate them to my tank, since I have about 6.5ph because of that DIY CO2 and the LFS have 7.2PH, I'm thinking about getting a 30XH Gallon w/ some plants so I will going to have a DIY CO2 in that tank, hopefully I can set up a tank this week and have them cycled by january, what do you think red?

 

[RedTurquoise]

Hmmm! About a month old and 2" already? Sounds suspicious plus I do not really like the sound of the 'orange' eyes! Are they really orange or red? First thing comes to mind is growth hormones! My red turqs were around 4 months and only 1.5"! I would be a little concerned about it as it may have negative effects.
I would ask a few more questions about the source or distributor and about hormones.

However, I understand how unresistable some discus are ! I climatize all my fish using a 5G pail and an airhose! I dump the fish into the 5G pail, water and all. Then using the air line to siphon from the tank, I use a hair clip or something to control the flow into the pail. I start off slow then once the pail is around 1/2 full, I remove the clip allowing full flow. When going down in ph, I will make sure the flow is very slow, maybe even a drip. Then once the pail is full, net the fish and put into the tank. Done! I try to time the whole thing to take around at least 2 hours with discus (other fish 1 hour).

Using this method has proven to be the best!

 

[Gnome]

Thanks RED,
Growth hormones? haha red you've mistaken me, I said that they have that discus for a month or so already, it is doesn't mean that these discus are 1 month old, they could be older than that , BTW I heard that they're(discus) from singapore, is it possible that the discus is hormone injected? I hope not cause this LFS has the most complete fish collection in my city. but just in case I will ask them again this sunday and I'm going to grab that 30XH gallon tank woohoo...

 

[RedTurquoise]

Sorry Gnome! I misunderstood you then!

Discus from Singapore? Depends who you ask, depends on your answer. Some never buy discus from singapore, some do! Personnly, I would be cautious! If you do purchase, QT them at least 6 months (that does go for all discus though).

Yes, some discus breeders (and other fish) from Singapore do use growth hormones and artifical coloring! Howeverm this is not limited only to Singapore. It would not surpise me if it happens everywhere on earth! Therefore, it really depends on the source. The best thing to do is find out from the lfs what their values are about hormones/coloring! I personnally know that some stores do not buy any fish from breeders/distributors that use drugs. Some stores do not care! Here in Canada, Big Al's, Petsmart, Walmart, PJ's are some of the stores that fall under the 'do not care' catagory! It comes down to buyer! beware!

 

[Gnome]

its ok red,
btw I already asked the LFS staff and they said they NEVER buy hormon injected fish (thanks god) well that's what they said but I believe them well they're the only LFS which has complete fish selection. BTW I already grabbed that 29 gallon tank woohooo, and now I'm already have the second filter running in my 15g for cycling purposes, RED do you know how long I should put the new filter in my 15g before I remove my old cycled filter to my 29g? and remove some fish to my 29g? Thanks.