New Wild Greens from Rio Mutum

[TW]

Hi all

These guys have been in my tank since New Years Day. I've heard it can take Wilds several months to show their full beauty, as it takes time for them to settle into life in captivity. So, I'm hopeful they'll blossom in the coming months.

They were imported from Glasser Germany by Aqua Pets @ Bondi Junction. Glasser called them Semi Royal Wild Greens and identified their collection location as Rio Mutum.

Their health is wonderful and eating has never been a problem. If they are at risk of anything - it's of knocking themselves out when they're startled .... which is often .... still scared, but getting better.

Slow movements ..... nothing sudden ..... they're still expecting predators around the corner I guess

Pictures are pretty poor, but what else is new. Some have good red spotting ..... some not as good but still beautiful in their own way ..... the pictures are having trouble picking up any of the red spots :(

When these greens want to disappear, they can make the tank seem empty by hiding themselves, almost completely, behind this piece of wood !

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/000_1387.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/000_1394.jpg

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[Robdog]

Beautiful Robyn. (insert slow hand clap emoticon)
Finally some photos of real discus!

[ILLUSN]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

stunning robyn, you should be very proud!

[m.ingram]

They are beautiful fish Robyn

[Barry N]

:D :D :D :D :D

Wow. Love them. Very envious indeed. Keep us updated on how they come along.

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Robyn,

Beautiful fish, any chance of a full tank shot? I'd like to see how your slimline backing looks now that it is in and in use.

Would love the opportunity to access something similar.

Regards,

Bob

[scott bowler]

very nice robyn love the wilds . keep the pics coming ,

[TW]

Thanks everyone, for the nice comments.

Bob, I'm holding off on the full tank shot until I've got the driftwood & a few plants sorted .... for sure I will post shots soon.

[Merrilyn]

They're breathtaking Robyn.

What a gorgeous group of fish.

Congratulations :P

[TW]

Thanks Merrilyn. Nice to hear from you. How are your wilds going?

ok, here are some more pictures - far too many I know, but oh well !


http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/000_1406.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/000_1409.jpg

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http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/000_1418.jpg


http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/000_1420.jpg

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http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/000_1422.jpg

[Hollowman]

Beautiful Robyn :wink:

[TW]

Thanks all for kind words.

It's been 6 weeks for these guys in my tank, so it's time to clutter up the forum with a few too many pictures :D

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/IMG_0001.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/IMG_0002.jpg

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[BobbyBruce]

Thanks for sharing Robyn,

They are looking very good and seem to have settled into the tank well.

Regards,

Bob

[taksan]

Awesome fish

[goodoo]

Thats gotta be better then spending heaps on a fully sick wrx or holden or porshe or something. you can only look at a beautifull car so many times. even though driving one would be nice,

[TW]

hehehe, a flashy car has no appeal to me.

A car is for getting me from A to B and as long as it is road worthy / reliable - that's all I ask of it.

I hate to jinx myself, but I have been really lucky with this batch of wilds. I wanted 6, but bought 8 so I would have an 2 extra up my sleeve, but I still have all 8. It's not even been a year yet, so I guess I should not get too cocky LOL

[goodoo]

Im trying not to do the same thing. Been keeping discus for about 7 months. There going great and just compleated the family. Well got two amazing fish in the quarintine tank i got from rod at simply in brisbane

[TW]

good luck with your discus. I don't find discus that hard really, but when disaster strikes, it can strike hard. Quarantining, as you are doing, goes along way to assist.

[Mattzilla]

I can't believe i've only just seen these.....WOW!!!

when can i come over for a look in the flesh please??

just stunning

[TW]

Anytime Matt

I don't actually live that far from you (I have some of your albino long fin BNs)

[goodoo]

Was wondering what your schedule was like . water changes . What do you do to your water and so on.

[TW]

I store, age, aerate & heat my water for at least 24 hrs prior to a wc. The only chemical I add is Prime, as I think stability is more importantant that the fluxuations likely, if I had target parameters I was trying to achieve.

My wc regime is a little out of whack with what a lot of people will suggest. Before I got into discus, my routine was 50% wc once a week. For my planted tank (adult discus) that's still what I do.

Every Wednesday night, all my tanks get 50% wc. But discus poop on white sand isn't a good look, so this tank gets a poop patrol wc on most days. This used to equate to maybe 18-25 Litres daily. But then, I added 5-6 adult peppermint BN (and they had fry, quite a few of which are now young juvies which escaped being eaten by the discus). These BN's generate a lot of poop, so by the time I remove all the poop I can see, usually somewhere between 40-60 litres will be changed on most days.

This tank has a UV steriliser, but I know there are mixed feelings in the hobby about whether or not these make much difference to fish health. Perhaps it is more peace of mind for me, but it is there. The heater is a hydor in line and the filter is EHEIM External Filter professionel III 2075. There is also a sponge filter.

[Merrilyn]

Congratulations Robyn. They are looking wonderful and your tank routine is just perfect. The daily poop patrol is ideal for keeping your water fresh. :D

[lpiasente]

I missed this post as well. Your tank looks great and your fish are ok as well. Naaaaaaaa just kidding they a just beautiful

[AHC]

Dido Robyn. Love it! :D

[Merrilyn]

Must be time for some more photos Robyn :wink:

Love the background in the tank. Dying to see how it looks after a couple of months.

[taksan]

Bloody nice fish .....

[Tommo]

Ya Dead right ,Mat & Merrilyn SENSATIONAL fish for sure !!

How about a few update pics Robyn ?

Cheers

Andrew :)

[TW]

Sorry to be slow with coughing up fresh pictures. Wifi issues on the home PC have prevented me uploading proper pics using my real camera, so these ones from my mob phone will have to do. Pretty Crappy, sorry !

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/79G_298L_Discus%20Tank/155441c2.jpg

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[Tommo]

Bloody nice pic's :)

[Merrilyn]

They look happy and healthy and just plain gorgeous :P

Love the tank.

[goodoo]

When I grow up I want wild discus.

[scott bowler]

they are looking great TW . nice work

[ivo]

They look really fantastic hopefully they will spawn for you one day.

[taksan]

Give the poor mongrels some shade !!!!

[TW]

Thanks for all the nice comments.

They normally have frogbit for shade, but I removed it while they were having a regular preventative worming treatment, which was spread over 4 weeks. I was told that frogbit hates any sort of medication & will die in protest.

I have to say though, nothing in their behaviour altered when the frogbit was removed to suggest they are stressed without it.

I would like to try some sort of lilly pad type thing that floats on the surface, but doesn't root in a substrate. Frogbit is the closest I could get to it, but any suggestions for a suitable plant (that is available in Australia) would be greatly appreciated!

[Tommo]

Or maybe get the water a little darker :)

[Dan s]

Hello Robyn,

They are looking superb!!! I bet you are so pleased with them and well worth all the trouble you went to to get them. Breeding next?

Ive used water lilies in the past and Im now using them on my current set up, Nymphea Stellata, if the light isnt to bright they send leaves to the surface just like a pond lily pad. If the light is bright they grow some nice leaves under the surface aswell. They grow from a little bulb which I put in a very shallow pot with some fertilized substrate then hide it beneath the sand.

Dan

[Robdog]

Fantastic Robyn, they look great. The only way a discus should look.

As far as shade goes, I've kept a native lily species called Nymphoides spongiosa out of NT. Reasonably small lily pad compared to other species but the stems seem to intertwine and when they reach the surface, the lillies clump and give good shade. They also produce nice little white flowers too which is a bonus. Having said all that they will need some sort of substrate eventually which you've said you're not keen on.

[vitara1]

Can anyone please identify the ferny looking plant in the photos taken 5/2/10 and 15/2/10. They are the ones in the substrate???

[TW]

Can anyone please identify the ferny looking plant in the photos taken 5/2/10 and 15/2/10. They are the ones in the substrate??? Hi, the link will tell you
http://www.google.com.au/images?q=bolbitis+heudelotii&rls=com.microsoft:en-au:IE-SearchBox&oe=&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=UnD9TPeCCIKqrAf5x4j5Bw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCYQsAQwAA&biw=1328&bih=832

[Heiko Bleher]

Hi TW, and all the other great discus keepers,

Congratulations for your nice Wilds, and your great Aquarium decor, I jusr wanted to give you a couple of advices, if you like.

1. The Discus are from the Rio Jutaí basin as you can see in my book, Bleher's Discus volume which maybe you know covers really everything about wilds (380 populations) and the Amazon.
In the Rio Mutum, for your informations, do not live any Green Discus (S. aequifasciatus), only Blue Discus (S. haraldi). Glaser does not know, and has never been there, just passes on what one tells him (or not).
2. Although you tank is very nice, I suggest you give your nice wilds some shade: by floating plants (ie Eichhornia crassipes, Pistiai stratoites, Azolla species, Utricularia sp.). They like it., Also fine white sand, as the one you have seems a little to large for them.

All the best, from a collectors,

Heiko Bleher
www.aquapress-bleher.com