The babies have arrived!

[Erk]

Here are three pics...sorry they arent the best, but I will try to get more later tonight during feeding time :D

[DiscusEden]

:D Yaaaay! :D

You must be so excited! And they look beautiful - well done!

What strains are they?

Oh, and you'll have to update your summary of what you have now - it still says no discus! :wink:

Well done Erk, they're beautiful!

[Erk]

Thanks very much DiscusEden I am very excited! I bought an RO unit just for them for the quarantine tank, and now I can work on the show tank, and get those nitrates down, while these guys settle in, but they ate bloodworms for me last night, and this morning, so Im very happy so far!! :D

Im not exactly sure what strains they are, and I figured I would get asked that question! haha....I ordered them online, and the green one was called Ocean Green, and the big red and yellow one was called Yellow Red Ribbon, and the last one, which isnt very colored yet, was called Super Red Scorpion....the place I ordered from had soooo many different kinds, it was so hard for me to decide on 3! I can post the link to the site, if someone tells me how? It seems like from reading other threads, that sometimes the link get removed?

Thanks for the reminder about the summary, I will def. get on that today :D

Thanks again, I will get more pics of them up here today also....Im just hoping for the best right now...I have read they are touchy, and I was very careful getting them acclimated yesterday, and the water parameters are very good in that tank!

[ILLUSN]

you've got good taste Erk, you'v e got 2 of my favorites ocean greens and red scorpions, Well done they will grow into STUNNING fish! My dream is to one day own a tankfull of Jack Wattley ocean greens!

[Erk]

Here are some more pics, from feeding time last night, as promised :D

Thanks

[Erk]

and some more! haha....I took a lot! sorry if some are blurry, they were a lil skittish with me and the flash from the camera!

[ILLUSN]

I WANT YOUR OCEAN GREEN!!! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

[Erk]

Hahaha!! Thanks a lot ILLUSN! You must have been replying to things as I was posting more pics! lol! Im very happy with all of them, I really had a tough time being able to decide on only 3 of them! The ocean green is def. the smallest one right now, and you cant have him! lol

But thank you very much for the compliment! I cant wait to get them big and colorful, and into the main tank, with the plants and other fishies

They came from MACs discus, if your not familiar with the site, just type that into google, and im sure you can find the site....they have tons!

[DiscusEden]

I'm after the Yellow Red Ribbon myself. You're so lucky we couldn't get them through customs! We'd have the whole tank divided up in no time!

Lovely babies, you've done very well.

Are you planning to get more?

[Erk]

The Yellow Red Ribbon is my fav right now, but its prolly cause he is the biggest, and most colorful right now, that scorpion should be very pretty too!! So it could be a toss up later on down the road.

Thanks for the compliments, Im very excited!!

I dont really plan on getting anymore anytime soon, once they finally get into the main tank, that tank will be rather overstocked, and since its my first time with discus, and plants, I hope 3 will be enough

Any suggestions on how long they should hang in the quarantine tank?

Thanks again :D

[nicholas76]

Congratulations on your purchase its always a good day when you get discus !!!!


noticed they are hovering around the bottom? are they getting a little confused due to the bare bottom situation?

[Erk]

Thanks nicholas76 it was def. a good day yesterday!!

Those pics were taken the same day they arrived, so I dunno if its a combo of things, today when I got home from work they seemed better, and were up towards the top of the water more, and I tried to feed them O.S.I. discus flakes, and at first they were picky, but they ate it, so Im happy they are at least eating :D

[nicholas76]

aaah good to hear!!


start feeding them up mate they have much to grow

[Erk]

Will do!! Only bloodworms as a treat tho....right? I tried to feed them the flakes today, so they get used to a varied diet, and I also have some Hikari discus pellets, and im gonna get some brine shrimp tonight. They ate the bloodworms up really fast last night, and this morning, so I tried the flakes when i got home from work....will try the pellets tonight. 3 feeds a day...thats about all i can really do?

Thanks :D

[nicholas76]

a variety is always good!!


i personally wont feed live worm due to disease concerns but when young stick to a quality pellet and get a good beef heart into them


saying that there is nothing wrong with live or frozen brime too!

[Erk]

Yeah, I picked up some frozen brine shrimp last nite, and they ate a good bit of that too! I can def. tell they were mostly fed flakes and bloodworms, but Im sure they will get used to all this different stuff I have in time :D I will have to pick up some beef heart, I didnt even think about it last night.....I think they like the pellets the least so far! haha

Thanks for your help :D

[Erk]

Here are three pics I took last night, after about two weeks of being in my care! haha.....sorry they arent very good pics, but they look good IMO in real life! lol

Thanks a lot

[Erk]

New Pics from last night....hopefully you can see in the pics, that the ocean green is getting bite marks on him....on his side, and on the top of his head above his eye. I have a thread going in the general discus questions about picking up another discus...so lemme know what you guys think. They all eat, and they all seem to chase eachother, but the ocean green gets most of it, and he is the only one showing any marks from it

Thanks...enjoy :D

[Erk]

more pics :D

[Erk]

more

[Erk]

last one

[ILLUSN]

Nice work Erk, the ocean gren is the smallest and so will cop it from both bigger fish, all i can suggest is maybe move him last and get another small one bout the same size, that way when they both go in the main tank they'll share the beatings.

[scott bowler]

you have some nice fish there good luck with it all

[Erk]

Thanks Scott.....Im trying my best. I picked up a silver pigeon blood last night, to be friends with the ocean green, and the ribbon, and scorpion have been moved to the big tank :D Pics to come later today!

Thanks again

[fish_r]

only just saw this post congrats on the new fish they look great :) i really like the look of the red/orange spotted one...

[Erk]

Thanks a lot Fish_r, I really like him too, but he is the biggest, and by far the meanist right now, so he got moved! I purchased him as a Yellow Red Ribbon, and he has a very lil bit of peppering on him, so Im not exactly sure what he is, but he is very neat looking! I will take some pics today of the big tank, and the lil tank :D

Thanks again

[Erk]

Here are some pics, as promised! I hope you like them

Everyone seems really shy right now, so I guess I will have to get some more pics another time...darn! lol :D

Thanks!

[Erk]

More :D

[Erk]

More :D

[Erk]

Last ones

Thanks! :D

[nicholas76]

Nice Pigeon Erk,


they all still seem to be bottom bashing though? take a midstream photo :)

[Erk]

Thanks nicholas76 he has a lil indent in his head I hope goes away if I feed him enough, but he is very nice looking.

I hope they get off the bottom soon, so I CAN take a better picture, thats just kinda where they hang, and as soon as they go up off the bottom a lil more, and I go for the camera, they try to hide, like they know whats going on! haha

I will try tomorrow

Thanks tho! :D

[Erk]

here are a few more pics of my community tank, with the discus in :D

Thanks :D

[Erk]

More :D

[ILLUSN]

that red ribbion just gets better and better nice work

[Erk]

hahaha...thanks so much ILLUSN! I am trying to feed a lil bit less in the community tank, for many reasons, and I wanna get the two other guys bigger, so I can throw them in the community tank! I have a thread I just started today about portion control, its in the discus keeping 101 section...I dont wanna starve them, but I want the lil ones to catch up, and i am gonna give the lil ones a lot of beefheart..any other suggestions?

Thanks a lot, I really like all of them, and the two of them look really good in the planted tank! :D I just hope they do ok in there, they see to swim with clamped fins a lil bit here and there :(

[Erk]

PS...dunno if you noticed, but the signature now says rena xP3! hahaha...im a freak!! :D I will have so much room in this cannister now! lol! Def. ran outta room in the xP2

Thanks :D

[Erk]

Well in between the ocean green getting bashed, and chased, and biten, I was able to take some pics.....here you go :D

[Erk]

More :D

[Erk]

More

[Erk]

More....still! :D

[Erk]

Now for some tank shots! lol :D

[Erk]

And lastly.....3 pics of my tiger lotus after it was moved to its new spot

[scott bowler]

very nice pics and tank , well done

[Erk]

Thanks a lot Scott....Im still learning, and this forum is great for that! I just hope things settle down in the tank with these guys!!

Thanks again :)

[ILLUSN]

Nice work Erk, ocean green is still holding fins high and displaying well so It's not too bad, will be happier when the PB goes in give that lotus a trim mate leaves getting way too close to the surface.

[Erk]

Ahhh thanks ILLUSN, I was hoping someone would say something that would calm me down a lil bit!! :D I will watch how things go over the next week or so, and decide when to put the pigeon in...the pigeon eats so well, but doesnt look much bigger, so I do wanna wait a lil bit yet.The ocean does hold his fins up high almost all the time, and he is about the same size as the scorpion, which he doesnt really pay much attention to, but when the ribbon gets involved, he goes flying away very fast! lol! The ribbon is one big mean fish right now! :shock:

Thanks a lot for the comment about the tiger lotus....will give it a trim tonight! :D

[Erk]

New rocky background has been added, but the pictures dont really show it off that well, but I like it :D

[Erk]

The lotus got a big trim too! :shock:

[Erk]

Here are some pics of the group.....they still pick on the ocean green, but it seems like its calming down, and hopefully I can get another week to beef up the pigeon....pics of him to come in a lil bit

[Erk]

Here are the pics of the pigeon....he seems to have much less interest in feeding, and Im thinking about de-worming him soon...will prolly have to ask questions there too! haha

Thanks

[Erk]

And the last ones :D

Thanks! :D

[ILLUSN]

tanks looking good erk, is it just the camera angle or has that ocean green gotten bigger? looks just as big as the scorpion, lotus is looking better mate, keep on top of it trim any leaves that get to 3/4 the way to the surface and it will bush up nicely

[Erk]

Thanks ILLUSN....I think its prolly the camera, I think the ocean is more the size of the scorpion in person....its just that he always seems to have his fins up and that makes him look bigger....the scorpion and ribbon still pick on him, but I think he gets to eat a lil bit, when I put food in...dunno how much tho...the ribbon is a pig! haha

thanks for the compliments on the lotus, I will stay on top of it, and I have been watching the green lotus, thats still rather small, so no problems there, but I will work on getting them grow denser and see how things go....wish I would have went the pressurized route with the co2 from the beginning...oh well I guess

Thanks again :D

[fish_r]

tanks looking great Erk and i love ur fish :)
that green algae on the back glass is a pain, i have it too in my 4ft tank, i just scrapped all mine off today using a razor blade as the magnet doesnt touch it but the blade brings it off like butter. i think it's from low phosphates from memory, i'm going to start dosing flourish phosphorus and see how it goes so i'll let u know :wink:
you could add more plants too and that will cut down on the algae a bit on a new tank setup too, something like more wisteria or a similar fast growing plant.
i used to think that cutting back on ferts would slow the algae growth but this is not true, it's getting the right balance of ferts and dosing reguley and getting around 25-30ppm of Co2 will help lots with algae too.

a simple pressurised Co2 system might not be as expensive as u think ?
i brought my reg and solenoid for about $200AU and u can make an inline Co2 reactor for about $20 - $25AU. then u just need to find some one where u live that hires Co2 bottles IE: a welding store. i pay $35 every 3 mths hire and it cost about the same to fill. mines a D-size bottle and lasted me about 9mths last time. its more stable than yeast sugar mix and a lot easier on u too.
HTH
Rob..........

[Erk]

Thanks very much fish_r :D Im very happy with my selection of fish...god knows I wish I had a bigger tank, and could get a bunch more...there are so many pretty ones out there :D

I have an acrylic tank, so scraping with just about anything is out of the question, from what I gather...Im not sure what the green algae is from...it was gone for a while, and now its back...I have high phosphates in my tank, and Im trying to deal with that, and I thought high phosphates equaled black hair algae, but maybe not...Im still learning....I havent dosed flourish phosphorus in a while, for that particular reason, but maybe Im way off base :?

I have wysteria going in there, and I propagated some of it, just to have more, and Im getting some giant hygro soon, as well as riccia (hopefully), so hopefully that will help. I really have trouble figuring out what to dose liquid fert wise, so finding nice balance is very tough for me...I have never done live plants before.

Im not very "hands-on" either, so I dunno how good I would go at the DiY stuff, but I will start to check around and see what I can find cheap and go from there....I started this tank in december, and just found out last tuesday that the girlfriend is preggo...so the finances have changed a lil bit, and thats why I wish I would have done pressurized from the start :( Def. does sound like the way to go....the red sea pressurized system is about $140 US here, and I think I would have to deal with the co2 bottles then, but Im sure I could find something somewhere, its just I already have spent about $70US on the turbo systems and the refills I have going now

Thanks very much for your help, and im sorry for such a long post

[fish_r]

dont we all wish we had bigger tanks hehe :)
sorry i didnt realize u had an acrylic tank, so the blades probably out of the question.
i menationed low Phosphates that causes the green algae cause thats what i thought id'e read some where but i could be wrong too "often are" and i'm by far an expert at getting ferts right and still learning about ferts my self :oops:
i seem to get rid of one kind of algae and up pops another kind lol, it's a bit of a balancing act :wink:
feel like some reading ? here's a link to make ur own inline DIY reactor if u do decide to get pressurised later on
http://www.rexgrigg.com/diy-reactor.htm
and u can make ur own mix up for the turbo system rather than buying the expensive turbo refils that are basicly sugar and yeast
http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html#5
congrats on the bubs coming and can understand why u cant spend too much on the aquarium now too :)

[Erk]

Thanks very much fish_r.....a bigger tank would be nice, and maybe one day I will get there! lol :D

I will check out those links, and ebay and see what I can find for cheap :D The link for making my own mixture for the co2 will be great! I have about 3 left of the "store bought" ones, but making my own would def. save me some money :D

I understand what you mean about having one kind of algae, then getting rid of it, and up pops another kind...my tank is looking pretty decent as far as the algae goes right now....did a water change last night, and hopefully I can figure out how to keep it at bay from here on :)

Im excited about the "bub" will be my first one, and Im only 25, so Im a lil worried at the same time :shock: :D hahaha.....but yeah, I was "sparring no expense" when I got started with it, but now Im about done with it, and have to be cheap from now on! hahaha....maybe! :D

Thanks again for your help, and again....sorry for such a long post :D

[Erk]

Here are some updated pics with all four discus in my planted tank

Dont mind the algae! haha

Sorry if some are a bit blurry

Thanks! :D

[Erk]

More :D

[Erk]

Here are some overall tank shots...again, dont mind the algae, and Im sorry if some are blurry

Thanks! :D

[scott bowler]

erk it is looking very nice well done ,your fish are looking nice to its a good se up

[Erk]

Some of the pigeon....some of these are def. gonna be blurry, but I wanted to show you guys how is usually pointed downward

Thanks! :D

[Erk]

Thanks scott! I appreciate it....its still def. a work in progress, but now that all four fish are in there, I feel like Im close! hahaha....just like someones signature says "one more thing and it will be perfect" hahaha

Thanks much tho! :D

[Erk]

oh yeah...last ones....fighting away! hahaha

Thanks! :D

[scott bowler]

wish you could get the fish to sit still so you could get a good pic of them lol

[Erk]

I hear ya there scott! haha.....I think the lower pH has really got them a bit more active...I took over 35 pics, and I really wasnt happy with most of them! haha...Oh well, better luck next time!

Thanks!

[fish_r]

looking good Erk, ur plants look nice and healthy from what i can see :)
are u using a flash ? can u adjust ur ISO mode on ur camera ? cause the higher u can adjust it too will take out the bluriness IE : mine has 100/200/400
"mines not a very good camera though" but most digi camera's u can adjust the ISO...

[Erk]

Thanks fish_r :D I will check the settings and see what I can do...No, I dont use flash, only the tank lights. Im using my works digi....I dont have my own, so I can only take pics if I remember to take the camera home. Its a sony cyber-shot 3.2 mega-pixels camera...I tried messing with the settings last time I had it home, but didnt know about the ISO stuff, so I will check and try to get some better ones 2nite. The plants seem to be doing better...have some co2 issues, but hopefully I can get that fixed up, and things will be fine

Thanks again :D