LONG TIME

Well its been a while since i have updated my blog because theres really not much to say when you have no fish. But i am now seriously considering getting started again so watch this space because i will be back. That will mean i will give a step by step account on how things are going with my new set up and plenty of pictures for those who are interested. Also hopefully how i get my discus to breed. Starting from scratch hope to get new tank in a few weeks.

NEW LOOK TANK

I suppose i should really rename my blog because i no longer have any discus i have gone back to community fish. The reason being keeping the discus turned into more of a job than a hobby. So now i can sit back and watch my fish i don't have to do water changes as often even though its a hard habit to break i still find myself doing three water changes a week LOL. I have planted the tank out and added the home made co2 but am going to get a pressurized unit asap but it will do for now. The plants are starting to grow now and looking healthy the fish are all doing what fish do and i am enjoying them rather than worrying all the time. Here's some pictures of the tank and co2 plus my home made reactor made from an old aquarium vac and a small 500 ltr an hour pump the type used in a small sump. Also i have added another 40 watt light to the existing juwel lights.

UV STERILIZER IN A DISCUS TANK

Well i am so glad i bought that uv sterilizer from ebay it was £29 plus £6 postage worth every penny they should cost arround £60. I can now leave the lights on 10 hours with no algae problems at all as i have a huge window in my front room i could only have the lights on for 6 hours a day and still had problems with algae. Since putting the uv in i hav'nt cleaned the glass once and the water is crystal clear the unit is internal and made by fish r fun. I know you have to change the bulbs every 6 months at a cost of £12 but its well worth it because it also kills disease so no more medications to buy.

NEW LOOK TANK

Well the tank is looking much better now i have bought some catfish and 6 clown loaches added some bogwood. I have only got six discus now i kept the best ones. I have also bought a uv sterilizer so i can leave the lights on a bit longer without getting algae problems. Pictures show new look of tank with different background also a picture of the uv steriliser. Plus some pictures of the discus as they are growing very fast.

THEN THERE WAS ONE

I have sold one of my tanks as the hobby had turned into a full time job with all the maintenance and water changes. Now i only have the one rio 400 i can sit back and enjoy the discus and that also means when i buy anything i only have to buy one so it will save me money to. I will still keep up the water changes but i only have 8 discus as i sold 2 i plan to get 4 catfish to help with the cleaning. Also i have put a thin layer of fine gravel in and 3 lumps of bogwood as its more pleasing on the eye.

Silver and Blue's

These are the other five the silver's and blue's it hard to see which are which i am not that sure myself untill they turn in the light then its obvious . I am still doing everything the same as before as in the amount of water changes etc. But i have got my water back to how i like it. That is PH under 7 and TDS down to 160 it has no effect on how quickly they are growing in my opinion infact i would say they are growing quicker. I feed them 5 times a day mostly beef heart with some prima, spinach, flake, and those frozen cubes.

STENDKERS AFTER 3 WEEK

After 3 weeks the fish are all doing well its unbeleivable how fast they are growing i have got 5 in each tank now. I have the four reds together with a blue as you can see in one of these pictures.

FINALLY MOVED 5 OF MY STENDKERS

Well i finally got the ph right in the other tank for the move. It would not come down i tried useing pure ro water with just minerals but it refused to drop from 7.5 But today its down to 6.9 so they have been moved and all is well. I also changed my R/O sediment and carbon filter's they had been running for 2 months and produced 2,000 gallons of water. Here are some pictures of them for those who are interested take note of the inside of the sediment filter's they are still pure white. I probably would have got another month and 1,000 gallons from them but its better safe than sorry.

FRY ALL GONE

All my fry have gone now and i can concentrate on the stendkers i am going to move 5 of them to the other tank tomorrow. I have only had them 2 weeks but i can already notice them growing they are eating like mad. I will post some pictures tomorrow. Since i last posted i have also changed my filters i sold the wet and dry filters and replaced them with eheim 2028's as they are for tanks up to 600 ltr. The 2327's i had were for tanks up to 350 ltr my tanks are 400 ltr so it makes sense.

STENDKERS AFTER 1 WEEK

What a difference a week makes its 7 days since i got the stendkers they were very scatty but now they have settled down. Thursday for the first time one of them came up and took food from my fingers now they are all feeding from my hand. They are still a bit shy flying across the tank at sudden moves but much better than they were. I have been doing 40% water changes every day and feeding them beef heart as i want them to grow quickly. Also i have put the ph up to 7.2 and tds is now 200 ppm even though i don't like the idea i was told they would grow quicker in more alkaline water. Here are some pictures of them feeding.

ALL SETTLED IN

The stendkers have settled in nicely now the first day they were very scatty hitting the tank both ends every time we moved. The first water change i did was a nightmare but they are slowly getting used to the new surroundings. May take a while before they trust me but they will as i remeber the first 8 discus i bought were like this for a week or so. I have changed my water parameters to suite these discus. I have got the tds up to 250 ppm and ph is now 7.5 as i was told that these german discus grow quicker in harder water. I don't like the ph that high but its the only way i can get the hardness up. I don't want to start adding acids and chemicals i was told the ph does'nt matter with these discus as they are easier to keep. But as soon as they have grown an inch bigger i will get back to my normal routine. I feel better when i have low ph and softer water.

STENDKERS ARE EATING

Yes just to let you know that they are eating and swimming around as if they had always been there great stuff.

STENDKER'S AFTER AN HOUR

Well after one hour they are swimming about like they had been there all their lives i am well chuffed. I will see if they will eat later on but i think they have been through enough for now here's a few pictures of them swimming about. Now that i have got the pick of the bunch i will let on where they come from i knew last week these were coming. They were bought from atlantis aquatics great yarmouth

FINALLY I HAVE GOT MY STENDKER'S

Today i went and picked up my new discus they are stendker pigeon blood's silver's blue's and reds. I got there early and had the pick of them. When i got home i placed the fish in the polystyrene box and slowly let my tank water drip into the box through an airline over a period of 2 hours. Then i left them for a further 30 min's to get used to the water. I then netted them one at a time into my tank. I bought 10 as i got a discount for bulk.

SECOND BATCH HAND FEEDING

This is the second batch of fry now starting to hand feed on beef heart.

HAND FEEDING THE FIRST BATCH OF FRY

Well since my last post i have had nothing exciting to talk about but here are some pictures of the first batch of fry feeding from my hand. They are getting on very well growing fast now they are on beefheart and spinage. I will be picking up my new discus tomorrow stenker's which i plan to grow on and hopefully get at least 2 pairs. I am going to buy 8 or 10 depending on price will keep you up to date with that tomorrow.

FILTRATION AND UNDERSTANDING BACTERIA

After speaking to a friend of mine who told me he just cleaned his community tank out and now his fish were dieing. I asked what did you do he said i cleaned all the tank and gravel and replaced all the filter media with new. I explained that was the wrong thing to do and why. So i thought i would explain this in easy terms to anyone reading this blog who does'nt understand about filtration and bacteria in the fish tank. So this is how it works the fish in your tank even goldfish produce waist and amonia which is deadly to fish. So we add a filter internal or external they do the same job its not just there to filter debris and waist food produced by the fish. If left for a couple of weeks longer if you have the patiance a bacteria builds up that turns the amonia to nitrite. Nitrite's in high levels are also deadly to fish so another baceria builds up that turns the nitrite's to nitrates which are tolerated by fish if they don't reach to higher level. This is the main reason for water changes to dilute the nitrates. So if you decide to clean you tank never replace all the filter media just change some and leave some so the bacteria is still there to multiply. If your filter is filled with sponges then clean them gently in a bucket of tank water so you leave some bacteria on them to multipy again. This is also the reason we don't add fish to a new tank untill the filter has had time to build up the "GOOD" bactria. In the case of a discus set up the filter has to be even more mature because discus are more delicate than most tropical fish for discus about six weeks minimum longer is better. You can buy test kits for amonia, nitrite, & nitrates. So set up your new tank and watch the amonia and nitrites go through the roof after about a week you will see them slowly come down then dissapear once this has happened your tank has cycled and you can add fish but not to many at a time give the bacteria time to build up to cope with the fish waist slowly does it. keep an eye on the nitites and amonia levels they should always be zero. Hope this helps you to understand why you must have bacteria in the filter and why you should never completely clean a filter.

NEW FILTER

Today i bought a new filter its a Huey hung sponge filter 380 ltr. When it arrived i put it straight in one of my tanks. I was so impressed with it i have ordered two 500 ltr ones for the other two tanks. I am going to sell my Ehiem 2222 external filter's which will save me a lot of time on cleaning and maintenance.

HARD DICISION

Well today i decided to sell my breeding pair as i feel i need a new challenge i have sold the leopard snake skins now going to advertise the other pair. I am going to buy some young stendker discus and grow them on and hopefully get a couple of pairs from them. If anybody reading this blog fancy a very good breading pair mother red alenquer, father moonstone marlboro local to me as i will not post let me know i want £125 as they are such good parents. For now here are some pics of first lot of fry 7 weeks old and a couple of dad with the second lot 2 weeks old