Here are my new Discus!

Hello my friends..
went and got the three discus this am. The owner gave us a deal at 22.50 a piece. We ordered 15 cardinal tetras that we will be picking up on wed to go in the tank with the discus.
The discus are shy right now, having been in the tank for about 6 hours now. And tend to stay together til they are not afraid of their new surroundings. I know their true colors will come out later. The biggest one, is really shy and Ive had a hard time trying to get photos of him. The red/orange mix seems to like to get its photo taken. The smallest one, with the clear eyes. ( the others are red) is different. It seems that its body is almost white but not.. kinda a mother of pearl sort of. It almost looks like its a purple hue and dark purple fins. Will watch it for its true color.
Other than that, they seem ok... and I hope they will be happy. ;D I fed them some brine shrimp and they ate it. Wish me luck, and any advice.. suggestions on these types of Discus, what they are called... anything about their personalities..etc . would be greatly appreciated! I wil take better photos when they let me and I will post them in the Discus Photos section. For now they were hanging around near the heater and it was hard to get a good shot, but I wanted to share them with you all! ;D
thanks, kate

 

cool I wanna get discus

 

I'm jealous, they are so beautiful!!

 

wow, very beautiful... I love the red one.
The reason they might be hanging around the heater is discus like it HOT, something like over 80 degrees or warmer.

 

Beutiful, I have always wanted them except my tank is only big enough for one and I don't got the $$$ to buy one. What a bummer, my tank would be perfect for them. Would you mind if I stole yours? JK!

 

I'm jealous, they are so beautiful!!

Thank you!
Its been a dream of mine to someday have discus after I saw how beautiful and graceful and peaceful they are. I want two more for the tank at some point.
Thanks for checking them out! ;D ~ kate

wow, very beautiful... I love the red one.
The reason they might be hanging around the heater is discus like it HOT, something like over 80 degrees or warmer.

HI Jim, thank you ... that red one is also my fav. Its pretty friendly already!
I thought that also, but I know realize they were just shy. They are swimming all over the place now and getting comfortable in their new home. The temp in the tank is at 84*.
~ kate

 

I'm jealous, they are so beautiful!!

that's exactly what I was going to say I have already planned foir my next tank to be dicus I havn't even got my 70 gall up and running haha good luck and lovely fish soooooooooooo jealous

Peace Out Callum!

 

HI Kate,
Wow you've got your tank up and running I havn't been on for a few weeks so I was looking out for your posts.Anyway congrats on your new fish and I'm not sure if you've had an answer to what strains of Discus you've got there but I will give you my opinion based on photos.
The smaller blue one I think could be a Blue Diamond
Larger blue in background a Blue Turquoise
The orange and white one is a PigeonBlood with a lot of peppering which is common.
So those are my opinions, but as they grow post more pics (close ups)
Feed them small amounts but regulary while you're growing them out (3-4xdaily).FBW,shrimp brine,BH,community feast,discus deluxe,discus pellets and I buy frozen vege mix from lfs,If you can purchase CBW these are good also,anyway just a few that come to mind.
BTW discus with red eyes are good at breeding IMO.
Take care Kate and enjoy your discus tank,as I'm sure you will.

 

HI Kate,
Wow you've got your tank up and running I havn't been on for a few weeks so I was looking out for your posts.Anyway congrats on your new fish and I'm not sure if you've had an answer to what strains of Discus you've got there but I will give you my opinion based on photos.
The smaller blue one I think could be a Blue Diamond
Larger blue in background a Blue Turquoise
The orange and white one is a PigeonBlood with a lot of peppering which is common.
So those are my opinions, but as they grow post more pics (close ups)
Feed them small amounts but regulary while you're growing them out (3-4xdaily).FBW,shrimp brine,BH,community feast,discus deluxe,discus pellets and I buy frozen vege mix from lfs,If you can purchase CBW these are good also,anyway just a few that come to mind.
BTW discus with red eyes are good at breeding IMO.
Take care Kate and enjoy your discus tank,as I'm sure you will.

HI Nicole! Nice to see you in the forum again. I knew you had a lot of discus and are an experienced fishkeeper of these fish and I appreciate any advice you give me. ;D
Yes, I am very excited that they are in the tank. My tank cycled in 24 days fishless and was ready to go. Ive had the discus now for 12 days and I really love watching them. They are such a beautiful fish. thank you for the info one what kind they are. I have seen the blue turquoise that has the wavy lines going horizontally, this discus has the stripes going vertically but I had a feeling it was called a turquoise regardless. The smallest discus had me stomped and you call it a blue diamond. Tho its body is very pale its fins are dark I will be pleased if those fins turn to a bright blue like some photos I have seen. Its young and no way of telling what its going to look like when it matures.. I can't wait! Its my favorite discus and has clear eyes where the other two have red eyes. As far as breeding goes, will the discus only mate with its own kind.. such as turquoise only with another turquoise... pigeonblood with only another pigeonblood?
I have been feeding them HikarI frozen brine shrimp w/ multI vitamins and flakes 3x a day. I wasn't sure if they eat the frozen veg mix so I will pick some up. I haven't seen the deluxe discus pellets but will look for them as well. Thank you for that advice...
I will post photos as they grow... and I have a youtube video of them up. I have a post here under the discus species with that link where you would find my video of them. I also put my two angelfish in with them and they are getting along great. I also have 4 cardinal tetras in there as well. I started out with 17 cardinals in another tank, but through my own fault most of them died. The temperature in that tank they were in got to 94* for a few hours... ugghh.
Anyway thanks for stopping by and checking out the photos and letting me know what they are called!! ;D I'm sure I will have questions for you as the time goes by...
take care, ~ kate

 

No worries Kate, any help I can give you will be a pleasure.I'm in the process of settin up a bigger discus tank as I'm gettin carried away, you know to many fish in one tank, anyway as for the breeding side of things they pair up with whatever strain/colour doesn't have to be the same a red one could pair with a blue one ect....I do feel it's a blue diamond btw I don't think it will change colour just become more pronounced it's fins may lighten to same as body colour or could stay darker doesn't matter either way.Is their any breeders in your area?

 

HI thanks for that..
It would be great if I ended up with a pair and some fry. Sure would save on a lot of money lol...
I'm not sure if there are any discus breeders in the area. I hear that at one LFS, privately owned that they get their discus from a breeder that is about 100miles away. I could try and do a search but I know that none of the sellers around here would give up a name if you know what I mean...
good luck on your new tank!
Ohh btw, at the pet store where I bought these guys a new shipment of three came in and two of them seemed to be a yellow body with the stripes. I want to go back there and get one of those asap, but want to wait til they have been in their tank at least 2 weeks before I bring one home. I was going to get the pair of them, but thought one would be better and leave an option open for later down the road for when I see another color that I may like to have. Like those red melons.. or a bright orange...
They said they could order me any color that I wanted, but it would be a 'wild' caught. I said no thanks... I will just see what the breeder brings in. I don't want to use any wild caught fish in my tank and take them out of their habitat. My goal is 5 discus in with my two angels and cardinal tetras. I think that may be enough for the 55g.?? Or can I get away with 6 dicus?
Well enough now... I'm off to do some water changes.. have a great day! ~ kate

 

Kate,how big are these yellow discus?The stripes are most likely stress bars and will dissappear when the discus settles into new enviroment.There are a few different strains of yellows so I can't be sure without seeing them.Be aware petshops will sell you a discus and give it any name which doesn't necassarily mean that's what it is that's why I like to buy from breeders as I know what I'm getting and reputable breeders rely on their good name for buissiness. Red Melons are a beautiful strain...mmm how big is your tank? I've forgotten,I'll have to go and have a look.I'm glad your waiting a few weeks before deciding, you know the whole quarantine thing.
~Nicole

 

HI Nicole..
Its hard to say the size of the fish, espcially when looking through the glass, they always appear larger than they are. Id say the yellow ones I saw were around 3 inches round. I don't know how to age them by their size. Your right about those stress bars, since they had just came in that day and I'm sure they were stressed. I didnt buy any because they did just come in and I want to wait a few weeks and let them settle in at the LFS and see how they do. But they did have a very pretty yellow body. My turquise discus has stripes going down the body vertically are these stress bars or just the pattern? I sure hope its not stress bars...
I would like to find a breeder around here, but don't know if I would have much luck plus I don't even know where to start??
the red melons are beautiful Id love to be able to find one around here. My tank is a 55g.
On another note.. my driftwood finally is water logged and Ive moved the pink quartz that was holding it down and moved a few things around, first chance I get I will have to take some new photos! I do love to take photos... I drive my family crazy at gatherings.. lol...

 

Are the lines on your turquoise dark, they are stress bars, don't worry they are also known as mood bars, your discus are still settling in and are most likely going through their pecking order, their is allways a leader, 3 discus in your tank....when you add a few more, I would add another 2 when you can...for a discus tank you need at least 5...but be patient don't rush out and buy more yet .Am I allowed to ask where you are from?I might be able to steer you in the right direction for a breeder...more pics please...allways enjoy looking at everyones pics.
~Nicole.

Kate I forgot to mention,if you do get pellets for them soak them before feeding them to the fish....sorry I wasn't sure if you already new this or not.

 

HI Nicole,
the one with the stress bars is the largest Discus, in the pecking order, its the small pale one with the clear eyes that gets picked on, tho it doesn't seem to bother it. It really does look like stripes in the body tho, but I'm not sure They are thin black stripes. I am looking forward to adding more discus, do you think its ok to add one at a time and would that new one get picked on? Or should I at least add two at a time? Thanks for letting me know about the pellets, I didnt know that, good thing I haven't given them any yet. I now know that feeding them just frozen brine shrimp is not good enough and for now til I can get to the store, I'm also giving them flakes. I live on cape cod, in Massachusetts. I would love to find a breeder around here, any suggestions would be greatful! I will go into the Discus photo section and add new photos now. l

 

HI Kate~
I just viewed your pics,very nice btw,they do look like stress bars on your BT nothing to worry about though as I said, I think I can help you find a breeder I'll send you a pm ,
~Nicole.

 

HI Kate~
I just viewed your pics,very nice btw,they do look like stress bars on your BT nothing to worry about though as I said, I think I can help you find a breeder I'll send you a pm ,
~Nicole.

HI Nicole, I hate to think those are stress bars on these guys as I see them swimming around very nicely I hope they adjust soon. Thanks for any suggestions on a breeder that may be locally available. I will look forward to your PM.