Starting A 125 Discus Tank.

 

Long fin gold ram. Hum not sure.

 

Long fin gold ram. Hum not sure.

What’s not to like?

 

I really like the one with the deep red head in the background... that kind of coloration is to die for.

 

Sorry no offense; for some reason i like them with regular fins. My two little ones haven't grown much (I wonder if they are some sort of new minatures) but i've had them for a while now - 3 or 4 months i guess and they seem happy enough laying eggs twice a month or so. I'm setting up a 40B now to remove the other fishes in with them. I like the colours on yours though to be honest i like the ones on mine also - just not sure i like the long fins.

 

So your debating long fins

 

Not really a debate; for some reason I don't like them. I mean they have nice colour in them but they look unnatural. It is the same way with angels; i generally do not like the fancy fins one; like wise for swordtails and a number of other fishes. Just me i guess since a lot of people like them.

 

I hear you. I too usually don’t care for the long fins on other fish. But rams I accept .

 

Beautiful Pics and the Long Fins. Wow!
I have been wanting a pair since coralbandit posted pics last year. Been planning on them for awhile. Placed the order earlier this week along with some Clown loaches.
I mentioned to him, soon his fish will outnumber the other inhabitants of my fish tanks.
He is the "Ram" whisperer.

Learning all the Time.

 

Yes his fish are great. Waiting to see how those new discus work out. Maybe we could get him to breed some leopard discus . Hint hint!! Coral are you out there.

 

Yea I really like his fishes - after i move in 15 months i'll probably put in a decent order if he is still selling fishes. A year is a long time but right now all of my tanks are full or overfull. I'm replacing my 20 long with a 40B and already realize that it will be overstocked without buying new fishes.

 

I like the long fins on the Rams!

 

jake37 I like all of the Rams.

 

86 ssinit That gold long fin ram is a beaut!

 

still playing with the camera .

 

Wow I just realized it’s been a full year now since I started this discus journey. It’s been fun and I’m happy with the way it turned out. The planted tank is doing great. Did my fish grow to their full potential? I don’t think so. Still time I’m guessing they may still grow for 6 more months. But As of now I’m thinking the planted tank does limit growth. Though it’s fine for me others may want to think about this if looking to grow big discus.

Thanks Nikm! You got me back into them .

So since I’m thinking they may have grown bigger in a bb tank I may start another. I have a 45 not being used so if I can find some nice looking discus I may try again . Ive read of people growing 6+” discus in small tanks so I may try this approach and buy another tank later down the line if they grow. I have 5 tanks running now. 3 are shrimp. So I’m going to have to get rid of One or more of them first. I do think I’ve run the course with shrimp.
what I’ve learned. Water changes are liked by both fish and plants!! Plant life has been great in this tank. I do use liquid ferts. The flourish line but I haven’t added a root tab in months. Fish waste groups up under plants! Lots of vacuuming to get rid of it. Cherry shrimp in a discus tank does work . But shrimplets in the waste water doubles time for a water change . I save as many as 20 at every water change. So if not looking for more work dont get them. Even if I try to ignore them I allways see them in the slop sink! 24/7 lighting is great! Have it on all my tanks now .

So thanks all for reading about my journey here and please continue.

 

Wow I just realized it’s been a full year now since I started this discus journey. It’s been fun and I’m happy with the way it turned out. The planted tank is doing great. Did my fish grow to their full potential? I don’t think so. Still time I’m guessing they may still grow for 6 more months. But As of now I’m thinking the planted tank does limit growth. Though it’s fine for me others may want to think about this if looking to grow big discus.

Thanks Nikm! You got me back into them .

So since I’m thinking they may have grown bigger in a bb tank I may start another. I have a 45 not being used so if I can find some nice looking discus I may try again . Ive read of people growing 6+” discus in small tanks so I may try this approach and buy another tank later down the line if they grow. I have 5 tanks running now. 3 are shrimp. So I’m going to have to get rid of One or more of them first. I do think I’ve run the course with shrimp.View attachment 700855what I’ve learned. Water changes are liked by both fish and plants!! Plant life has been great in this tank. I do use liquid ferts. The flourish line but I haven’t added a root tab in months. Fish waste groups up under plants! Lots of vacuuming to get rid of it. Cherry shrimp in a discus tank does work . But shrimplets in the waste water doubles time for a water change . I save as many as 20 at every water change. So if not looking for more work dont get them. Even if I try to ignore them I allways see them in the slop sink! 24/7 lighting is great! Have it on all my tanks now .

So thanks all for reading about my journey here and please continue.

Cherry Shrimp I would love to try. Also I see a fat and happy rose red. Yeah on thing that I hate doing is vaccuming under the plant and stuff, but atleast I get it out.

 

A pic from today
on a sad note I found the blue long fin ram dead today. I’m not so sure these rams are good for this warm water. It was only 2yrs old. I’ve kept Rams for5yrs in 78-79 degree water.

 

This is something i wonder about with great curiosity. For example some folks I have chatted with say that 77 and 78 are fine; but i know coralbandit has said 82 is the min for rams. For a long time i kept mine at 79 (only had him 5 months) but raised it to 81 after peer pressure. His mate died a week after power went out for 24 hours and temp dropped to 72 (bloated up like a ballon). I don't claim to be an expert on rams or even very knowledgeable but am interested in what a good temp is for them - i do know from experience they hate change.

on a sad note I found the blue long fin ram dead today. I’m not so sure these rams are good for this warm water. It was only 2yrs old. I’ve kept Rams for5yrs in 78-79 degree water.

 

This is something i wonder about with great curiosity. For example some folks I have chatted with say that 77 and 78 are fine; but i know coralbandit has said 82 is the min for rams. For a long time i kept mine at 79 (only had him 5 months) but raised it to 81 after peer pressure. His mate died a week after power went out for 24 hours and temp dropped to 72 (bloated up like a ballon). I don't claim to be an expert on rams or even very knowledgeable but am interested in what a good temp is for them - i do know from experience they hate change.

Everyone has different experiences. People like coralbandit have raised rams for a decade or more and he is only giving his experience based on his rams and I'm sure many folk have success in high 70s with gbr too and have done well.

 

Well I started a second discus tank. So I haven’t been posting on these guys. All is well here!! I change water 3times a week at 50%. Plants are all growing good my dwarf lilies are all growing now after there dormant period. So adding some red to the tank. Haven’t added anything since corals rams about 3-4months back. Believe they're still growing. And instead of all hanging as a pack some are starting to find there own spots amongst the plants at night to rest. Which is pretty cool.

 

Your lily seems a bit more green than mine. Do you know what type it is ? Mine are Nymphaea stellata

 

Jake my lighting is 24/7 so different intensity. Here’s morning light

 

So I went down to clean tanks this morn and found this.
seems this brown and red have laid eggs!! Who would’ve guessed! I didn’t even know they hooked up. Ok so now what do do? Wanted to change water but the eggs are within 3” of the top of the tank. Also the eggs are red. Never seen that.

 

Don't you hate it when they make things hard to have a good life? I have snails all over my front glass every time I want to scrape it. I have never seen red before either.

 

You can do like me and get your finger bit - btw when did they invent brown discus ?

 

Well the rams will bite the hair on my arm but the discus hasn’t as of yet.
As for brown discus I believe they were some of the original wild discus. That one was bought as a green discus but it anything but green.

 

What temp do you keep your discus tank? Is there a type of discus that will thrive at 80 or 82 ?

 

You may get by with 82. My tanks are at 86. Rams are doing good at this temp. They’ve lay eggs off and on.

 

It isn't the ram that concern me. Too many other fishes i like that prefer it a bit cooler than 86 and i'm not sure there is much in the mid 80's range that interest me. Also as you noted the rams do ok at 86 but they burn out fast.

 

Yes there’s not many fish that can take the temp. Cory’s can ottos and SAE are doing good and rcs are doing good too! Breeding like crazy. As for the rams I will see. The one I have now may be a year old. I just ordered some more so I’ll get a good idea of there life expectancies. Also I got them young so they may adjust to the temp. That’s what I’m hoping. The temp could have been the demise of the tetras too.

 

You should breed the rams so you don't have to order more
--
Then again it might be easier to let someone else do the breeding and just order them... Unlike angels I guess they are more predictable in what the off springs will turn into. Well i still have another 16 months to think on this discus thing but I'm beginning to think i should put geo with the rams instead of discus to keep the tank cooler. Maybe around 79 or 80. If i go with the disucs then i guess it'll be rams, discus, sae, pleco and maybe kuhli or cat fishes. I'm a bit surprise the sterbai take 86 - the ones i had at 81 went from 1/4 inch to full grown in like 3 or 4 months and now lay eggs like crazy (pity i can't find them to hatch them). The females are busting 3 inches which is kind of harsh in a 29 gallon tank. If I could hatch the eggs i'd put more in the 120 but i think one of the cory follows the female and eat them as she lays them.

Yes there’s not many fish that can take the temp. Cory’s can ottos and SAE are doing good and rcs are doing good too! Breeding like crazy. As for the rams I will see. The one I have now may be a year old. I just ordered some more so I’ll get a good idea of there life expectancies. Also I got them young so they may adjust to the temp. That’s what I’m hoping. The temp could have been the demise of the tetras too.

 

Congrats. Congrats congrats CoNGrats!!! 86 ssinit

I'm super excited for you. You've always been incredibly helpful to me and others on our journey and I'm ecstatic your discus spawned. I saw your post on the other forum and thought to myself

"Hold up wait a minute... I know that discus and those plants AND that setup."

And had to come here and check it was really you.

 

Well as of this morn a fungus pretty much to over the eggs. There are still a few left but I don’t think any will make it. The pair did take care of the eggs but never removed bad ones. But it’s only the first time. Will have to see how it goes. Maybe give them a few time in the big tank and than move them to the 45.
I just ordered more rams from coral so I’d like to qt them in the 45 first anyway.

 

It took my angels 5 or 6 tries to start producing wrigglers reliably - now they won't stop

Well as of this morn a fungus pretty much to over the eggs. There are still a few left but I don’t think any will make it. The pair did take care of the eggs but never removed bad ones. But it’s only the first time. Will have to see how it goes. Maybe give them a few time in the big tank and than move them to the 45.
I just ordered more rams from coral so I’d like to qt them in the 45 first anyway.

 

86 ssinit In my limited experience fungus covering all eggs within a day means they weren't fertilized. Not because your pair is incapable but because the tds was already too high in the tank.

From my understanding high tds tricks the eggs into thinking they've already been fertilized... In laymen terms of course.

 

No idea what’s the right tds? Do have a meter I bought off eBay that tested tds at 71 at 810ppm.

 

My tap is around 105 or 110 and my tanks are all below 140. I think coralbandit mixes his water with RO to get something below 75 but i could be mistaken.

No idea what’s the right tds? Do have a meter I bought off eBay that tested tds at 71 at 810ppm.

 

71 TDS should probably work for the discus .
There is the chance the male was distracted or harassed or just not on target yet .
It often takes a few tries for things to work out .

 

No idea what’s the right tds? Do have a meter I bought off eBay that tested tds at 71 at 810ppm.

I'm slightly confused 86 ssinit is your tds 71 or 810?

71 is right on the money.