[Build Log] Bouncing back from a total tank loss - Planted High Tech Discus Tank

[sudz]

water changes every tuesday. I remove about 20% and re-fill direct from city water. I found when I do more than 20% I get algae blooms. Turns out there's ammonia in my tap water.

Dosing: NONE. Keeping it simple. I sold the murderous driftwood for 30 bucks to someone with a parrot. That money will go toward new plants. I think I'm kind of over crypts. the grow so thick and lush but their root system makes them hard to pluck. If I don't get the roots, they're back before I can blink.

 

[Barliman]

Ok! Sorry for the super late update: Lets get this out of the way, because its the best news ever:

I DON"T HAVE CANCER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excellent news, and the tank looks great, too.

 

[toolman]

Great news!!! , now you can raise your 2 aspiring aquarists. Getting two grandchildren in October, can't wait to get them hooked on fish.

Have been following for a while, this madey day.

 

[sudz]

Great news!!! , now you can raise your 2 aspiring aquarists. Getting two grandchildren in October, can't wait to get them hooked on fish.

Yeah, my daughter LOVES the tank. We have her toy chest just off the right, she clears her toys off the top and sits on it and just stares into it. SHe puts her hands on the glass... and before having a child, that would have... upset me. but now, I just see the Awe and her soaking it all in. THAT is what fishtanks are for.

She has her own little guppy tank, but she still loves pointing at all the fish - the biggest ones (clown loaches, SAE's) are Daddy fish, Mediums (Platy's) are Momma Fish, and theres actually a few baby Platy's in there, but they don't often get to "mommy" size. The SAE's or the one danio I have in there chases them down.

 

[Toad]

Those onions are contagious man... glad you are back, in every way

 

[sudz]

An update. My daughter has the nasty habit of hitting the fish tank. I think discus are out of the picture for a while until I'm able get that under control.

In the mean time... I got a fish I absolutely love. In fact, they're a very close second to discus. They have so much personality...

Also, I think i might have gotten lucky and got a female. Any experts at sexing German Rams?

PICTURES!

Full album here: German Rams - Album on Imgur

 

[Barliman]

I love GBRs. That's a pretty specimen. One of these days, I swear I'm going to try breeding them.

 

[abw0004]

GBR's are my favorite. Great colors on yours. The one up front is a male for sure. The smaller one in the back may be a female that has not colored up all the way. Males are bigger than the females, but the biggest tell is the female has a red stomach. They need pristine water though. No ammonia at all. When I rebuilt my aquarium, I had a very small mini-cycle of .25 ppm of ammonia for a week and it caused my female GBR to go blind. When they pair, they will always be together and will never find another mate. Lots of personality, and you can also see them mourn when their mate passes. I saw this first hand, and am experiencing it right now. The male died 6-8 months ago and before she went blind she was not herself and sometimes looked for him. When the male was sick (and on his deathbed) I needed to QT him, I put the female in with him so they could be together. When he died, I found her hovering over him, protecting him. I will never forget that moment.

You will find a lot of joy with your fish. If I can help in any way let me know, GBR's are my specialty. I even trained mine hand commands.

 

[Krtyr26]

It will. BE perfect

 

[sudz]

GBR's are my favorite. Great colors on yours. The one up front is a male for sure. The smaller one in the back may be a female that has not colored up all the way. Males are bigger than the females, but the biggest tell is the female has a red stomach. They need pristine water though. No ammonia at all. When I rebuilt my aquarium, I had a very small mini-cycle of .25 ppm of ammonia for a week and it caused my female GBR to go blind. When they pair, they will always be together and will never find another mate. Lots of personality, and you can also see them mourn when their mate passes. I saw this first hand, and am experiencing it right now. The male died 6-8 months ago and before she went blind she was not herself and sometimes looked for him. When the male was sick (and on his deathbed) I needed to QT him, I put the female in with him so they could be together. When he died, I found her hovering over him, protecting him. I will never forget that moment.

You will find a lot of joy with your fish. If I can help in any way let me know, GBR's are my specialty. I even trained mine hand commands.

One of the gbrs has dropsy. Currently hanging in some mild saltwater and meth blue bath. I am not hopeful. I haven't had a case of bloat in over 10 years. :-(

 

[abw0004]

One of the gbrs has dropsy. Currently hanging in some mild saltwater and meth blue bath. I am not hopeful. I haven't had a case of bloat in over 10 years. :-(

What were the water parameters, temperature, etc? Also, where did you buy the GBR?

 

[sudz]

What were the water parameters, temperature, etc? Also, where did you buy the GBR?

81*f. ~10ppm Nitrate, 0ppm Nitrite and Ammonia. PH at morning before light/CO2 is 7.7, During CO2, 7.1.

LFS (Big als ) had them. Came from a local highly regarded breeder. They only ever get males, he won't sell his females as he wants to protect his line (and they are beautiful...)

Guessing the higher than ideal PH stressed this one a bit more than the others and he's fallen prey. LFS PH was an even 7. I drip acclimated them over 4 hours, they were introduced a week ago.

 

[abw0004]

Something just does not seem right. I never have liked Big Al's, and refuse to buy from them. Putting two males in a tank can also cause issues, and that is weird they do not sell females. Where I get my GBR's from, the parents are F0's, so mine are F1's. They go personally to find each breeding pair. So if anyone, my breeder should be protective. And I still get females. They actually sell me bonded pairs. It just seems odd with what they are telling you.

 

[sudz]

all they had was males - I've got 6 of them. Although I think 1 or 2 might actually be female. We'll see with time.

 

[abw0004]

all they had was males - I've got 6 of them. Although I think 1 or 2 might actually be female. We'll see with time.

The rule of thumb is one male per 20 gallons, FYI. So be on the lookout for aggressive behavior.

 

[sudz]

Something just does not seem right. I never have liked Big Al's, and refuse to buy from them. Putting two males in a tank can also cause issues, and that is weird they do not sell females. Where I get my GBR's from, the parents are F0's, so mine are F1's. They go personally to find each breeding pair. So if anyone, my breeder should be protective. And I still get females. They actually sell me bonded pairs. It just seems odd with what they are telling you.

He's on the rebound. Salt water treatment ftw

 

[abw0004]

Always glad to see that. I can see he is really, really stressed out though. When GBR's get stressed, they show what is called "stress bars." Essentially two black bars appear on their body, and their head turns black, along with their eyes. This is usually a sign something is wrong.

 

[sudz]

Always glad to see that. I can see he is really, really stressed out though. When GBR's get stressed, they show what is called "stress bars." Essentially two black bars appear on their body, and their head turns black, along with their eyes. This is usually a sign something is wrong.

I can't imagine he's too happy about his current housing situation. He's literally in a juice pitcher which I'm hanging on the inside of the tank. All I could come up with on short notice. This is also right after he was transferred to a cup and back because I wanted to clean up all the poop at the bottom of the jug. methylene blue kills all nitrifying bacteria so I have to keep it pretty spotless or I'll get an ammonia spike and he'll be dead.

I'm encouraged by the fact that he comes up to the surface to pick at food when I feed him.

If all goes well he'll be back with his tank mates in a nice planted 75 gallon by tomorrow.

I'm going to try and take pictures of the other fish to get your thoughts on them.

 

[sudz]

Always glad to see that. I can see he is really, really stressed out though. When GBR's get stressed, they show what is called "stress bars." Essentially two black bars appear on their body, and their head turns black, along with their eyes. This is usually a sign something is wrong.

I tried getting pictures of them all - it was a futile attempt.

here's a video. Note the white balance kept messing up. My entire tank isn't green, lol.

https://youtu.be/ElAzxM0BbNs


Here's pictures. (Not very good)

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

Let me know what you think.

Also, the sick one now has zero bloat left. I've diluted his medical "tank" with 50% tank water. I'll do a 50% swap again in an hour or so, and then a few hours after that I'll put him back into the tank!

First time ever beating back dropsy. Salt water + Methyelene blue! (probably the salt water TBH)

 

[abw0004]

It is possible you have one female, but only one. Everyone is colored nicely, except one of your GBR's who is showing the stress bars. One thing that I will point out, is I can tell some of the fish are getting restless with the other GBR's. This goes back to me saying you might have too many GBR's. One of the GBR's in the video to the right was really picking on the other that was showing stress. As you know, stress leads to lower immune systems which leads to sickness. As the new environment gets more comfortable, I would expect this aggressiveness to only increase. And if that is a female and she lays eggs, she will fight any other GBR to the death to protect her babies. They are very good parents and will die for their babies.

This is why I only have one pair of GBR's in any tank at a time. Just something to consider. Nice coloring though on the GBR's. I hope you don't take my information as negative and that I am trying to get you down. I just want you to be fully informed as they are very complex fish, like Discus, and need constant attention. But, are very smart, and remember who you are. You will see their personalities/emotions too.