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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

My Discus.

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02 Apr 2010 14:36 - 02 Apr 2010 14:39 #1 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters)
Alright lads,
Just thought ide throw up a few pics of the discus i am keeping here at home. I know there arnt much but im new to the discus keeping and i absolulty love it! ,










thanks lads i hope you like them forgive me for my amuture photo abliites!
Last edit: 02 Apr 2010 14:39 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters).

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02 Apr 2010 14:48 #2 by mickdeja (Mick Whelan)
lookin sweet man, keep up the good work...........

Follow me up to Carlow

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02 Apr 2010 15:06 #3 by mossy (gavin blanchfield)
good stuff mate
looks like your doin ok to me;)
lovely fish

rgds

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02 Apr 2010 15:16 #4 by Gavin (Gavin)
Replied by Gavin (Gavin) on topic Re:My Discus.
they look good,I'd be interested what your water perameters are with that rock in there though..better to have some wood in. replicates their habitat a bit better and will soften your water.;)

dont make me come over there.

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02 Apr 2010 15:19 #5 by Gavin (Gavin)
Replied by Gavin (Gavin) on topic Re:My Discus.
while I'm nit picking...:woohoo: that looks like coral sand as a substrate?? I could be wrong..a darker substrate would suit them better too..and you can take your plants out of the pots..they will grow better for you.

I'm terrible I know.

dont make me come over there.

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02 Apr 2010 18:31 #6 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters)
The substrate is only white gravel, now its more yellow, green algea then anything, but im slowly trying to remove it, the rock is actually ocean rock that i got from a cichlid tank, a friend said the substrate wouldnt really be a issue for the discus but the ph must remain below 7.0 this is something i am struggling with, i finding it hard to keep it constant, Please Advise?

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02 Apr 2010 19:24 - 02 Apr 2010 19:27 #7 by Alex (Alex)
Replied by Alex (Alex) on topic Re:My Discus.
I use Indian almond leaves to lower the PH. They are also supposed to increase fertility and health. You can get them on ebay. Only thing is they tan the water... i like the look of it though!
Last edit: 02 Apr 2010 19:27 by Alex (Alex).

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02 Apr 2010 19:27 #8 by arabu1973 (. .)
Replied by arabu1973 (. .) on topic Re:My Discus.
Get rid of the rocks and gravel then replace with bogwood and sand

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02 Apr 2010 19:49 #9 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
The rock in your tank is more suitable for an African cichlid tank that would have harder water with a higher pH.
The rock (ocean rock) will increase the pH and not let you bring the pH down to a desirable lever for Discus.

As mentioned above replace with bog wood from your LFS.

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02 Apr 2010 20:17 #10 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters)
question is now. where do i get the sand and the bog wood? would fine grain gravel do?

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02 Apr 2010 20:33 #11 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
as aruba has said, get sand and bogwood in your LFS. I would say one of those fish is either a runt or is on his way out.
questions
1. what is the pH of your water
2. how frequent do you do water changes ?
3. do you use water straight from the tap?
4. what temp is your aquarium
5. what are you feeding them ?

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02 Apr 2010 20:33 #12 by arabu1973 (. .)
Replied by arabu1973 (. .) on topic Re:My Discus.
siamesefighter wrote:

where do i get the sand and the bog wood? would fine grain gravel do?

Best sand i found is in Maidenhead in Carlow, bogwood any LFS would have, fine grain gravel would be ok if its the round one not the sharp one. Sorry mate for the short/blunt answers, i just finished rescaping the 6' tank thats in the left side on my signature and i'm nackered

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02 Apr 2010 22:32 #13 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters)
Damian_Ireland wrote:

as aruba has said, get sand and bogwood in your LFS. I would say one of those fish is either a runt or is on his way out.
questions
1. what is the pH of your water
2. how frequent do you do water changes ?
3. do you use water straight from the tap?
4. what temp is your aquarium
5. what are you feeding them ?



I Constantly fight to keep the ph to where it is now where its about 6.8 to 7.0, the water changes are 10% a week brokin down to 5% Wed and 5% sun, I do use water from the tap but i also use tapsafe, The Temp is currently at 28C and im feeding them a flake discus food in the morning and blood worms with a tiny drop of garlic guard.

Now whats this about a "runt"? i am new to this discus mix and i will gladly listen to all, but would you please explain the runt thing? do u mean a Cross breed? a hybrid?

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02 Apr 2010 23:01 #14 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
your pH is fine anywhere around 7.
you could do with changing more of your water.
runt is a fish tank will never fully grow. A good way to judge discus is by the size of their eyes compared to their body. So if you see a small and a large discus with the same size eyes, then the small one could be a runt..

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03 Apr 2010 17:16 - 03 Apr 2010 21:48 #15 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters)
Ah yes i see. all the discus are fine in the tank, im just looking now to see if i can invest in the sand and the bog wood. my LFS has nothing for me :( So help wanted on this one lads. Also when im doing my transformation how will i take out all the substrate, rocks and plants Change the gravel to sand and place in the bog wood with out causeing any harm to the fish?
Last edit: 03 Apr 2010 21:48 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters).

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04 Apr 2010 00:37 #16 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters)

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04 Apr 2010 08:08 #17 by Damian_Ireland (Damian_Ireland)
aruba has just done a substrate change this weekend. i will let him guide you.

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04 Apr 2010 08:08 #18 by joemc (joe mc)
Replied by joemc (joe mc) on topic Re:My Discus.
most builders suppliers or landscape paving supplier will have silica sand, it costs about €7.50 for 25 kilos which should be more than enough for your tank, pick the grain size of about 1-2mm it looks good, as for removing your existing gravel with the least disturbance of your fish get a piece of hosing with a diameter of about one inch (or about twice the diameter of your existing gravel) and vacume it all out the same as you would normally siphon your water out, this Ithink is the easiest way.
regards
joe mc

FOR SALE
Catappa Leaves
PM FOR DETAILS

Ebay Fish Foods Click here!

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05 Apr 2010 16:40 #19 by ken2525 (ken bolster)
Replied by ken2525 (ken bolster) on topic Re:My Discus.
the tank lookis great just wondering were you got the small discus as i am looking to buy some young fish

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08 Apr 2010 14:16 - 08 Apr 2010 14:17 #20 by minnie19 (amina)
Replied by minnie19 (amina) on topic Re:My Discus.
hi

he got the small discus back in petmania manor west tralee and he considering selling them or letting them go ? if your intrested ?
Last edit: 08 Apr 2010 14:17 by minnie19 (amina).

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08 Apr 2010 22:15 #21 by ken2525 (ken bolster)
Replied by ken2525 (ken bolster) on topic Re:My Discus.
im living in the dublin are so its a bit far

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11 Apr 2010 21:39 #22 by siamesefighter (Andrew Watters)
Any interest in the discus lads? hoping to let them go. as im going to be changing the tank to a cichlid tank, Green terrors or frontosa's, Maybe if i get my own way im going to get none and get One big Black Knife fish. ;) ither way the Discus have to go and my local fish shop will not take them as there is not enough demand for them in the shop :(

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11 Apr 2010 23:03 #23 by fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
thats some sweet looking discus man good job

at the end of the day it becomes nite

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11 Apr 2010 23:07 #24 by tom3179 (Tomasz Roj)
Replied by tom3179 (Tomasz Roj) on topic Re:My Discus.
Don't give up :) Discus are stunning fishes. If you will change gravel and rocks, it should be much easier for you to controll water parameters etc. External filter is helping as well. You can use some media like peat granules to make ph lower, amonia remover will help to you as well. You dont have to use RO unit if you dont want, i know many people who are keeping and breeding discus succesfully without RO. You can change water flow easy by using spray bar and bio-chemical sponge filter on air pump outlets :) Make own food for discus like beef hearts mixed with vegetables etc ant they will grow like crazy and they require variable diet :) Is many recipes for "DIY" fodd for discus. If you prefer easier way is many type of food for them available in shops :) They are beautifull fish, require little more maintenance than others.. but it is worth to do.
Tom

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