Malta Aquarist Society

Kif ahna hbieb? Jiena Mark Brincat (20 years old), ili hafna dilettant ta' l-aquariums pero` kull ma kelli daqxejn ta 20L starter. Milux xtrajt 120L li jidher hawn taht: Fieh ghandi plecostomus (xi 8"), 6 guppies, 2 pandas, 2 horse-face, u tnejn ohra li ma nafx x jisimom imma joqghodu jnaddfuli l-gravel :). L-iktar wahda ghall-qalbi hija din id-discus: Minhabba n-nuqqas ta' pacenzja c-cycling hallejtu ghaddej 4 days biss wara li tfajt il-bacteria. Bhalissa telghali ftit in-nitrite (0.3mg/L) allura uzajt flixkun bacteria iehor u diga beda niezel. La jerga jigi zero nixtri discus ohra ghall-ma li ghandi. Qieghed naghmel 10% water change kuljum sakemm nisetilja. Jekk tistghu tuni xi ftit informazzjoni fuq il-club taghkom. Nixtieq ninghaqad :)

HI just wanted to say welcome to the club.  We meet on the last Sunday of the month, so you are more than welcome to join us. We meet in Attard at Mount Carmel. We have a new club there, so we are just setting up things. The place is just beneath the hall where we had the show last year. So if you intend to come this month just drop us a line and we can meet you outside the gates.

 I see that you are interested in discus. Well it is a long learning process, but before you get any new fish, i wante to ask you is your discus eating. That is the most important sign that the fish is happy.  Also are you checking the water parameters like PH and GH. And what kind of water are you using for your water change. Also what temperature are you keeping.

 I wrote you a longer reply, but unfortunately we have a bug in this site and the post was lost. SO hopefully this will go through.

Hi mark welcome to our forum. As Frank told  you can send me a private message and will let you know more about the club. 

Hope you'll share your experiences here and we might help you build your new aquarium as you like!

Yep. My discus is eating  flakes at 9am ad at 5pm. At 12 pm brine, bloodworm and beefheart mix. I keep pH at 6.5-7 and temperature 28 Celsius. I use tap water for the water changes, but first I treat with pH minus and a water conditioner.

wow there your discus eat better than me, because i only eat one meal a day and during the day i only eat a ftira .:). Well you seem to have all the parameters correct. Just a couple of things, if you fill the water in a container a day before and leave it open for 24 hours you will get rid of the clorine as it evaporates. Another thing, if you are doing a big water change make sure you warm up the water beforehand.As i rule i do not do a water change everyday but only once a week. I only do frequent water changes if there is something wrong with the fish. If you are going to get another discus, do not just buy one but at least two. The thing is that the one you have now will probably bully the other one, so if you get two the agression will be split into two. Discus love being in a shoal. You can add some tetras too. like rummynose.

One final thing i am not too sure about have a pleco that size with the discus, but if your discus was scared it would not be eating. However it seems to me too big a fish. Having said that, i have  a real big and two other smaller clown loaches in my discus tank and so far no trouble. So maybe after all the pleco is harmless. A suggestion, i would buy a couple of large plastic plants and put them infront of the filter so as to hide it a bit. or else a piece of bogwood

hope we see you soon at the club

 

oops double post :)

Hey cikkus, thanks for your help. The pleco does like to scare the discus off a bit but he never attacks her or anything. He has his corner under the filter and he likes to keep it that way. However this is not effecting the discus' eating habits at all. It doesn't let anyone even taste the frozen mix that I give them. :D Yes I warm up the water before I condition it and add it to the aquarium. Right now I'm doing daily changes because of the nitrite levels, which by the way levelled off today. From then on maybe I'll do 10% every other day. I'm a bit worried about buying 2 more discus. I'm afraid the aquarium might be too small for 3 adult discus. I'll think about it.