henward

its ok. the tanks wont has a margin of nitrate while away. factored this in. nitrate is so low during fully working parameters and feeding is so light while away, i could be away a month and it still would not really impact too much. nitrate would still be well inside acceptable. it is annoying. i would look for something better, but not the professional series, it costs way too much. right now, the only issue is i will hve to go back to mitre 10 for a exchange every few months. thats not really a big deal, just annoying, not catastrophic.

yeah saw one. problem is that tehy are 10 times the price! there are control boxes that even dose water to the exacts MLs. but the boxs alone is hundreds, and all others will be more! the tap timer is 60. i guess if im stuck wtih changing it very 4 to 7 months, so be it, just maybe there was one someone was using for domestic use...maybe like an 'eheim equivalent'

ok my auto water changer ...works well. except one weakness. everytime i do a battery change on the garden tap timer, the timer itself breaks. it just stops working. i have replaced it 3 times now lol i dont care i guess, replacing it. mitre 10 said to me themselves, if it breaks in one year, come and we replace it. but problem is that its annoying. is there any alternative to this? a good brand that works well?

cool anyone else have vincent experience? he has a good variety. white, albinos and stuff like that is what i like in discus traits. i bought a tiny blue diamond - got abit beat up by the ghost knife, but seems to be ok. that has grown 1cm in 2 weeks after getting it! was under fed i think. but i would like coupel fo massive blue diamonds

oh ok, so when they measure discus lengths, its always the base of the tail to the tip of the mouth? that is a large discus then, if articles on google says 15 cms ...do they also mean the "standard" length?

yeah i guess a standard is set for a fish, jus tlike dogs. i mean a show pug and a normal cheaper pug is just as cute:D the discus i guess is nicer round but i found nothing wrong wtih my apparently mis shapen snow white and albino lol i was stoked to get them! in fact might go back to the same dude and get more of his fish! now just posted on the freshwater section. on anyone dealt with vencent discus guy. before i buy from him. if anyone who is reading this reply there if you have dealt with yhim before

hi all PM ONLY PLEASE, but can post on here IF you feel its a good comment lol i want personal testimonies - all confidential. who has dealth wtih vincent discus. hav eyou purchased from him? is his breeding set up good? has your fish been growing well or stunted? pics? sizes and age? reliable age quote from him?

yeah thanks guys i feel better:D lol man going to that forum, everyone is so ................ lana backwards! they have a rating system 0.0 point system that goes to 0 out of 10. its really hard out!!! its like a dog show! i mean i appreciate the feedback. and i guess i want a discus that gets big! the two white discus i have, i am definatley happy with! eating heaps now too! they are tip to tip 15 to 16 cms. caudal fin you mean from where the tail becomes part of the body to the tip of the mouth? taht would take 2 cms off. my two other larges ones the checkerboard and the white butterfly is 12 to 13 cms ish. so they are large. looking at google and all sites, 15 to 18 cms is really the biggest most discus gets to. i gues i was just looking at stunted fish and not stunted fish.

i posted the two white discus i got. one is a snow white one is a albino when i saw them, it was large, so i bought them. looked fat and healthy! tip to tip they are 15 to 16 cms thats big! but when iposted on simply discus, they said that stunted. the snow white apparently has a weird body shape...i think its nice. the albino male apparenlty has massive eyes but its not stunted at 15 to 16 cms is it? according to many if not all articles on google, discus grows to only 15 to 16 cms! ...weird. i think discus like dogs, some will grade them down even if they look n ice looking at the finer details of their shape etc.

YES I AGREE! live and learn i guess some may not know its stunted but some would definatley know the age. yeah. shape has something to do wtih the age too! if stunted, they grow into a football not a round shape i read. sucks!! i have got 10 discus now. 15 cms is a good size for a discus. but just wondering. how do you measure discus? you know with arowana and most fish, you measure tip to tip. literally. tip to tip. tip of tail and tip of lips. with discus is there a different measuring way? you know crayfish ands tuff have ways of being measured. same with discus? any different way? or is it also tip to tip?

picture does not enlarge. here is the link http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=49201

Ok, found this document on another forum specialising on discus. should have read through this forum before purchasing, a bit disappointed but thats ok. now i know and have learnt. its a shame, been to a few breeders and some tell you age of fish, but now i know that its not the case at all after reading through this forum i been to eye size chart 4.5 eye rating is usually stunted 7.5 eye rating and above is a good rating. of course there are other factors, but i believe that this is a good guide for any potential discus buyers. dont get caught unawares. i guess the knowledge overseas is much more detailed as they have more fish and experience perhaps?

the power glo is also for fish colours discus colours and fish colours if ind comes out better wtih a combo of aqua glo and power glo. the other anubias, not the NANA one. is that readily available? in lfs? valisneria will get munched by the spotted metynis in no time though looking for plants that wotn get eaten or grows so fast that it catches up.

the glass pots will be big though, it will not be a small pot. it will be a rectanble 30 cms length, 10cm deep and wide. is still limiting? there is no other way for me, as the sand will shift for sure with the geos. i can remove the geos from the equation but they are there to ensure that the crushed up discus vomit is eaten lol. is that pot big enough for one indina fern plant? a more square shape for a amazon sword? the java ferns will be attached to wood, so will the anubias nana. just looking for something easy to grow and looks nice to kinda "over grow" the tank for hiding places and an authentic look

power glo is 50 bux hff said that arcadia freshwater of the same tube is way better but is 67 dollars. will it make a huge difference? or not really?

oh, the ferts is the clay balls by JBL, i used them awhile back, worked well untill the plants got uprooted lol. but what i plan on doing for the plants that are needing substrate is construct a glass pot. so its see through and camo'd on the tank floor. it will be 2 to 3 inch maybe deeper in depth for maximum root growth and so the jbl ball can be right at the bottom. then plant it there, and on top of the fine white silica sand in the pot that is holding the plant down, i will put heavier rocks so the geos cannot eat the sand. and if it comes time to moving, i can just remove the glass pot - and move it. no uprooting. how does that sound? or am i being too 'left field' with the pot idea? i dont want a 4 inch layer of sand at the bottom of the tank, mainly because it will be shifted daily and constantly by geos. but this way, the geos cant move big stones. indian fern? how bout indian fern? i read they grow very fast, easy to grow, low to med light and fish dont like them too much. anubias nana? that looks nice too. and can be attached to the wood higher up for more light. the bulb i will use is your n ormal power glo from HFF. power glo is 18k

Needle leaf java ferns narrow leaf java ferns do they attached to wood and same care as java ferns?

according to lfs. Anubias nana: attaches to wood. does not need extremely bright light. i can attach it to the upper parts of the wood, whcih is almost the surface to get max light exposure and is easy to grow. (i think david has this plant) Java Fern: Attaches to wood does not need much light at all can attached it to all parts of the wood Indian fern: needs substrate (thats ok) dose not need much light and grows rapidly. can fertilise in the roots, the slow eroding ferts amazon swords: my tank is 62 high, with the light i have, can i have amazon swords?

ok, my tank is 62 height i know the following: java ferm does not need much light. so will definately have that. the lighting i will have are t8. 2x aqua glo, 2x power glo. i will attach java fern onto the wood, and i know spotted metynis, family of s dollars do not eat java ferns. but what else can i attach on the wood or tie to the wood, that does not get eaten by spotted metynis AND does not require toooo much light? anubias? or congo fern? doesnt have to be on the wood also, any plants that people may feel can be in the tank under these conditions. Also, does anyone have a profuse amount of java fern, in the LFS its always very small. i want somet aths more established, longer leaves. dosent have to be much, just so i can tie it to the wood, i know they m ultiply intime.

lol maybe not. tempted honestly. but the tank is not designed to have that much light pass through. the bracing for one is tinted black glass. limits light already - but it did cross my mind.....repeatedly also:D just annoying, why this darn checkerboard had to be annoying lol. hope they will be ok in the 1200L, its 2400length! that should be enough space for the otherone to stay away? or is discus one of those persistent chasers?

the albino male is eating, everytime i drop food, he is chasing it, but the checkerboard seems to not want to leave him alone. so to be careful, im gonna take the discus to davids tomorrow! just the one. and reintroduce when the 1200L tank is set up. the 1200 litre tank is gonna be designed so there is a few plants and wood - to partition the tank from the fish' point of view. im sure they will be ok then, if not then i will have to sell or re house the checkerboard, it can go into the RTG tank by itself

yeah fair enough. i have already started to explore contingencies. problem is that i got carried away! and the guy picking up the aro is not delaying. i wnt to check them out just now, the snowwhite has started to challenge the checkerboard. and the checkerboard stopped chasing it. the big male albino is eating already! a fair bit might i add. eated 7 to 8 pieces of colour bits from the ground and as it fell. when i went there, they were all haning out, but when i fed, the checkerboard started to pick on the albino male. must be the feeding - smell of food makes it territorial. i will have a contingency plan if checkerboard does not stop chasing - hope the albino male will challenge the checkerboard too. the checkerboard is fair bit smaller than the albino. yeah admit, i overbought discus! my bad.

anyone in auckland can temporarily look after a checkerboard discus? im going away on 15th, if the aggresion doesnt stop before ill hve to remove it until i come back whcih is 26th may. got over zealous with buying up discus when i saw some avail lol my bad.

lol ok catching the aggressor did not work, hes back to challenging the new ones now. only the new ones though will observe in next few days see how it goes. if doest subside, i will remove the checkerboard until such time i can put them in the 1200L.

male albino, biggest in the tank. snow white