Discus/American Cichlid Tanks Journal

[Shadow]

So...as I plan and then execute the following tanks, thought it would be good to start a journal to document my trials and tribulations in setting up both tanks. Let's start with an initial game plan. It will be for two very large tanks. 

First, tank sizes and locations: 

The first will be located in my foyer which gets great morning light and stays moderately warmer than the rest of the house, although really not warm because well...AC and all. Its a 60 gallon breeder that I bought on sale a few months ago during Petco's Bi Annual Aqueon Sale. 

The second one will be located in my fish room/office aka offish and will be a 75 gallon long also by Aqueon, although not on sale $130 bucks isn't so bad. This will become my feature tank taking up most of my main wall. I set up a 10000 lb 2500 per shelf industrial rack recently which is located in my main journal(link below my posts here) that is reinforced with 3/4" marine grade red oak plywood inserts along with the grading metal insert that comes with the rack. 

Gameplan for each:

Both will feature South American friendos for the most part...

I plan to feature a lot of the same substrate and filtration, along with plants in both tanks. They will differ in the stone/wood features I add in. I am already super partial to long, flowy plants so I will likely have Jungle Vale, Amazon Swords, Mother Java Ferns, Pink Flamingo Crypts, Crypt Balinsae, differing bucephalandra and anubis, no floaters this time tho...at least no plans for them as it will make it harder to target/hand feed the fish I plan to add in. 

Stocking will both feature varying colors of Discus, prob 4-6 in the foyer tank and 6-10 in the 75 gal office tank. Tank 1 will also feature German Blue Rams and Tank 2 Electric Blue Acara, two fish along with Discus that I have wanted to keep. Will probably add some varieties of smaller schooling fish like Tetras and maybe a couple Angels to one of the tanks, likely the foyer tank as I have wanted to buy a pair of Red Devil Angels for a while now. Bottom feeders likely will feature plecos that don't mind warmer water and mystery snails as I will never willingly put a ramshorn or bladder snail in my tank ever again...lol!

Filtration will be a combo of canister filters, multi sponge filters, multi air stones & maybe a hangback or internal filter with spray bar. I plan to run my usual Purigen packs to my canisters and change them monthly. Water changes will follow my usual Saturday water change schedule for all my tanks, although these will get a more aggressive change of 30%, as I usually only do between 10-20% on my tanks bar my kitty only tank which gets about 20-25% weekly(they dirty!). 

Substrate will start with Chalily pond soil at the base with some root tabs mortared and sprinkled over the soil. I will add a locking base about 2-3 inches of Carib Sea Peace River Sand as I think a thicker more natural grain sand as opposed to fine grain would be much better here. Plan to use scatter gravel in places as well but mainly a sandy more river like smooth pebbles substrate. I will decorate one with one type of rock and another with a more smooth type, still undecided here. I guess it all depends on what type of stone and wood I find in my online searches. I have a few very awesome and reasonable sellers on Etsy that really find spectacular pieces that I already know are aquarium safe(even though I boil and soak everything I get to make sure). 

My plan is to give the bottom dwellers and other fish ample places to call their dwelling ie some cave features or arching spaces I can give little hideaways if need be for the GBRs/EBAs along with others while also keeping both tanks very open flow for ample swimming room for the Discus & Angels as they grow. 

I am still in my earliest of early planning stages, but I thank those that have created several threads covering these topics along with answering my own posts in helping me realize I can keep these fish and that I am ready to do so. Keep an eye here as I will update with pics, videos and whatever as I go along. 🙂

 

@Twood @Fish Folk @AllFishNoBrakes @Andy's Fish Den @Guppysnail @Chick-In-Of-TheSea @nabokovfan87 @Lennie 🙂 

 

[Guppysnail]

This sounds wonderful. I’m looking forward to following along. 
 

PS. Would you like me to move this from general to journals section?
 

 

[Lennie]

On 7/29/2023 at 8:51 PM, Shadow said:

Stocking will both feature varying colors of Discus, prob 4-6 in the foyer tank and 6-10 in the 75 gal office tank.

While we were talking about fish behavior and situation of albino fish in schools with my fish ichthyologist friend, one she examplified and shared her experience with discus. She said " with discus they do strongly seem to only associate with their own colour variants. And for wilds their own species.
So blues don't want to be near the pigeon bloods who are solid red. I think part of it is also the importance of colour in communication for many fishes so those who can't there is miscommunication issues. So I noticed S. tarzoo the Peruvian/Western Brazilian species would be very aggressive towards S. discus (Heckels) which had a permanent bar, maybe looking like stress to them."

she also mentioned like " if planning to keep yellows, then they will go pink if fed any red enhancers which is most foods and improves the colouration of other varieties."

I think these are important stuff to keep in mind.

On 7/29/2023 at 8:51 PM, Shadow said:

mystery snails

Ideally, it is not suggested to keep mystery snails anything above 24-25C. Their shell grows so fast and it becomes quite thin and their lifespan shortens, which is already very short sadly. Also discus water parameters are the opposite what mystery snails would love to. High ph/kh/gh versus low ph/gh/kh.

On 7/29/2023 at 8:51 PM, Shadow said:

GBRs

For GBR, I think you can try keeping multiple together if you don't have a pair in that tank size. But my pair killed other female in a trio after pairing up in a 100cm x 40cm tank even when their territory was on the far left and the tank is full of a huge driftwood in the middle, lots of rocks, territory blocks, plants... I had no issues before they reached adulthood even in 29g tank. But they reach the sexual maturity pretty fast.

[Shadow]

On 7/29/2023 at 12:56 PM, Guppysnail said:

This sounds wonderful. I’m looking forward to following along. 
 

PS. Would you like me to move this from general to journals section?
 

 

Yes, please. I didnt realize where I posted it honestly lol. 

On 7/29/2023 at 1:33 PM, Lennie said:

While we were talking about fish behavior and situation of albino fish in schools with my fish ichthyologist friend, one she examplified and shared her experience with discus. She said " with discus they do strongly seem to only associate with their own colour variants. And for wilds their own species.
So blues don't want to be near the pigeon bloods who are solid red. I think part of it is also the importance of colour in communication for many fishes so those who can't there is miscommunication issues. So I noticed S. tarzoo the Peruvian/Western Brazilian species would be very aggressive towards S. discus (Heckels) which had a permanent bar, maybe looking like stress to them."

she also mentioned like " if planning to keep yellows, then they will go pink if fed any red enhancers which is most foods and improves the colouration of other varieties."

I think these are important stuff to keep in mind.

Ideally, it is not suggested to keep mystery snails anything above 24-25C. Their shell grows so fast and it becomes quite thin and their lifespan shortens, which is already very short sadly. Also discus water parameters are the opposite what mystery snails would love to. High ph/kh/gh versus low ph/gh/kh.

For GBR, I think you can try keeping multiple together if you don't have a pair in that tank size. But my pair killed other female in a trio after pairing up in a 100cm x 40cm tank even when their territory was on the far left and the tank is full of a huge driftwood in the middle, lots of rocks, territory blocks, plants... I had no issues before they reached adulthood even in 29g tank. But they reach the sexual maturity pretty fast.

Thanks Lennie! Def was curious what I could keep in there with them for detritus control. Warmer waters aren't great really for shrimp or snails I spose...what would you suggest? Also, thank you so much for those research notes...will come in handy, as when I buy pairs I will keep pairs together of the same color. @Fish Folk @Andy's Fish Den have you all had issues with aggression amongst mixing colors? Also, I thought if you kept more than just 3 with GBRs, like a smaller school, they'd be less aggressive once pairing up? 

[Fish Folk]

On 7/29/2023 at 2:37 PM, Shadow said:

have you all had issues with aggression amongst mixing colors? Also, I thought if you kept more than just 3 with GBRs, like a smaller school, they'd be less aggressive once pairing up?

I have not noticed major issues with varied colors.

Ram groups are touch-and-go.

Edited July 29, 2023 by Fish Folk

[Lennie]

On 7/29/2023 at 9:37 PM, Shadow said:

Yes, please. I didnt realize where I posted it honestly lol. 

Thanks Lennie! Def was curious what I could keep in there with them for detritus control. Warmer waters aren't great really for shrimp or snails I spose...what would you suggest? Also, thank you so much for those research notes...will come in handy, as when I buy pairs I will keep pairs together of the same color. @Fish Folk @Andy's Fish Den have you all had issues with aggression amongst mixing colors? Also, I thought if you kept more than just 3 with GBRs, like a smaller school, they'd be less aggressive once pairing up? 

To make it more clear, it was also an experience of her but not a research

What do you mean by detrius control? Something that will turn the substrate over? 
 

or you mean a cleanup crew that will eat uneaten foods or algae eaters that will assist you through any potential algae issues?
 

Rabbit snails want high temperatures and may help you turn over the substrate as they like to bury but they will again want that high gh/kh/ph environment ideally. Major part of the snail shells in general is calcium carbonate. They need calcium in their water/diet and high ph to make sure their shelves don’t dissolve in the water due to acidity. It’s like adding crushed coral or cuttlebone to the tank. Their shell dissolves in low ph environment with the same mentality.

 

Besides rabbit snails, I am keeping SAE and sterbai cories in those temperatures. As a pleco, I have an L199 I keep in thosetemps but it is a more carnivore one and ofcourse as any other requires a dedicated diet. Plecos usually have a high bioload tho.

I usually use my tap around 7.5-8.0 ph high kh gh water in my tanks if it is not a softwater breeding project. So all snails, cories and SAE I mentioned above have approximately 7.5ph, 16kh, 10 gh. 

 

there is many people that keep their softwater fish in their higher gh/kh/ph tap water and aim to keep parameters stable. It worked for me for my black rams, but they didnt breed until I made them a 50liter softwater 6.0ph species tank. 
 

whats your plan in this regard? What’s your tap parameters are like? Are you planning to use ro?

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/29/2023 at 1:56 PM, Guppysnail said:

This sounds wonderful. I’m looking forward to following along. 

Oohh yes indeed, me too! 

[Shadow]

On 7/29/2023 at 2:41 PM, Lennie said:

To make it more clear, it was also an experience of her but not a research

What do you mean by detrius control? Something that will turn the substrate over? 
 

or you mean a cleanup crew that will eat uneaten foods or algae eaters that will assist you through any potential algae issues?
 

Rabbit snails want high temperatures and may help you turn over the substrate as they like to bury but they will again want that high gh/kh/ph environment ideally. Major part of the snail shells in general is calcium carbonate. They need calcium in their water/diet and high ph to make sure their shelves don’t dissolve in the water due to acidity. It’s like adding crushed coral or cuttlebone to the tank. Their shell dissolves in low ph environment with the same mentality.

 

Besides rabbit snails, I am keeping SAE and sterbai cories in those temperatures. As a pleco, I have an L199 I keep in thosetemps but it is a more carnivore one and ofcourse as any other requires a dedicated diet. Plecos usually have a high bioload tho.

I usually use my tap around 7.5-8.0 ph high kh gh water in my tanks if it is not a softwater breeding project. So all snails, cories and SAE I mentioned above have approximately 7.5ph, 16kh, 10 gh. 

 

there is many people that keep their softwater fish in their higher gh/kh/ph tap water and aim to keep parameters stable. It worked for me for my black rams, but they didnt breed until I made them a 50liter softwater 6.0ph species tank. 
 

whats your plan in this regard? What’s your tap parameters are like? Are you planning to use ro?

I am buying an RO system and installing it on one of my sinks. I plan to try to use my own water, as its right at about 7.0-7.4 area. Usually once everything is planted and going it drops closer to 7.0 to 6.8 range. Luckily the water here isn't overly hard. As far as detritus, I am talking more something for to keep up with extra food left at the bottom. I do have a load of SAE that live in my planted tank, I think there are 6 in there and they are getting bigger. Could use them. 

Yea @Lennie, straight from tap its 6.8-7.0 to me as far as the API test goes...just tested

[Shadow]

One other thing, as far as canister filters...wonder if a FX2 would be better than a smaller canister? I have a couple newer Oase, but not sure if I need something larger as I plan to have multi air stone and sponge filters inside as well. 

[Lennie]

On 7/29/2023 at 11:13 PM, Shadow said:

I am buying an RO system and installing it on one of my sinks. I plan to try to use my own water, as its right at about 7.0-7.4 area. Usually once everything is planted and going it drops closer to 7.0 to 6.8 range. Luckily the water here isn't overly hard. As far as detritus, I am talking more something for to keep up with extra food left at the bottom. I do have a load of SAE that live in my planted tank, I think there are 6 in there and they are getting bigger. Could use them. 

Yea @Lennie, straight from tap its 6.8-7.0 to me as far as the API test goes...just tested

If you want something different, I love my red lizard whiptails (L010a). Your parameters would be good for them too.

they like hot temps, great cleanup for leftover food bur surely requires a dedicated diet. Not shy like most plecos, and fun to keep. They don’t school but they love to socialise. Males can be territorial from time to time during feeding time between each other, but Ive noticed this becoming an issue after Ive moved them to a breeding setup. In a bigger community tank setup, I havent observed any behavior like that before.

I would probably keep around 6-8 of those in that tank size

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/29/2023 at 3:41 PM, Lennie said:

Something that will turn the substrate over?

Corydoras could be an option if compatible with the species you are keeping @Shadow

[Shadow]

On 7/29/2023 at 7:23 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Corydoras could be an option if compatible with the species you are keeping @Shadow

I always want Corys in everything lol

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/29/2023 at 5:26 PM, Shadow said:

always want Corys in everything lol

Just be careful with heat.  Especially discus temps.  This setup sounds about exactly what you're targeting as a setup.
 

 

[Shadow]

On 7/29/2023 at 8:35 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Just be careful with heat.  Especially discus temps.  This setup sounds about exactly what you're targeting as a setup.
 

 

Excellent! As always, thanks! Definitely will be keeping multiple heaters going. Its why, if I don't go with an FX2, I might run one of my new Oase canisters as they also have heaters internally. 

[Shadow]

On 7/29/2023 at 8:35 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Just be careful with heat.  Especially discus temps.  This setup sounds about exactly what you're targeting as a setup.
 

 

Oh...I read it and had my screen upwards and didnt see that you responded to my Cory quote lol. Yeah, I am not sure I will keep Corys in those temps, so might go with alternative cleanup crews like @Lennie suggested. 

[Lennie]

On 7/30/2023 at 5:09 AM, Shadow said:

Yeah, I am not sure I will keep Corys in those temps

I keep my sterbais at 28C and haven't observed any side effect personally. They go a lil bit higher than that due to us having really hot summer time here, so I can't prevent the temperature raising, and they still managed to handle it well. But I have never kept them intentionally higher than 28C anytime

But yea red lizards are amazing. Lil bit pricey, and hard to find the actual red ones. Hybrids are commonly being sold as red lizards. Watch out for that one

This is the look you want:

[Shadow]

On 7/30/2023 at 3:41 AM, Lennie said:

I keep my sterbais at 28C and haven't observed any side effect personally. They go a lil bit higher than that due to us having really hot summer time here, so I can't prevent the temperature raising, and they still managed to handle it well. But I have never kept them intentionally higher than 28C anytime

But yea red lizards are amazing. Lil bit pricey, and hard to find the actual red ones. Hybrids are commonly being sold as red lizards. Watch out for that one

This is the look you want:

Yea I know about heat, we are about to have a week of 100 F+/40 C+ & 100% humidity...what sucks is we aren't even at the hottest month of our summer annually which is August. Wish I was living in Norway, where my friend lives, she says its already starting to feel like Fall is approaching. 😍

@nabokovfan87 was it you that suggested the FX2 a while back? Curious what experience you've had between it and the normal Fluval canisters. Tbh, I am souring on Fluval canisters as my 107 has started to crapped out in under a year. Has issues with the motor slowing or locking....why I bought these Oase canisters, as a couple YTers from the UK I follow swear by them. I've heard the FX series is waaaay better than their standard canisters and also way easier to clean. Just curious as filtration on these tanks will be key. Overdoing it here I don't think is a bad thing as the cleaner the water and more oxygenated the happier they are. 

Edited July 30, 2023 by Shadow

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/30/2023 at 5:45 AM, Shadow said:

@nabokovfan87 was it you that suggested the FX2 a while back? Curious what experience you've had between it and the normal Fluval canisters. Tbh, I am souring on Fluval canisters as my 107

(You might opt to edit that above, just a heads up)

Hm.... The fluval canisters are a bit wonky for me. I enjoy the design and mechanical layout of the x07 series a lot more than I do the FX series. The one difference between the two is size, pump, and tray design.

In my own view I think everything screams to use the 407 (or whatever they release next) as opposed to the FX just because of of the design choices.   Where things break down for me is the fluval pump designs. Sometimes they have issues with impeller design, but it's something that I haven't personally used and it's difficult for me to say.

When you say you're having issues with the 107, I wonder exactly what you're seeing. Leaking aside or wear aside, if it's a pump you might start with just that impeller and a seal kit and go from there.

The trays on the FX are harder to use and the layout is a bit out of sorts for what media can go in certain spots. I do like that both of them have the spraybar options, but there is also an issue in general of adjustability.  It's likely the main reason I don't have one is just that fear of messing up the sizing.

The pump on the FX is designed as a "smart pump" which likely means nothing. It's more so likely just designed to handle a certain task better than the other.... Like air in the lines.... Without damaging itself.  Everything I've ever owned that says "self cleaning" just means it turns one way for a few seconds when it powers on to remove debris, but that rarely is an effective method to handle that problem.

I would argue the choice is entirely on which one you feel works best and which is easier for you to use day to day.

On 7/30/2023 at 5:45 AM, Shadow said:

Overdoing it here I don't think is a bad thing as the cleaner the water and more oxygenated the happier they are. 

It probably sounds goofy, but I feel like bubble walls might make it to a lot of our tanks. Sponge filters are nice and all, but there's just something about a wall/stream of bubbles I enjoy.  @TeeJay has some really nice ones he uses that might be cool for your setup.

Filtration aside, if the goal is oxygenation, it's nice to have the air for when you're doing maintenance as well and the pumps for the filter are off.

On 7/30/2023 at 5:45 AM, Shadow said:

what sucks is we aren't even at the hottest month of our summer annually which is August

We go all the way to September now. But yeah... Summer is just getting warmed up!

[Shadow]

On 7/30/2023 at 11:22 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

(You might opt to edit that above, just a heads up)

Hm.... The fluval canisters are a bit wonky for me. I enjoy the design and mechanical layout of the x07 series a lot more than I do the FX series. The one difference between the two is size, pump, and tray design.

In my own view I think everything screams to use the 407 (or whatever they release next) as opposed to the FX just because of of the design choices.   Where things break down for me is the fluval pump designs. Sometimes they have issues with impeller design, but it's something that I haven't personally used and it's difficult for me to say.

When you say you're having issues with the 107, I wonder exactly what you're seeing. Leaking aside or wear aside, if it's a pump you might start with just that impeller and a seal kit and go from there.

The trays on the FX are harder to use and the layout is a bit out of sorts for what media can go in certain spots. I do like that both of them have the spraybar options, but there is also an issue in general of adjustability.  It's likely the main reason I don't have one is just that fear of messing up the sizing.

The pump on the FX is designed as a "smart pump" which likely means nothing. It's more so likely just designed to handle a certain task better than the other.... Like air in the lines.... Without damaging itself.  Everything I've ever owned that says "self cleaning" just means it turns one way for a few seconds when it powers on to remove debris, but that rarely is an effective method to handle that problem.

I would argue the choice is entirely on which one you feel works best and which is easier for you to use day to day.

It probably sounds goofy, but I feel like bubble walls might make it to a lot of our tanks. Sponge filters are nice and all, but there's just something about a wall/stream of bubbles I enjoy.  @TeeJay has some really nice ones he uses that might be cool for your setup.

Filtration aside, if the goal is oxygenation, it's nice to have the air for when you're doing maintenance as well and the pumps for the filter are off.

We go all the way to September now. But yeah... Summer is just getting warmed up!

Edited that to a more appropriate phrase, thanks for the heads up! 😜 

I am going to opt for the Oase Biomaster 250, its got 4 channel sealed biofilters, an internal heater(I will add two others in the tank for safe keeping along with a Inkbird Controller) and is graded for up to 70 gallons. It along with the two sponge filters on the battery backup Co Op Dual pumps with two additional lines for airstone balls. I will def look into that airwall, @TeeJay maybe shoot me the link in DM to the one you use...thinking I will use it in my 75 gal for the bedroom. If the Oase works great on the 60 gal then I will use it as well in my room as I have 350 in my room still, but might even spring for the 600 but think that is overdoing it. I might have soured enough on Fluval to where I might make the transition to Oase as all my favorite YTers use them and several of my friends as well, they all swear by them. I still have a want of doing a sump with my 75 gal in my room but as I am super inexperienced there, combining it with also inexperience of keeping Cichlids/Discus, I might still with what I know here and at a latter date, make some kind of transition to sump. Although prob not...lol. 

Lastly, at least yours is just to September...we are fighting ours often well into November along with hurricane season being at its worst in Sept/October. I just bought a new gas powered generator and window AC unit to prepare in case we lose power. Already very prepared in that I have almost all my tanks with battery backup sponge filters in case I lose my canisters due to power outage. Anyways, next weekend I will begin the build and allow the tank to run for a couple weeks before I begin to add livestock. My plan is to add GBRs and Tetras along with my cleanup crew first, then once tank is well established and parameters are great, I will add my first Discus to the mix. 

[Shadow]

If most of the hardscape and plants come in this week, tank #1 will be started. Have some ever evolving plans including creating my own lid thanks to @dasaltemelosguy post earlier that @Guppysnail was so awesome to have tagged me in. If all goes to plan, I will do the same with tank #2. We will wait until they are planted and lively before giving said tanks names. Tonight, I spent time going through small stones from the stone garden we have currently and are about to get rid of at the new home to actually plant something(previous homeowners did nothing for the landscape meaning, well...I got stones, lots of cool smooth river stones). Got about 50-60 I cleaned, boiled and cleaned again that I have selected and am awaiting some very large river stones from Vermont that I bought from someone online. Those will be the rock features in the tank with some accent wood and plants, lots of plants. 

[Shadow]

On 7/29/2023 at 4:04 PM, Lennie said:

If you want something different, I love my red lizard whiptails (L010a). Your parameters would be good for them too.

they like hot temps, great cleanup for leftover food bur surely requires a dedicated diet. Not shy like most plecos, and fun to keep. They don’t school but they love to socialise. Males can be territorial from time to time during feeding time between each other, but Ive noticed this becoming an issue after Ive moved them to a breeding setup. In a bigger community tank setup, I havent observed any behavior like that before.

I would probably keep around 6-8 of those in that tank size

Dansfish actually has some...not insanely bad priced as I thought. I was also conversing with them on an upcoming order...they have Discus available that are tank bred. They keep theirs in the same system as all the others and have them at 79 F, gh/kh readings are over the test strip(meaning very high) and their pH is very high as well. Definitely goes to show that if they aren't wild caught, I guess or maybe as @Torrey mentioned in another post...Heckels, they can be held in a wider range of water parameters. I think my plan is to keep the tanks in the low 80s(80-83 F or 26-28 C for our Canadian/EU friendos) given the other tank inhabitants are fine with that. In making that decision I think Sterbais and Whiptails will be added to Tank #1. Still searching and thinking on what else will be in from near the start before I add the Discus. Pretty sure we are still a go on stocking plans mentioned in initial post though. I have found some really cool Electric Blue/German Blue hybrids that look like GBRs but the blue is waaaay more intense. So I am thinking of going with the home breeder that has them. They look super healthy!

[Shadow]

With Tetras though....should I go for the Congos in Tank #1 or a smaller to medium size. My concern is that they will get too aggressive and swarmy when feeding once I get the Discus in which could upset them too much if they get as big as Congos do. Thoughts?

 

[Lennie]

On 8/3/2023 at 12:10 AM, Shadow said:

Dansfish actually has some...not insanely bad priced as I thought. I was also conversing with them on an upcoming order...they have Discus available that are tank bred. They keep theirs in the same system as all the others and have them at 79 F, gh/kh readings are over the test strip(meaning very high) and their pH is very high as well. Definitely goes to show that if they aren't wild caught, I guess or maybe as @Torrey mentioned in another post...Heckels, they can be held in a wider range of water parameters. I think my plan is to keep the tanks in the low 80s(80-83 F or 26-28 C for our Canadian/EU friendos) given the other tank inhabitants are fine with that. In making that decision I think Sterbais and Whiptails will be added to Tank #1. Still searching and thinking on what else will be in from near the start before I add the Discus. Pretty sure we are still a go on stocking plans mentioned in initial post though. I have found some really cool Electric Blue/German Blue hybrids that look like GBRs but the blue is waaaay more intense. So I am thinking of going with the home breeder that has them. They look super healthy!

I love both my sterbais and red lizard whiptails.  Sounds like a good choice, or maybe I'm biased 😄

Dan's try to breed many fish out of their ranges I believe to have fish that are more adaptable. I've seen their chocolate gouramis being bred and raised on those parameters too! Wish I could own some tankbred ones myself :') 

I keep my discus at 28C, also following the temp the guy I got them from keeps them at.

But I have to mention again that after gbr reach sexual maturity, the stuff maystart going... bad. Well, at least it did for me. Be careful keeping a group. And share some pics with us! 

Edited August 2, 2023 by Lennie

[Shadow]

On 8/2/2023 at 4:23 PM, Lennie said:

I love both my sterbais and red lizard whiptails.  Sounds like a good choice, or maybe I'm biased 😄

Dan's try to breed many fish out of their ranges I believe to have fish that are more adaptable. I've seen their chocolate gouramis being bred and raised on those parameters too! Wish I could own some tankbred ones myself :') 

I keep my discus at 28C, also following the temp the guy I got them from keeps them at.

But I have to mention again that after gbr reach sexual maturity, the stuff maystart going... bad. Well, at least it did for me. Be careful keeping a group. And share some pics with us! 

Yea I am not going to get a large group, maybe two males two females. I dont want to overstock with something that could become problematic later...hence my reserve about putting Congos in there as opposed to maybe Rummynose or Kerris. 

[Lennie]

On 8/3/2023 at 12:36 AM, Shadow said:

Yea I am not going to get a large group, maybe two males two females. I dont want to overstock with something that could become problematic later...hence my reserve about putting Congos in there as opposed to maybe Rummynose or Kerris. 

I LOVE congo tetras. Actually they are hands down my favorite. I haven't kept them before because I couldn't find a good stock like I wanted.

I'm excited to see your end results