Thanks for discus help and update

[Elaine T]

Thanks to all who responded for my requests for help with Flower, the
gift discus. Flower has finally colored up and is simply breathtaking.
He's a high-fin red turquoise with great markings on his face, gills,
and anal fin. He's become the boss of the tank, much as NetMax said he
likely would, and is behaving very much like an angelfish. If he wants
something the other fish are interested in, he simply lunges at them and
they scatter.

I went to 1/2 RO over a couple of water changes, which has lowered the
pH to 7.3ish (hard to read precisely on BTB). After the second water
change with RO, Flower suddenly stopped clamping his fins. I must have
hit the magic pH/softness where he's comfortable. Temps are 82F night,
84F day and most of my plants are hanging in there. I think I'm only
going to lose the Saggitaria.

Flower didn't eat until I did the discus "no-no" on Sunday and offered
live blackworms. Flower picked at a couple and then greedily ate every
single one he could find. Now he swims quickly up to where I feed every
time I get near the tank - again much like an angelfish. He spends the
rest of the time hunting for any blackworm he might have missed, and
trying to decide whether the cardinal tetras are food. ;-) I'll wean
him onto other foods (preferably not cardinals) once he's fattened back
up from his 9 day self-imposed fast. At the moment, I'm thrilled to see
him eating anything.

Even if he only stays happy for a few months before he outgrows the
tank, it's still a very cool birthday gift to have a gorgeous discus
come scooting up to the front of the tank begging for another worm.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[NetMax]

"Elaine T" > wrote in message
.. .
> Thanks to all who responded for my requests for help with Flower, the gift
> discus. Flower has finally colored up and is simply breathtaking. He's a
> high-fin red turquoise with great markings on his face, gills, and anal
> fin. He's become the boss of the tank, much as NetMax said he likely
> would, and is behaving very much like an angelfish. If he wants something
> the other fish are interested in, he simply lunges at them and they
> scatter.
>
> I went to 1/2 RO over a couple of water changes, which has lowered the pH
> to 7.3ish (hard to read precisely on BTB). After the second water change
> with RO, Flower suddenly stopped clamping his fins. I must have hit the
> magic pH/softness where he's comfortable. Temps are 82F night, 84F day
> and most of my plants are hanging in there. I think I'm only going to
> lose the Saggitaria.
>
> Flower didn't eat until I did the discus "no-no" on Sunday and offered
> live blackworms. Flower picked at a couple and then greedily ate every
> single one he could find. Now he swims quickly up to where I feed every
> time I get near the tank - again much like an angelfish. He spends the
> rest of the time hunting for any blackworm he might have missed, and
> trying to decide whether the cardinal tetras are food. ;-) I'll wean him
> onto other foods (preferably not cardinals) once he's fattened back up
> from his 9 day self-imposed fast. At the moment, I'm thrilled to see him
> eating anything.
>
> Even if he only stays happy for a few months before he outgrows the tank,
> it's still a very cool birthday gift to have a gorgeous discus come
> scooting up to the front of the tank begging for another worm.
>
> --
> Elaine T __
> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
> rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Woo hoo, flower power ;~). Thanks for the update.

Part of my confidence was in the expert care that I knew he would be
receiving from you :o).

Isn't it neat/weird/interesting to see their reaction when you hit their
pH/gH of preference?
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Elaine T]

NetMax wrote:
> "Elaine T" > wrote in message
> .. .
>
>>Thanks to all who responded for my requests for help with Flower, the gift
>>discus. Flower has finally colored up and is simply breathtaking. He's a
>>high-fin red turquoise with great markings on his face, gills, and anal
>>fin. He's become the boss of the tank, much as NetMax said he likely
>>would, and is behaving very much like an angelfish. If he wants something
>>the other fish are interested in, he simply lunges at them and they
>>scatter.
>>
>>I went to 1/2 RO over a couple of water changes, which has lowered the pH
>>to 7.3ish (hard to read precisely on BTB). After the second water change
>>with RO, Flower suddenly stopped clamping his fins. I must have hit the
>>magic pH/softness where he's comfortable. Temps are 82F night, 84F day
>>and most of my plants are hanging in there. I think I'm only going to
>>lose the Saggitaria.
>>
>>Flower didn't eat until I did the discus "no-no" on Sunday and offered
>>live blackworms. Flower picked at a couple and then greedily ate every
>>single one he could find. Now he swims quickly up to where I feed every
>>time I get near the tank - again much like an angelfish. He spends the
>>rest of the time hunting for any blackworm he might have missed, and
>>trying to decide whether the cardinal tetras are food. ;-) I'll wean him
>>onto other foods (preferably not cardinals) once he's fattened back up
>>from his 9 day self-imposed fast. At the moment, I'm thrilled to see him
>>eating anything.
>>
>>Even if he only stays happy for a few months before he outgrows the tank,
>>it's still a very cool birthday gift to have a gorgeous discus come
>>scooting up to the front of the tank begging for another worm.
>>
>>--
>>Elaine T __
>>http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
>>rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com
>
>
> Woo hoo, flower power ;~). Thanks for the update.
>
> Part of my confidence was in the expert care that I knew he would be
> receiving from you :o).
>
> Isn't it neat/weird/interesting to see their reaction when you hit their
> pH/gH of preference?

Thanks. You're such a flatterer. ;-) It was pretty surprising to see
Flower color up. He went from sulking in the corner with clamped fins
to colorful and eating pretty much overnight.

BF is soooo funny. He said "I'm sorry - I got you a jerk of a fish!"
when he saw Flower chasing the cardinals away from the worms. I just
laughed since I'm used to cichlids. All the other fish are eating their
fill of flake anyway and the cardinals have started spawning displays so
Flower isn't upsetting anything.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com