# Save the last Discus of Congo.



## zanguli-ya-zamba (24 Sep 2015)

Hi guys,

I didn't post something since a long time. 
I have a small story. A friend of mine order 8 months ago 7 discus coming from China. They had a long and hard trip to Congo and they arrived in really bad shape. 
Slowly they all died, leaving only one member of the group alive. 
Yesterday I went to his house (it was his birthday), and saw his tank with a lot of tilipias the biggest one was 40 cm long (huuuuge). The discus was terrorize in one of the corner of the tank, skin completely dark and a belly empty, I could clearly see that the fish didn't eat for long time as he was completely terrorize. 
So I decided to save that discus and give him a better life. 
So I went back home turn off the CO2 of my tank, good aeration of the water, after mixing water for 1,5 hours I have put the fish in the tank. In peace with no other fishes. 
Now start the journey to save him. 
I have put him in my scaping tank 90x40x50 high tech, but the down side is that i don't want to ruin my new scape (going since a month and going well) so I don't want to cut on my routine that is working well (24/7 CO2, 80% WC per week, 2x EI with MgSo4 et Ca). I am afraid that if I keep it in this tank I will ruin all my scape and all the effort I have done. It took me long time to reach the level that I have now in aquascaping with the methods I use and don't want to "start from zero again". 
I have a second tank at the office that is running since a year with one wood moss and some few rotalas. This tank is completely left on his own. No water change, just topping from evaporation. No filter cleaning etc. first I wanted to put the fish in this tank, but there is a small problem. The tank is quite shallow 50x40x25 cm. 
do you think it will be okay for the discus 8 cm diameter, or I should keep it in my big tank ? It would be better for me to put it in my small tank like that I can continue scaping on the big one. 

Second problem is food, we don't have access to artemia or tibuflex or what's so ever. I can only do home made food. Do some one have some good and EASY recipe for discus food. Two different like that I can vary his nutrition. 

I hope I will have answers to where put the fish. I hope that I can put him alone in the small tank. 

Thank you  


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## roadmaster (24 Sep 2015)

I do not think the Discus would hurt your aquascape but it may not adapt readily to CO2 unless done very slowly over day's.
If you were to back off light intensity for a few day's, then this would reduce demand from plant's and allow you to slowly increase both the light and CO2 for the Discus to adapt more slowly.
Are some recipe's for food's at SimplyDiscus.com and I would be tempted to try and mix in some anti-parasite med's such as praziquantel with the food which you could then freeze and offer only this food for next few week's.
I suspect the tilapia could carry parasites that are easily passed from one fish to another.
Hope some of this help's and good luck.


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## sciencefiction (26 Sep 2015)

Hey Zanguli.
I've never kept discus so I can't give you a great advice.
I think the small tank is a no, no if you want that fish to recover, especially not if the water is old and you don't have means to do regular water changes.
I'd chance him in the bigger tank, the big water changes would help too in the long run as long as the incoming water is the same as the tank(Kh, Ph, TDS,etc.)
Do you have any idea how old he is? They need to eat a lot to grow, nice food,  lots of water changes, extremely clean water.
Plus he may have a small chance surviving, being on his own without buddies of his own.... but I wouldn't add anything at all until I know the fish is free of diseases and healthy eventually. He can spook from bright lights too and I don't think he'd love the flow in a planted tank.

As for home made food for discus, google it. You'll find plenty of recipes. I wouldn't jump on the beef heart version because it will wreak havoc in a planted tank.


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## alto (26 Sep 2015)

Order in some freeze dried California black worms (the new miracle discus food ) or Australian freeze dried black worms (send me a pm, I'll see if my local shop has any in stock that I can send on)

I agree that the shallow tank will be rather stressful (I'm reading the dimensions as 25cm H) though if you can bring that tank home & do daily water changes, it's likely better than where the fish has been (he must be a fighter!), it's possible that fish will prefer a shallow, dim tank (make sure you have a cover for jumping) over a brightly lit aquascape, especially if you add floating plants & offer some hiding areas.
I'm not sure of the discus size, 8cm diameter body? or including fins (or nose/tail)???

It's possible that fish will also do better with some small dithers (neons or cardinals etc - often ailing discus do not infect other fishes so this is not necessarily a hardship for the dither fish)

You might post on one of the Discus Forums - maybe there is even a hobbyist in your country that will have supplies/advice or even a home to offer


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## PARAGUAY (26 Sep 2015)

Hi Zanguli, I have not had much experience with Discus so all I can think of is email whoever you can in the expertise of this,. you have to use whatever options available to you but my understanding of the care of Discus is they need good water quality  correct temperature,I understand tank bred are more tolerant of higher ph.In any event I think partial darkness and in time as mentioned some gentle dither fish may help.Its commendable what you doing to save a single fish.Africa is a huge place so you may get quick advice from Europe email Tony at Chens Discus or the team at Practical Fishkeeping plenty of expertise they may answer quick in the circumstances.Good luck


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (29 Sep 2015)

Hi guys 
Thank you very much for all your advices. 
So I decided to follow you advices and I keep the discus in the big tank. 
Logically I have raise the light and turn off two bulbs on 4. I have put back CO2 on Sunday so I am at home and can monitor what happened with the fish. Everything is ok. Yesterday I had full CO2 cycle without problems. I think on Thursday I will a slightly the CO2. I have a needle valve on my CO2Art reg. 
I have decided to take de challenge of CO2 + fishes that I was scare of since a year. 
A member of UKAPS living in Kinshasa contacted me yesterday because he was ordering some Amano shrimps, and he kindly ask me if I wanted something. So I ordered 45 Ember Tetras and 15 Amano. 
So the challenge is ON !! 
I hope that this adventure will go well for me. 

Here is a quick shot of the tank and one of the Discus. Tank is 90x45x50 cm









Cheers 




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## Tim Harrison (29 Sep 2015)

He looks very happy...


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (29 Sep 2015)

He was almost black when I took it out of my friend tank. 
He eats well, but I need to feed him with some thing else that I give him. Now he have a mix of. Fish, spinach, peas, carrots, banana. 
I will have some beef heart today. So I will have to mix everything today for him. 
I have read that I can also give him a piece of papaya or a piece of banana. 
What other easy thing I can give him 


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## Tim Harrison (29 Sep 2015)

I've no idea, always wanted to keep discus but never got round to it...but his diet sounds like it's already more varied than that of most people


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## alto (30 Sep 2015)

Fish looks great - he obviously appreciates your aquascape-in-the-making 
Don't worry about the beefheart - I'll be slayed by the discus crew but this is not a great food for them ... first evidence of  ornamental fish with "fat clogged arteries"  & fatty deposits on liver & heart muscle was in beefheart fed discus.
(there are technical/biochemical issues with the type of fats found in beef)

A contributor in the notes for this profile at Seriously Fish has got it right
_The unprocessed food was analised by Crampton, and the result is, that at the wet season 77% of the food was detrytus and plant matter, 5% were decapods, 10% Chironimidae larvae, 8% were composed of wood matter, bugs and Crustacea. In the dry season, the balance drifts towards bugs and crustacea (only 55% were composed ef the detrytus/plant matter)._
If you search through scientific papers, stomach analysis to determine diet is common.


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## Edvet (30 Sep 2015)

alto said:


> not a great food for them


I agree, i prefer all kinds of insects/larvae, if you want to feed a meat kind of source use salt water fish. Any chance of finding insectlarvae in the wild? Grubs or garden worms


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## roadmaster (30 Sep 2015)

I too would not get too wild about offering the beefheart and would try and get the fish interested in pellet food's along with good quality flake straight away..
I raised a group of eight young Discus a few year's back, and offered them Ocean nutrition flake,Tetra color bit's.New life Spectrum,and Spirulina laced Brine shrimp (freeze dried).
The young fish at first,would rise to the surface at feeding time but showed no interest in foraging along the bottom and the beef heart fouled the water fairly quickly,  and that which they did not eat straight away,had to be removed via syphon and water change.
The young fish were fed three times a day,(blasphemy to purist's) and water changes of 50% three times a week were performed for nearly eight month's in which time,, the young fish grew from silver dollar size ,to nearly14 cm or six inches .
At this size,they did not need the three feeding's a day to reach growth potential, and I reduced their food to once a day, and once weekly 50% water change which was welcome break.(was still using bucket's)
As they got larger,,I offered meal worm's,wax worm's,red worm's,freeze dried cricket's crumpled up,and dried alage sheet's hung from the wall's with veggie clip.
Tank I raised them in was 55 U.S. gallons with very thin layer of sand substrate (another ding from the purist's),and some fake bamboo grass floating on the surface to dim lighting and could easily be removed for feeding /vaccuming the sand.
Your Discus does not look that bad to me shape wise and other than maybe slightly pinched forehead,,It could still be quite handsome fish with good care.
Would not be in a hurry to add other fishes, and would quarantine all new fish before placing them in the tank.


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (30 Sep 2015)

Hi guys 

Thanks for your help for my fish !! 
So the beef heart will be a no no for me. 
Yesterday I discovered that a big supermarket here is doing a fish store, they are not operational for now, but as I know the CEO of the place he allow me to buy some things that were f**king expensive haha. 
I have buy some freeze and dry Arthemia, and some dry food for discus. I will take a picture of it tonight and post it. I have tried yesterday but he doesn't want to eat it. He was keeping coming back to the fish mixture I gave him at noon. So I siphon it and leave only Arthemia and the dry food. But until this morning he didn't eat it. As soon as I have put the fresh fish mixture he went on it to eat everything. 
Can I give him some fruit ? 

Ok now a question that is very important for me. 
How do you all proceed with water change when you have fish. 
Before having fish I was just siphoning, and than put back water directly from the tap on full power. The water we have here for the tape is super soft less than 1 kh or Gh. No No3 no Po4 no MgSo4 no Ca. Water is directly pump from Congo river than goes to main storage, and they add Chlorine and sulphate to treat the water. I know it because we transport the chemicals for the national water company. 

Now that I have a fish (and it s a discus) should I still do 50% on one shot ? 
When I put back water should I go very slowly ? Instead of 3 minutes to fill the 50% should I do 20 minutes ? 
Yesterday I both also some water conditioner. So I put the amount of product for the amount of water I took out from the tank, dose it in the tank and than put the water from the tap ? 
I just don't want to kill the fish of course! But I don't want to go back with buckets sitting in my living room with 100 L of water that sit for the chlorine to escape etc... ?

So how should I proceed for water change. 
Today I will go back to my normal EI dosing but I will change the amount of MgSo4 and Ca. I was doing 1/3 of EI for these two, I think I will go for 1/5 now. 

Thanks for your help guys I hope we find a good solution because already a week without WC (but a week without dosing also) so water should be ok 

Cheers 


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## alto (30 Sep 2015)

Go ahead & water change, nothing seems to suit discus more than very "clean" water.
Use dim lighting during the water change.
If you are unsure, you can always just do a smaller daily (or every other day) water change, eg, 25% today, 35% another day, then 50% 
Same with putting water back, start with a few minutes for the 25% ... 
(I always leave the filter running during water changes but this is just my personal preference) 

Recently a friend shipped in some discus, they arrived in poor condition, dark & lying down in the tank, gasping
They went into a clean tank with clean sponge (no cycled filter), daily 90% water change, on some the fins were "melting" (fish were delayed in shipping & ammonia built up in bags, this can cause "melting" of delicate fin tissue, 3 or 4 were DOA), they huddled together in one corner of the large tank  ... every day they looked a little better, began to swim a little more ... a month later they are mostly recovered (still breathing a bit heavily as ammonia damages the lung tissue).
Surprisingly even the darkest, sickest fish recovered.
Tap water is similar to your own, tank is drained (often fish will lie down) to 10%, start refilling direct from tap, add dechlor (Prime) ... my friend just blasts the water in, just making certain that temperature is correct & fish can retreat to opposite end of tank from incoming water. Fish are immediately up & swimming after water change.
Tank only received room lighting for the first 2 weeks or so.


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## roadmaster (1 Oct 2015)

I would use tap to fill the tank, and try and keep temp of new water close to tank temp.
I would /do, add enough dechlorinator to treat how much tank hold's, and I add this right before I start the new water entering the tank.
Can try mixing a little garlic with food's that the fish won't readily take, and some times this work's well, and is said to encourage evacuation of some internal parasite's.
I agree,water changes are often best medicine .


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## dw1305 (1 Oct 2015)

Hi all, 
If you can get local freshwater shrimps (of any type) they are really good cichlid feed. Freeze-dried, or frozen Mysis, shrimp might be a possibility.

cheers Darrel


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## dw1305 (1 Oct 2015)

Hi all,





Edvet said:


> garden worms


They are a distinct possibility as well. You might be able to culture something like <"_Eudrilus eugeniae"_>.

cheers Darrel


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## flygja (5 Oct 2015)

My experience with discus is... feed them whatever they like to eat. Some like pellets (Tetrabits), some only take live tubifex, some take frozen bloodworms. I've never tried beefheart/porkheart before because I can't find them ready made and I don't wanna go through the trouble of making my own. Personally I feel that beefheart is popular because its relatively cheap and its got loads of protein that will really bulk up discus or get them into spawning condition. If you talk to purists, they'll tell you the discus' eyes are too large for their body so you aren't feeding them enough, you'll never win competitions, you'll fail at breeding them, etc. But their objectives are different from some of ours 

I have to say though... shame on your friend for keeping discus with tilapia! Tilapia are so rowdy and messy!

I have not had any discus that were badly affected by CO2. I have run my CO2 in the lime green for extended period, discus still look and behave ok. I have a lotta surface movement to improve O2 gas exchange though. 

Nice tank by the way, I recognise the style


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (6 Oct 2015)

alto said:


> Go ahead & water change, nothing seems to suit discus more than very "clean" water.
> Use dim lighting during the water change.
> If you are unsure, you can always just do a smaller daily (or every other day) water change, eg, 25% today, 35% another day, then 50%
> Same with putting water back, start with a few minutes for the 25% ...
> ...




Hi Alto,

thanks for your advices.
Yesterday I did a 30% WC, I replaced the water very slowly, I putted dechlorinator. fish seems happy after the WC (more active).
I will do an other 30% on Friday.

cheers


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (6 Oct 2015)

roadmaster said:


> I would use tap to fill the tank, and try and keep temp of new water close to tank temp.
> I would /do, add enough dechlorinator to treat how much tank hold's, and I add this right before I start the new water entering the tank.
> Can try mixing a little garlic with food's that the fish won't readily take, and some times this work's well, and is said to encourage evacuation of some internal parasite's.
> I agree,water changes are often best medicine .



Hello Road master,

water temp, should b the same or maybe a little cooler than the tank water but not a lot, like 1 or 2 C°, as water was putted back very slowly it shouldn't affect the fish. I followed your advice by putting dechlorinator for the whole tank quantity. This will kill my budget as it is very expensive. I will try to order a box of dechlorinator and ship it by container (sea).
I have already done the mixe for food and forgot to put garlic inside. I will have to find another way to deparasite it.

bye


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (6 Oct 2015)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> If you can get local freshwater shrimps (of any type) they are really good cichlid feed. Freeze-dried, or frozen Mysis, shrimp might be a possibility.
> 
> cheers Darrel



Hi  Darrel,

thanks for your help !!! 
Yes I can easily find some fresh water shrimp here, as we eat often and we can find it in super market. I can mix it with what ? because I have already done :

fish + spinach + green peas + carrots + banana

I would like to vary a bit his food. The fish doesn't want to eat the freeze and dry arthemias shrimp and also the JBL discus food. for the frozen food I made he even comes to eat in my fingers. 

For those worms I can find it quite easily, but will I need to clean it and wash their "stomach" because I am sure that they don't live in good clean earth here in Kinshasa. 
Or will I have to culture them to be sure they are clean for my fish ? If so how can I culture them in good conditions please ? 

thanks for your help.

regards


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (6 Oct 2015)

flygja said:


> My experience with discus is... feed them whatever they like to eat. Some like pellets (Tetrabits), some only take live tubifex, some take frozen bloodworms. I've never tried beefheart/porkheart before because I can't find them ready made and I don't wanna go through the trouble of making my own. Personally I feel that beefheart is popular because its relatively cheap and its got loads of protein that will really bulk up discus or get them into spawning condition. If you talk to purists, they'll tell you the discus' eyes are too large for their body so you aren't feeding them enough, you'll never win competitions, you'll fail at breeding them, etc. But their objectives are different from some of ours
> 
> I have to say though... shame on your friend for keeping discus with tilapia! Tilapia are so rowdy and messy!
> 
> ...



Hi Flygia,

Good to know for the CO2 and the discus, now the CO2 is on since 10 days I have increase it a bit the fish is okay i don't think I am in the lime green at all, I should take out my drop checker and order some 4 kh bromo blue to check haha, plants are suffering a bit but they are ok, only mania bonsai is not accepting this CO2 change and is dying.
I know some one who have a pond and in his alteration it use to be full o blood worms (his filtration was in the sun), I have to contact him to know if he still have some. 

You recognize the style ??? Mine or Norbert Saba hahahaha ???

Regards mate 



Guys thanks you all for you compliment on the tank really appreciate !!!!!


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (6 Oct 2015)

Edvet said:


> I agree, i prefer all kinds of insects/larvae, if you want to feed a meat kind of source use salt water fish. Any chance of finding insectlarvae in the wild? Grubs or garden worms



Hi Edvet,

I can possibly find some larvae, because there is a shop that sells birds, geikos and I have seen them feeding their birds and lizard with larvae of a small black bug that I don't know the name. Maybe I can ask them to supply some. 
I ll give them a phone call.
I will look for some garden worms in my garden.
thanks

cheers


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## dw1305 (6 Oct 2015)

Hi all, 





zanguli-ya-zamba said:


> Yes I can easily find some fresh water shrimp here, as we eat often and we can find it in super market. I can mix it with what ? because I have already done:
> fish + spinach + green peas + carrots + banana


 That sounds a good mix, you could just add the shrimp in as <"another ingredient">.





zanguli-ya-zamba said:


> For those worms I can find it quite easily, but will I need to clean it and wash their "stomach" because I am sure that they don't live in good clean earth here in Kinshasa.
> Or will I have to culture them to be sure they are clean for my fish ? If so how can I culture them in good conditions please ?


Worms that live in mineral soil are difficult to culture, but if you can pick them up at night etc? should be OK to feed. If you put them in damp moss for a few days before you feed them to the fish they won't have any soil in their body cavity, but I've never worried too much.

If you can get hold of the worms that live in decaying vegetation, they can be cultured really easily in a bucket decayed leaves etc and fed with vegetable peelings etc.   Have a look at <"Vermicomposting">.  If you could find it <"_Eudrilus eugeniae_"> looks a good option.

cheers Darrel


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## zozo (6 Oct 2015)

I do not know about their english cappabilities.. But i only know they are very much into Discus.. They breed them for ove 15 years now and run a little shop in their living room with all kinds of brands and stuff. These guys live and breath Discus and aquarium, know all about Discus there is to know.  Its a joy to visit their home/shop, actualy it's hard to say which home it actualy is, theirs or that of the fish.

Anyway if you encounter any issues or specific questions, if he can't answer it nobody probably can..

http://www.discusshop.nl/

If you have any give it a go and drop them a line. I realy dont have an idea if they do english..


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (7 Oct 2015)

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## Tim Harrison (7 Oct 2015)

Looking suitably recovered now, are you going to get any more?


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (7 Oct 2015)

Troi said:


> Looking suitably recovered now, are you going to get any more?



Hi Troy,

If I can find other discus in Kinshasa I will add some, but I have never seen other discus in Kinshasa. I feel happy that I save it, but feel guilty that he is alone and must feel sad that he lives alone for a fish that lives discus mate. 
If I can find some discus mate I add some. 

Cheers 


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (9 Oct 2015)

Hello,
I did an other 25% WC yesterday. Fish seams to like it, more active again after the WC. 
I will do an other one tomorrow, because the frozen food do too much pollution. Did a strong trim on the MC on the left side where I put the food. All food get stuck in the plant bed and it is not go to smell the water that you siphon from this part of the tank haha.
Cheers 


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## alto (9 Oct 2015)

zanguli-ya-zamba said:


> it is not go to smell the water that you siphon from this part of the tank


definitely water change more often then - you can just syphon that area more frequently.

Have a look at "discus feeder cones" (just google image) & try to make something similar ... or if you add more gelatin or agar to your food mix so that you can stick it to the glass ...

If you add some corydoras they will help with the food cleanup, also try adding much less food at one time so that your discus hunts down the dropped bits.


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (9 Oct 2015)

Hi thanks alto. I just did an other 20% WC. 
Yes I think I will do an other batch of food. I will put gelatin it will help to hold together the food. 
I will siphon every day that place. Doing WC for me is very easy, as tap water is ultra soft, temp is the same than aquarium. So a long pipe to the toilets to empty and directly in the tap to fill. So it will not bother me to do 20% WC every other day. 
Let me check your video. 

Thanks 


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (9 Oct 2015)

The discus cone feeder is great I will DIY one next week with a mosquitos nest (I don't know if say it like that) and a metallic ring. Thanks for the tips. 


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (16 Oct 2015)

Hi guys 
The discus is doing very well !! It starts gaining weight and its face is less pinched than two weeks ago. 
I did a 45% WC yesterday everything is good so far. 
It's never a seams to have enough food. It is alway hungry hahaha this is discus. 
So an other good news !!! 
I met one of the UKAPS member Wednesday His name is Jose. 
He kindly asked me two weeks ago if I wanted some Amano shrimp and some fish. I of course said yes !!! So Wednesday he call me in the morning to tell me that everything has arrived. It is very kind from him to do that !!! Thanks again JOSE !!
So I have now 45 ember tetras and 15 Amano shrimps. 
The package have been sent on Monday and 3 days after its here, without any lost everyone survive the trip !!! 

It's incredible how these shrimps are efficient. In one day they have clean the white sand in front the tank and it's really clean and white !!
Now I am a fan of shrimp hahaha. 
It s good to have a bit of life in the tank because since 3 years I had only plants. 
I will post a picture of the tank this week end 

Cheers guys 


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## roadmaster (19 Oct 2015)

Yes,
The Amano shrimp will help greatly with cleaning up food's that the fish may let fall to the substrate.(good algae eater's also)
Glad to hear the discus is improving.


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (26 Oct 2015)

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## Edvet (27 Oct 2015)

Looking good! Realy like that first pic, fish has a good shape! Wel done


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## sciencefiction (27 Oct 2015)

Amazing job with the discus. He must feel at home


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## Tim Harrison (27 Oct 2015)




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## roadmaster (27 Oct 2015)

Discus is looking much better, and the small fishes will give the Discus comfort.
I might just leave the tank as it is with no more fishes.


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## JamieB (27 Oct 2015)

Wow, I've never really looked at discus before but now I am, it looks phenomenal in that tank! Keep up the fantastic work


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (27 Oct 2015)

Hi guys,

Thank you very much for all your good comments and cheering !!! 
Really appreciate. 
Tank is running very well for now. 
Plants have success to do theirs transition from High CO2 to much lower CO2 and flow. Had some lost but it okay. 
Fish are ok with CO2 I don't really want to push more as the fish are happy and plants are quite ok. 
I will try to lower the light 5 cm to see if plants can handle this with this level of co2 and flow. 


Cheers 


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (27 Oct 2015)

I really have to do some more food to vary its nutrition. 
It is still eating the same since I have it ( fish, banana, green peas, carrots and spinach)

Or do you think it's ok like this 


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## Edvet (27 Oct 2015)

Get some extra protein in, insects will do


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (27 Oct 2015)

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## zanguli-ya-zamba (27 Oct 2015)

Edvet said:


> Get some extra protein in, insects will do


Hi Edvet 
Yes, the rainy season have started so in the work shop there are some used tires that are collecting rain water so I think in a month or so I will be able to collect some mosquitos larvae 


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## flygja (3 Nov 2015)

That discus really is looking much better now.


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## REDSTEVEO (29 Nov 2015)

zanguli-ya-zamba said:


> I really have to do some more food to vary its nutrition.
> It is still eating the same since I have it ( fish, banana, green peas, carrots and spinach)
> 
> Or do you think it's ok like this
> ...


Hi I am very interested in this fish, banana, green peas, carrots and spinach food you are using. It seems to have done a great job in making your discus better. Can you tell us how you make this food, what type of fish are you using, are you cooking it all, blending it and freezing it or what. Can you show us a picture of what it looks like after you have made it and of you feeding it?
Well done on rescuing the discus, great job. Now he or she needs a mate.

Steve


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## rebel (30 Nov 2015)

Wow that title gave me (bad) memories of the movie last of the Mohicans. 

Great work in nursing him back to health!


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (24 Feb 2016)

Hi members 
I didn't post since soooo long so I decided to take some quick pictures to show how the discus is now. He has grow a lot and is in really good shape. His appetite is endless I can give him food 10 times a day and he will eat everything thing hahaha. Pushing his stomach to the limits, with a belly big as a golf ball hahaha. 
The embers tetras are doing very well not a lost since I got them. 
I was a bit lazy this two past months. I have a bit of diatoms and GSA. Only doing water change every two weeks , and not consistent on dosing salt, so plants have suffer a lots do algae. I have lost 60% of my Monte Carlo but since two weeks I am back on track with 2 WC per weeks. 





















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## flygja (24 Feb 2016)

The discus is looking superb


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## sciencefiction (25 Feb 2016)

You've done a really great job with it. Well done!


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## rebel (26 Feb 2016)

picture of health....perhaps time to find a mate....


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## Aqua360 (26 Feb 2016)

love these success stories, that discus is looking phenomenal.

I haven't kept discus, but got the impression they'd benefit from some mates? Could browse the local ads for cheap discus, if you felt you had the tank space to support them


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (27 Feb 2016)

flygja said:


> The discus is looking superb


Thanks  Flygja !! I am really happy that the fish is in good shape now 


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (27 Feb 2016)

sciencefiction said:


> You've done a really great job with it. Well done!


Thanks for the cheers 


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (27 Feb 2016)

Aqua360 said:


> love these success stories, that discus is looking phenomenal.
> 
> I haven't kept discus, but got the impression they'd benefit from some mates? Could browse the local ads for cheap discus, if you felt you had the tank space to support them



Hi thank you,
Yes I wish I can add some mates for him. But the problem is that I live in DR Congo and there is no discus here or even other import fishes. This discus came with a group of 6 other discus from China for a friend of mine and they all died after few weeks. So I decided to save this one and it is a success.  But yeah he must be sad alone, but at least living a "good life". 

Cheers 


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## zanguli-ya-zamba (27 Feb 2016)

REDSTEVEO said:


> Hi I am very interested in this fish, banana, green peas, carrots and spinach food you are using. It seems to have done a great job in making your discus better. Can you tell us how you make this food, what type of fish are you using, are you cooking it all, blending it and freezing it or what. Can you show us a picture of what it looks like after you have made it and of you feeding it?
> Well done on rescuing the discus, great job. Now he or she needs a mate.
> 
> Steve


Hi Steve,

Sorry I missed your message !!!
I use a fresh water fish for the food, I cook it with steam, same for the couregette, carrots green peas, for the spinach just boiling it in water. When everything is ready I just mix everything and pressed the mix with my hand, add the banana and pass it very few in the blender. This time I have add some gelatins leaves like that it will hold the food together when it is in the water. Also when the fish eat it he does a mess by pulling the food to pull apart pieces or he blows water on it and it does a mess in the water. Gelatins helps to avoid this. 
Luckily most of these tiny pieces of food is eaten by the rasbora and the shrimps. 

Cheers 


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