# Got a new camera



## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

I bought a new point and shoot camera. It was a pretty cheap camera, but it can do this....
[yt]r4BmQfGYhuc[/yt]


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Submersible camera....I hate you! That is AWESOME


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

I think the fish will hate me now that I will be sticking my hand in the aquarium to take pictures of them.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

That one discus is pretty dark.. is it always like that? And why are they facing straight down? The other one looks pretty good.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

That's pretty sweet!
I managed to do that one time by putting our camera in a baggie and pushing most of the air out. It took decent underwater pics but it made me really nervous. lol


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Snyderguy, the dark one I am worried about. It looks a bit thin to me. It does get light enough to see her stripes. She has been looking down since I got her 2 weeks ago. The orange one usually swims around ok, his color is always bright and he never clamps his fins. They get 30% water changes daily. They were treated with prazi, and they stopped pooping white, but the dark one seems unhappy. When I get my next paycheck, the very first thing I am doing, is getting an RO filter. They may have been raised in tap, but Phoenix water is very hard at times, and I doubt they would like to be in it more than needed.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

This is a toughie.. The white poo is definitely a sign of internal parasites. Look straight directly at the forehead and stomach. If the forehead is pinched, then they're lacking a nutritional diet. If the stomach is pinched, it's the internal parasites. I would find out whether they were raised in RO water or not. I don't keep mine in RO water and they're growing like crazy. 2 of mine have grown about 3 inches in 2 months. I'm gonna need a bigger tank soon and my pH is at about 8.5 with liquid rock hardness. It may also be that there's just 2 of them, so you may just need more? I've had that also, where I added more and then one runt became so happy and now he's my biggest one. You might also try laying off on so many water changes. Some discus like it but others don't. Mine hate it, haha. I literally change 50% every 10 days or so, but I have 2 fluval 304's and lots of plants to keep the water clean. There's just so many different variables that could play into part here.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

It definitely had parasites for a while. The praziquantel (wow i just typed prazi on my iPad and it auto corrected that) seemed to work. Maybe she just haven't fattened up after the parasites yet.

I bought them from a store during a going out of business sale, so I doubt I can find much info on their past now. I'll see if I can find a few more discus to add, but I'm not surei want to add more fish so quickly. I'm considering getting rid of the rasboras and getting more discus and some GBRs. I think the rasboras are too fast for the discus.


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

You discus people are just like the salties lol. The planted 40b tank I maintain at the lfs sits butt to butt with the 40b discus tank. I was re-scaping it yesterday and not paying attention to where I was putting the fish net an it dripped a few drops in the discus tank. Then out of nowhere the discus guy is right there with his hands in the air yelling CROSS CONTAMINATION! I laughed at him but you gotta respect what it takes to keep these fish healthy.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Grogan, the challenge is what makes it fun. The reward of beautiful fish makes it all worth it.


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

+1 I would love to keep discus or salt water but keeping up with the planted tanks keep me to busy. I wish I had time to do it All!


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Good to hear that it's starting to fatten up. If it doesn't start to go back to its normal colors, then there's something else wrong. To my knowledge, there isn't a black discus out there (yet). I totally agree though.. 

Haha, I'm not as antsy as that guy but I definitely don't like people messing around with them.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

She is much lighter color today. This is what she looks like when shes not super dark.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

That's looking much better! The indent above the mouth is still a bit concerning and she might be a bit stunted but doesn't mean you can't still get some great color out.

The vertical lines on an older discus means it's stressed. Whether it's because of faster moving fish, water conditions, not enough hiding places, or some other factor. Try adding some more hiding places. I doubt it's your water considering you said you do water changes normally. Otherwise, this is where more discus would help relieve some stress.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

I have those giant silk plants in there for hiding spaces. I don't know what else I could offer for a hiding space big enough for these guys. I plan to plant this thing with lots of plants, but it will take a while to get plants big enough for a discus to hide in. I am going to get rid of the rasboras. I dont think the discus like them. They will be replaced with GBRs in the future. There is a aquarium club meeting one week from today. I think I will ask if anyone has any discus at those meetings. The pet stores around here charge a bit too much for them.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Sounds good. Try craigslist. Often, people are trying to move and get rid of their discus so they'll go for pretty cheap.. Or maybe you can find a local buyer? If you can, buy small ones. They have a better chance of growing up healthy. When buying though, make sure they're eating, don't have large eyes compared to their body size, have their color, are actively swimming around, and are close to the shape of a circle (rather than the shape of a football). That's how you know when you've got yourself a good one :]


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Well good news this morning. When I got up she was dark again. Someone came over and took all the rasboras off my hands. Within 15 minutes, she had her lighter colors again. 

I fed them an hour later, and I noticed that they were actually attacking the cube of frozen food. That is something I haven't seen them do before. Usually they just wait until the rasboras rip it apart, then they eat the stuff that falls. This time, they ripped right into the food.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

That is good news. Sounds like you found the problem. That's how discus should eat always :]


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

They looked like dogs trying to eat a chunk of meat. They put it in their mouth and swung it back and forth until the cube fell apart. I found it somewhat hilarious.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

The funniest thing I think is feeding live blackworms. They slurp it up like spaghetti


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Yeah I heard that blackworms are like crack for discus. I have to find a local source for those.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Haha, I guess that's one way to describe them. That and bloodworms are they're favorite too


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Bloodworms are what they tore into this morning.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

I went home for lunch, and they are still looking at the ground. I think its time I start looking for more discus.

I have a 100 gallon aquarium, how many would you recommend?


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Hmm, depends. Is it a long tank? what's the dimensions?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I wouldn't get more until you are sure-sure the ones you have are healthy. New fish would have an advantage over fish that down look down all the time as well as be susceptible to any disease yours carry. IMO discus are just too expensive to risk it.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

It's 5 feet long.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

+1 with emc, but I'd say you could get away with 7-9 discus in that tank if filtered well.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

A second filter is in the plans. The one I have now is adaquite but I know how much discus love their clean water.

I got a UV filter from someone. I never use them in my tanks normally, but I heard discus like bacteria free water. Would the UV filter be a good idea?


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

I've heard of people using it but I've never personally owned one.


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## morla (Jun 23, 2012)

Ok, your lucky! I want that camera!


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