FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Wild or tame, it's all about a reliable source, and don't mix the two. Mixing wc with captive-bred isn't good practice. They carry disease strains the wilds have no resistance to, the meds are harder on the wilds, even if the tames are not ill and they're just carriers, the wilds will catch it.

IMO, the sensitivity of wilds has been hyped up, but I do plan on keeping my next new wilds separate. Also, I just think they look better that way. Having said that, there is one wild brown that has been living in my 7ft planted tank with the domestics for around 12 months now. When I first started this thread, I was in the process of transferring my wilds, one by one, from the 7ft into this biotype tank. He was the last wild that I hadn't yet moved across. He will live out his life where he is. One of the 3 survivors is a wild green & the other 2 are domestics. Whatever this disease was, it killed domestics & wilds indiscriminately. I will never combine the survivors with any of my other fish - they are likely to be carriers. They will live out their lives alone, but together. 1 wild & 2 domestics. Ideally you should keep your wilds separate, but I do know others who successfully mix them up. Like the Angel / Discus disease myth, it's still one of those topics being debated.

Re mixing up the wc. It's just not practical for me to have 2 sources of stored water. My wc container is 1,000Litres (just under 270G) where water is aged, aerated, heated & treated with prime. Each tank has it's own labelled gravel vac so I don't stuff up & use the wrong syphon for the wrong tank. There is one filling hose leading from the water pump (in the wc container), but using a "quick hose connector" each tank has it's own labelled hose end. No hose end that has been in one tank ever goes into another tank. There's no point in a QT, if equipment is shared. Where I went wrong was the original diseased fish tank was on the 3rd row of my fish rack. I didn't realise when I turned off the water pump when filling, very quickly gravity caused back syphoning of diseased water into the storage container. That no longer happens. The water hose has a non return valve.

With SA cichs, the tames would also have to adjust to the lower ph, osmotic (ph poisoning) shock may cause stress which promotes disease, which pass to the wilds. Just stuff I've read.

Like I said, I don't believe in playing with pH (other than for heckels, which are said to do best in a really low pH). My wilds were in my tap water. As far as you can tell a fish is happy (eg fins erect, colour good, swims up to greet you at feed time & eats well) they seemed happy in my water for the 12 months I had them. Stability is really the thing you need to look for, when keeping any discus. That includes making sure your water is always clean.

The side of the fence I sit on is the side best for the fish. Discus breeders & experienced keepers qt, pre-treat, deworm any new stock & if thats best I'd do it.

That's just the thing. Nearly all of them agree on an extensive QT (6-8 weeks alone & then another month with a "hero" fish from your existing stock added in with the new guys), but there are some with very strong opinions against preventative de worming. It's what I do, but I've learnt to be tentative before I get involved in a discussion on this topic. In particular, using ABs such as metro as a precaution is frowned on.

Sorry for detracting from the original thread content I appreciate your help

As the set-up & it's occupants are no longer around, it's very appropriate to talk about other things instead

Cheers
TW

It is never good to loose a bunch of fish no matter the type.

Hi Wings

Long time no speak. Hope things are going well for you. Thanks for the kind words.

No it never is good to loose them. It's not just about the money, 'cause they're my pets, but in this case it was also quite a financial loss. Roughly around $3K worth of fish are gone, not to mention the vet appointments, medicines etc.

Cheers
TW

Meet the survivors

Scarlet, the red melon


Wild Green


The Turk wouldn't co-operate for a solo picture

Cheers
TW

Wow. Those are very pretty fish!