My Lil Sis needs help **Discus**

[GEV83]

Hello Again People of AC. My Lil Sis (9years of age) needs info on her fish. Ok the tank is a 35gal with one single Discus it use to be so light blue it looked white now it's so dark it looks black for the most part. The water has not been changed. There's no heater. It has a whisper 2 powerfilter. It has on live plant. Well the info she needs is the size of tank she needs for the fish and water parameters. Don't get all scientific either it's hard enough to explain all this info to her so keep it in lamen terms please. Water has never been tested.

Fish in tank
1 Discus
2 Guppies
1 Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps (Gibby, gibbiceps, gibbi, spotted sailfin pleco)

TAT

[fish_e_o]

discus are some pretty tricky fish to take care of. the reason it is black is because it is stressed probably the temperature or acidity or ph. They like warm acidic water which means you are going to have to invest in a heater (about 150 Watts) a PH test kit and a product similar to sodium biphosphate. the temperature should be aprox. 30 degrees C or 85 degrees F as for acidity you should ask the person who you bought the discus from what the acidity is in their tank is as to not stress the fish to much. If they don't know they should be kept at a constant acidity of about 6.4 and you should test your water every week with your ph test kit to make sure it is staying at the same level. as for water changes once a week will do taking out about 20% of the water out and replacing it with water of the same ph and temperature so the fish does not become stressed. your tank size is alright for up to 5 young discus (>3.5") or 2 larger discus (<3.5"). the hardness for the water is not terribly important but if you plan to breed them you can use remineralized reverse osmosis water. The other fish in the tank are going to have a hard time not so much the pleco but the guppies are going to get eaten when the discus gets better. have fun, feed frozen and live foods, change the water frequently, and your discus will live a long and happy life good luck!

[Harry Tolen]

OK. I'll keep it simple. She should never have gotten a discus in the first place, and should probably return it, but in the meantime here's what she needs to do:

01. GET A HEATER. Discus live a 82 degress +. Without a heater, your discus is probably trying to hang on in the low 70's, especially at night. That will kill the fish sooner than anything else.

02. Make lots of water changes. 30% every day for the next two weeks would only go part way towards fixing the water quality problem, but it's a start.

03. In LA, you are going to have problems with hardness, etc. even after you raise the temp and make the water changes. Since your sister cannot possibly handle a reverse osmosis system, which is the only way to change your water to match discus requirements, she should just take the fish back and get something else. Some angelfish would be a good alternative.

FYI, if the discus has already turned black, it is very close to dying. Hope you can return it to health before turning it back in; they're too expensive to just throw away.

[Awestralian]

01. GET A HEATER. Discus live a 82 degress +. Without a heater, your discus is probably trying to hang on in the low 70's, especially at night. That will kill the fish sooner than anything else.


That would be the main problem....
They love warm, clean water...

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by Awestralian
That would be the main problem....
They love warm, clean water... Totally agree. And, they like to be in schools of four or more. Good hiding spots help -- good amount of plants work, and driftwood.

I don't understand breeders and some others that use bare tanks to keep their Discus. It just seems somewhat cruel.. But it does make it easier to clean the tank.

I never let my Discus tank get below 84F degrees.

[Deb2]

It's too hard to keep discus without being somewhat technical about it. You must test water, keep water warm, change lots of water and feed a variety of foods. 20% water changes once a week is not enough.
Was the tank cycled? Could be the fish is suffering from amonia or nitrite poisoning.
I agree with the others, take the fish back.

[GEV83]

thanks all. She just bought a thermometer and Hikari Algea waffers for her Gibbiceps. She is going to by a heater next weekend. Thanks alot for the info and keeping it simple and in english. Oh also she didnt buy it my parents bought it for her. I told them Discus are picky fish but they said its just a fish for her to keep. I had to argue with them saying the tank was to small (it was in a 20gal with the gibbiceps) and when the Buttikoferi died it got moved to a 35gal. See they dont seem to care to much they say there just fish. I am not like that and is why I did not hesitate to get a 60gal for my Jag when the money was available. My Sis wants to try to make the fish happier. Just hope it lives long enough to do that. But thanks again for the info. Maybe one of the petshops will take it in.


GER1023