View Full Version : first time discus !
hi all , i have a 55g with 2 angels , a temporary betta , 8 zebras , 3 neons , 16 temporary baby swordtails , 4 corys and 3 smal plecs and a friend o mine just bring me his 2 discus cuz he s away for a few month ,....
the discuses are juv and bout 2" now ( i donno their kind but i can post some pics ) , it s their first day and they seem so stressed and didn t eat yet ,
so what the basic things to do to keep these two babys alive and healthy ?
The Zigman
03-01-2009, 3:11 PM
Very warm water, like 84-86F.
Plenty of water changes.
Keep the nitrates low.
Feed them Bloodworms, Beefheart (if they will eat it) and i feed mine flake.
IDK if your other fish will be tolerant of the higher temps that juvie discus need to thrive. I know some types of corys arent. do some research on that.
Most important are the temp and water changes though.
Discus eat slowly, be sure the other fish dont eat all the food before they get any.
acevudoo
03-01-2009, 3:23 PM
the zebras might be too active for discus to relax.. stress is no.1 killer
jm1212
03-01-2009, 6:26 PM
young discus need daily large water changes
pinkertd
03-01-2009, 8:16 PM
The discus have just gone through leaving their familiar tank to being put in an unfamiliar tank with unfamiliar tankmates so no need to worry about them not eating yet. They need time to acclimate to their new environment. You're only taking care of them for a few months, I would follow the diet the owner has been following. Did the owner supply you with the food?
As stated, they need warm temps and clean water. You don't say how big your angels are. From past experience, I know that angels can be absolutely piggies when food is given. You will have to be careful that the discus get plenty to eat, they are young and growing. The angels may not allow them to get enough food.
thnx all for replies , so water temp and lotsa WC ,he said he ll bring the foods and water treatment he use too ( tetra blackwater ! any one knows bout it ? )
the angels are bout 3.5" now and they really r piggies .
and for the zebras they r really active and fast but they not bother anyone ... my worry is the betta and the angels , they r somekinda aggressive , ( as soon as i put their bag in the tank the betta come and starin at them for 5 min! , it was cute )
and the baby swordtails i think will stay for another month maybe , and they nip EVERYTHING !!!!! and u know how the hell they eat ,will it bother the discus ???
pinkertd
03-02-2009, 10:24 AM
Sorry to hear this. Two things immediately come to mind that may have contributed to the loss......aggression from the other fish, or the discus weren't acclimated appropriately. I think you will be in for a battle to keep the lone surviving discus happy and healthy without any other discus for it to stay with.
:( i immediately do a 30% WC , the other discus is still almost moveless , stayin by back glass , but sometimes rub itself rapidly by plants ...
acevudoo
03-02-2009, 12:51 PM
ouch.. sorry to hear.. rule of thumb.. the betta is no threat..the danios are just too hyper.. Angels tend to slow down after a while an "mostly" pick on their own kind (vs. Discus).. a wonderful apparatus called a "feeding cone" keeps everyone in-line! its works best with frozen type worms, but the cone can be removed and fish fed flake thru the ring.. works really well for me! My Gold Severums/Angels/Discus all dine together, very civil-like.. GL
yourchoice
03-02-2009, 1:25 PM
Can easily get flukes in that situation.Only chance is to put the fish in hospital tank and give it away to another discus keeper.
it dosn t eat yet , and wat bout rubbing thing ? is it a bad thing or a good sign ?
shawnhu
03-02-2009, 1:53 PM
Rubbing is gernally a bad sign. It could have parasites, or an infection. You may want to consider taking him out and treating with some salt, if it does not get better, find out what he has and treat with meds.
avionics30
03-02-2009, 2:39 PM
Sorry to hear of your loss!
You need to get that discus in to it's own tank. There are way too many variables to your existing setup that you cannot effectively control with all the other fish in there. If you can, get a 20 gallon tank setup and nurse that discus until your friend can get him or you can find someone who keeps discus. If the fish is "flashing" against items in your tank, it's something external, probably parasistic. It's likely that this was brought on by the stress of the move and less than acceptable tank parameters.
It's a bit late now, but how did the owner of the discus keep them? Was he using RO water, low Ph and TDS? These are all things that have to be taken in to consideration.
Best wishes!
Star_Rider
03-02-2009, 3:01 PM
You should look into QT/hospital set ups.
I imagine the new discus are stressed.
young discus 2" juvies can be kept in very warm water 88+ f
with airstones to create more water movement and help increase O2 in the water.
Salt is commonly used by discus keepers.. it isn't always needed but seems to be helpful when discus are stressed.
that said you may want to consider in the future using QT set ups.
this will help you avoid introducing infected fish to your system or the other way around.
;)
hang in there
hi everybody and thnx for replies , i already have a QT but i m thinkin to give the discus to someone else , my tank is too fast and active for a discus i think , but i m sure my friend didn t use RO water no low PH setup and no TDS . he just uses some water treatment ,like black water and somethin else i don remember ( aquasafe ?!)
he s still stayin at a one spot , no respond to any food ( frozen blood worms )
now i m afraidin if i move the discus to the QT until my friend take him somewhere else , the stress kill the poor thing ... he still seems SO stressed ...
pinkertd
03-03-2009, 6:08 AM
It could take quite a while before he feels comfortable in that tank without his buddy discus. I recommend pulling him out and keeping him in his own tank so that you can observe him more closely. It's definitely possible he has parasites since he is flashing against things and needs treatment. Do you know how long ago your friend acquired him?
7itanium
03-03-2009, 6:25 AM
Good chance your zebras arent letting it eat.
My zebras are pigs and they hog all the food and wont let the labs eat half the time.
Discus can be very touchy-- wasnt very nice of your freind to drop 2 of them off and expect them to live lol
yourchoice
03-04-2009, 12:36 AM
Put it in Qt and put some structure like a piece of wood or red clay pot.Many of my Lfs have bulliten boards or post on craigslist for an experience discus keeper and someone will call right away.
i donno how long is my friend keep the discus , but he had to give it to someone cuz he loves this discus so much and dosnt want to give him away or sell it but could nt keep it him self too , anyway the discus move much more today but still dosn t eat , even when i gather all fishes the other side of the tank for food and keep the discus alone on other side and give him/her frozen blood worms ...
he s still rubbin itself to the plants leavs ,
how should i treat him ? and if it dosn t have parasites wouldn t the treatment be bad for it ?
pinkertd
03-04-2009, 8:30 AM
How often are you doing water changes and what are your tank parameters? It is possible it's just skin irritation from your water or from going into water that's different that what it's used to. Of course it's possible it's some sort of parasite like gill flukes. Keep your water very clean, and keep an eye on it. Is the fish appearing to be dark? I'd hate to see you throw meds at it not really knowing what's wrong, that fish is already stressed enough. Any chance you can take a pic and post it?
poor fish , it still dosn t eat , and mostly stay moveless at the bottom or by the back glass :( ... i called my friend and told him to take it away ,
as the matter of fact i ran outta test kit and i cant buy one these days ,so i donno the parameters but the water is crystal clear for me , i do 30% of WC every 2 or 3 days now with discus ( before that it was every week )
i notice some small black spots all over its body i donno if they were before or not , and i cant notice if it become dark or not cuz i didn t see it before :(
i ll try to take some shots and will post here asa i got some ...
and one thing else , today it mostly stayed SIDELONG at the bottom of the tank under a driftwood and seems to me that breath slower than other times .. is it a bad sign ???
pinkertd
03-04-2009, 2:25 PM
On the bottom, sideways under the driftwood probably means he's dying.
:( ... after i post here , i went to the tank , do a 30% WC , remove all my swordtails , and now ( for bout 15 min i watch him ) he seems less stressed and explorin around the tank , some times goin up and down across the side glasses ,shaking himself ,watchin and nippin the plants , rapid moves and ... but still no attention to any food ... at least he s movin ! it s a good sign yeah ? :) ( dosn t lemme take a good shot )
yourchoice
03-06-2009, 12:23 AM
Many Discus have tiny black spots(pepper).
Exploring very good sign.Sliding under wood,might be only stressed or nervous and not sick,sounds like doing better.,give it something larger to hide behind.
Breathing slower most likley a good sign.
shawnhu
03-06-2009, 1:36 PM
Sorry to hear that, must have been a hard decision.
pinkertd
03-06-2009, 2:30 PM
I'm sorry to hear that too. Hope the little guy makes it.
yup , i really wanted to keep a discus , but hate to watch him suffering , perhaps oneday i ll get time and more space for a discus tank :) ...
AquaGem
03-07-2009, 12:47 PM
That was a good and brave thing for you to do. It must have been very hard to give up a fish that you want so badly. Many people don't think of the fish before themselves. You are an example to many. Hopefully he does well in his new home :)
thnx dude , i m goin over the new keeper today , see how s the fish hold on ...
hi all ,
my friend ask me again if i can take the discus back , he said his other friend dosn t take good care of discus and put the poor thing in a 5g with 5 more fishes ! ( i donno what other fishes ! ) and refused to put it in his big tanks , cuz he said it may be sick , anyway ,my friend ask me again if i can take him back and i told him to wait to lemme ask u guys first ,
i have an empty 5g QT with top filter , should i take the discus back ??? and if yes , how can i take care of him ?
thnx again ...
shawnhu
03-10-2009, 1:34 AM
If your friend that owns the Discus trusts you to care for it, then I would take it back. If you're his friend, you'd do what you can, in his best interest. That's my take on friendship.
As for caring for the lone Discus, I would test your water for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph, GH, KH, and report back. Use liquid if possible. If you are in the same water supply as your friend, as him if he puts anything special in the water, or if he treats it with an RO system. The best thing you can do for now is get those test results back to us so we can help.
In the meantime, I would look for things for the fish to hide, place the 5G tank in a low traffic, low light area. I'd start getting that tank cycled ASAP. Think that's the best you can do for now.
Good luck to you.
it s not the matter of trust , ofcourse he trusts me , the matter is if i be able to take care of the baby !
anyway , i bring him home again , he s in a 5g QT now and seems pretty normal and curious ,his fins are open now and the QT s in a very low traffic & low light area ...
my friend uses same tap water as me ,but as i said he adds tetra blackwater to his tank , i used my 55g cycled water in QT that i m so sure bout its parameters
i don have any test kit yet , and seems i can t afford one soon :( ...
should i add some decorate to QT ? and should i add salt ???
and one thing else , i notice that the black spots ( like black pepper powder ) is all over his body , as i said before i didn t notice them before , i may be wrong and they r all part of his skin texture , i ll try to take a shot tomorrow and see what u guys think ... but can it be some sorta skin illness ???
yourchoice
03-10-2009, 11:29 PM
THe black spots are normal.2 inches is pretty small fish.If someone were to take they`d put it in a 20g(maybe 10g) by itself and try to grow it .Helps if the fish can see other Discus in a near by tank.Put all kinds of structure in the tank.The main problem is a single might refuse to eat.If not eating better to give it away.What`s the size of the xtra heater u have.When u have 55g you neen a hospital tank any how.Cheap used tank 20 g and a sponge filter.
shawnhu
03-10-2009, 11:33 PM
Keep the heat in that tank at 88 degrees and feed frozen blood worms, 4-8 times a day. You'll need to make sure his temp is always high, and to change water everyday.
He don't need any decorations, as long as he has a nice clean bare bottom tank.
Let us know how he does.
i have everything for QT 100w heater , a top filter , lights ( when it s empty i m tryin to grow some plants in it .. )
anyway ... something happend last night that u will not believe how unlucky this poor baby is , after lotsa movements and lotsa estress he has , last night i finally saw him seems happy , but in the mornin when i woke up , guess what happend ?!
the heater was broken inside the tank ! and the fish just like frighten and stayed at a corner breathing fast :( ...and the temp was low , i immidiately evacuate whole water , washed the tank , fill it with my 55g water again , and put my another extra heater in again , it s bout one hour now that i put the discus back in , and he didn t move abit yet :( .. he still seems so frighten , and dosnt pay any attention to food at all .. anything i can do to calm him down ? :(
yourchoice
03-11-2009, 10:12 PM
1 teaspoon of regular salt per 5 g might help.When you factor in the glass and water down an inch you only get about 4 gallons of water in a 5 g,not much.Give the fish something to hind behind for sure.
thnx , ok ,
he still refuses to eat , today i ll go to buy a pal ( another discus ) for him , if i can find one :(
shawnhu
03-12-2009, 2:13 AM
I'd probably not buy another Discus, it'll probably be more trouble than it's worth for several reasons.
It's probably too late now, but you may have shocked him when you changed his water from the 55. If his temp was low, gradually raise it back up.
This poor guy has gone through so much.
pinkertd
03-12-2009, 11:41 AM
With only a 5G tank, I would ask you to please not get another discus just to keep this one company. This poor little guy has to be stressed to the max with all the tank changes he's been put through. He may still become sick from moving from tank to tank and then having his 5G water temp. fall overnight. Let him rest quietly for a while, out of bright light. Does he have any decoration in the 5G tank to kinda hide behind so that he feels a little safer?
angelfishlover
03-12-2009, 12:11 PM
Poor guy.Try not to stress him too much.He have gone a lot of tanks and was about to explore your old tank.Guess just let him calm for a while and he'll be ok.And try not to move to the tank much as they won't go exploring.
hi all , and thnx for replies , poor fish , he still refuses to eat :( , but seems abit better today ,his tank temp is good now ( 88) and i did a 40% WC today ,, i m not goin to buy another discus as u guys told me so ,
and unfortunately there s not any decoration in his tank , ll try to find somethin tomorrow for him ,
i added a teaspoon salt to his tank durin WC , anything else i can do for him ?
shawnhu
03-12-2009, 3:21 PM
Keep water clean, no un-eaten food, no sudden changes, and keep the heat up. Dark lighting, and less movement around him would be good.
Personally, I would throw in some duckweed in there. My Discus grazes on it when they are hungry, and it does not pollute the water.
pinkertd
03-13-2009, 10:15 AM
hi all , and thnx for replies , poor fish , he still refuses to eat :( , but seems abit better today ,his tank temp is good now ( 88) and i did a 40% WC today ,, i m not goin to buy another discus as u guys told me so ,
and unfortunately there s not any decoration in his tank , ll try to find somethin tomorrow for him ,
i added a teaspoon salt to his tank durin WC , anything else i can do for him ?
You're doing good!
thnx , he s still refuses to eat and it s drivin me crazy ... dosn t he get hungry ???? :(
anythin i can add to water to give him some strength ????
shawnhu
03-13-2009, 4:27 PM
No, heat will be your best bet to get his appetite back. If he continues to not eat, it may need meds.
What are you feeding him mostly? You could try to entice him with some garlic mixed in with the food, or some frozen foods, like Hikari Frozen Blood Worms. That works well when my Discus is being picky.
avionics30
03-13-2009, 4:40 PM
thnx , he s still refuses to eat and it s drivin me crazy ... dosn t he get hungry ???? :(
anythin i can add to water to give him some strength ????
Can you post a picture of the tank? There's been a lot of back and forth with your setup. I have a feeling that you have this fish in a 5 gallon tank. If that's the case, can you not get at least a 20 gallon tank? The stress of being in such a small volume of water for an extended period of time is bad. Have you tested all of your water perameters? I'm not just talking about ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or Ph. These are important, but you have to take a look at your water too. KH and GH are just as important. Discus are special! Please post some pictures and run these tests! We want to HELP you and save this fish!
Best wishes!
What are you feeding him mostly? You could try to entice him with some garlic mixed in with the food, or some frozen foods, like Hikari Frozen Blood Worms. That works well when my Discus is being picky.
i tried frozen blood worms , and the same food as my friend gave him ( tetra bits ) ,no attention at all ,i ll try my own DIY food today ,it contains chicken heart ,pea,garlic and ... every fish loves it ...
Can you post a picture of the tank? There's been a lot of back and forth with your setup. I have a feeling that you have this fish in a 5 gallon tank. If that's the case, can you not get at least a 20 gallon tank? The stress of being in such a small volume of water for an extended period of time is bad. Have you tested all of your water perameters? I'm not just talking about ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or Ph. These are important, but you have to take a look at your water too. KH and GH are just as important. Discus are special! Please post some pictures and run these tests! We want to HELP you and save this fish!
yup ,he s in a 5g QT ,it s a QT , my 55g and 20g are full , and put him in there with other fishes i think will have no results but more stress for him , as i said i ran outta test kits and can t afford one these days , i use same tap water as the previous owner and i use my 55g water that i m pretty sure of its parameters ,
the QT is at a corner and there s newspaper around it , so no sudden move will scare him , so there s nothin to take a shot from , but i ll take some shots and will post here ASAP ,
he ate , he atteeee , finally , he ate some frozen blood worms (ofcourse after i defreeze it !) :) it makes my day :)
pinkertd
03-14-2009, 10:44 AM
That's a good sign. Frozen bloodworms is one of their favorite foods! Yay!
angelfishlover
03-14-2009, 11:09 AM
YAY FOR YOU!!!!! :dance::dance::dance::dance:
Jellymolly44
03-14-2009, 11:19 PM
Discus are hard for me to take care of. It takes a little work and I'm kinda lazy anyway. I hope things go well with your discus and stuff. Oh, try some black worms to feed the discus. They'll usually eat those. Mine did, although I don't have anymore.
thnx :) i think he s good now , he s explorin around , and try to eat left over foods under gravel :) and dosn t scare that much from me ... anyway , how much longer should i keep him in QT , and when can i add another pal to him ?
pinkertd
03-15-2009, 6:33 AM
He's only just begun to eat and relax so for that reason alone, and considering what he's been through with tank changes, I'd leave him in the QT tank another 2 weeks. Just keep the water clean and warm. Feed him small frequent meals and let him eat well and get his strength back before he goes into the 55G. Once he goes in the big tank, there will be a lot of competition from the angels for food. I woudn't consider getting a buddy for him until after he goes into the big tank.
ok , thnx guys , i ll keep him another 2 weeks here , and will keep an eye on him ,if anythin happen i ll inform u guys , thnx a bunch guys for help :)
i ll take some shots today ( if he dosnt afraid of camera ) and ll post here :)
hi again
the discus is fine i think , he s eating ( sometimes !) and he come up when i go over his tank ,
but he s not as greedy as i thought a juvenile discus would be , he dosn t pay any attention to any food ( frozen blood worms , tetrabits ,tetramin , and my DIY food ) but tubifex worms , but not that much , he comes up eat a few bites and then leave the food :( , is it normal or there s somethin wrong with him ? i tried to feed him some pea or my diy food that contain garlic , but he didn t eat ...
and sometimes he rubin him self to air pump pipe or the driftwood rapidly and make some very very quick moves , is it normal ? is he playin , or not ? :(
and there s lotsa color changin with him , some times he s whiter , sometimes darker , and sometimes his fins black strips disapears ...
Star_Rider
03-19-2009, 5:06 PM
what are the current param of the tank?
how's the temp?
you are taking on quite a bit with new angels and a healing discus.
i ran outta tets kits , it s so expensive here , and i cant afford one soon ( api tets kit is 90$ ) but i used my 55 water that i m sure of it , and do daily 30% WC , the temp is 88 ,
you are taking on quite a bit with new angels and a healing discus.
i wouldn t think it will be this way , :cry:, :wall:
yourchoice
03-20-2009, 10:40 AM
Can easily pick up gill flukes from using the water from the 55g.Use tap water.If the rubbing is more the 5 X daily this is what I suspect.Add 1 teaspoon of regular non-iodized salt per 10g.(you can use 2-3 teaspoon with caution,but stick to the 1 for now)Better if the tank is where it can see the other fish in the 55g.
The fish really should be eating pretty aggressively when it is this young.Being by itself is not good for Discus.
i used 55g water cuz it was already cycled , but for WC i use tab water , i already add 1 teaspone to 5g , he still comes out and follow my finger when i go over his tank , but he dosn t eat anythin but tubifex worms :( the tank is in a very low traffic area ,
do u think if i add another juv discus to QT will be good for him now ?
any idea ?
yourchoice
03-20-2009, 2:07 PM
I meant to say 1 teaspoon per gallon.Even 1 small Discus I would like to see in 20g.Need to give them space to roam around and feel happy.
debaric
03-20-2009, 5:58 PM
its nice of you to take these fish for your friedn but I think both of you should have put a little more thought into it before you took them. all you had to do was google discus to know that your tank is not good for discus. Sorry but I dont think your friend is very responsible with fish keeping. Kind of a waste of money and sad to see the fish die because people dont research things before they buy.
avionics30
03-20-2009, 6:14 PM
its nice of you to take these fish for your friedn but I think both of you should have put a little more thought into it before you took them. all you had to do was google discus to know that your tank is not good for discus. Sorry but I dont think your friend is very responsible with fish keeping. Kind of a waste of money and sad to see the fish die because people dont research things before they buy.
Did the fish die? I read back but I don't see that post. Hind sight is 20/20 and who are we to pass judgement. I bet these guys learned alot! If the fish is still recooperating, great! If it died and I missed something, sorry for your loss.
Best wishes!
its nice of you to take these fish for your friedn but I think both of you should have put a little more thought into it before you took them. all you had to do was google discus to know that your tank is not good for discus. Sorry but I dont think your friend is very responsible with fish keeping. Kind of a waste of money and sad to see the fish die because people dont research things before they buy.
the poor discus dosn t die yet ! anyway , i m not responsible if my friend took good care of him or not ( i know he did ) , it was an emergency and he asked me if i can take care of him for a while , and i said ok , i didn t have time to research and read every detail to keep a discus , so i opened a thread to ask the guys here for help , and they did a great job and i m so gratefull to them ,
i would buy more equipment or bigger QT if i could afford !
but now i m doin everythin i can to keep him healthy and believe me if i could find someone around me who would take good care of him i would give him away ...
here s our guy :
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/a113fea314.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)
pinkertd
03-22-2009, 9:24 AM
He's cute owl! Considering that you didn't know this little guy was coming your way ..... you're doing good for the fish. You've both been through a lot of stress!:thm:
He's cute owl! Considering that you didn't know this little guy was coming your way ..... you're doing good for the fish. You've both been through a lot of stress!:thm:
thnx :) i think he s doin justfine , he s eattin better ...
i just wanted to thanks EVERYONE here that helped me , he s fine , eatin well , and i m goin to put it in 55 in a few dayz :) (after i redocrate it ) , should i buy him a pal before i put him in 55 ???
shawnhu
03-26-2009, 1:34 PM
Think you should allow him more time to eat well, and fatten up. He should not be moved, especially if you want to get him company. Any fish you purchase, will need to go through the same QT measures, so this fish will need to move to the 55G, and then any new fish, will go into the tank this little guy was in.