Discus not eating as aggressive

[jlara0429]

hey everyone i just need some help to see what can be the problem as to why my blue diamond discus has lost his appetite. when i first bought him about 4 weeks ago i was feeding him bloodworms and he was eating normally like 3 times a day. now he is eating less and less as the days go on i feed him bloodworms still but he eats alittle bit than spits it back out. i checked the water parameters and constantly im doing water changes about 20% the paramters are ph 6.6 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 10. the tank is fully cycled I have two marineland filters running the temp is at 84 the size of the tank is a 55 gallon.Currently I have about 25 other fish in their with him and just 1 discus.
Current fish i have in their are
1 Cory catfish
1 pictus catfish
2 honey sunset gouramis
2 Dwarf Gouramis
1 German Blue ram 1 Bolivian ram
5 Pristella tetras
2 White Diamond Tetras
1 Cherry barb
1 Botia Kubotai
4 Red finned tetras
3 Rasboras
1 Blue diamond discus.

If anybody can help me diagnose the problem please i would really appreciated i observe the discus and his poop is not white or anything is still coming out black i havent seen any signs of aggression from any other tank mates. :confused:

[Star_Rider]

is this a juvenile discus?

[reefdiver]

let him skip a meal fro two days then see what happens. He may just be anxious.

[alan j t]

how often do you do a w/c and how much??

[Star_Rider]

is the discus showing any signs of stress?

typically discus are kept in schools/shoals..they tend to be shy and often do not compete well for food.

[wesleydnunder]

I agree that a lone discus may be feeling some stress. He also may be eating at his leisure. Discus peck at their food and often spit it out. He may graze for a while without you seeing it.

If you're just feeding bloodworms and have been using only this food since you brought him home, chances are that he's suffering a deficiency. A diet of only bloodworms isn't a healthy one. Try some other foods as well; mix it up during the day and week. My discus get a wide variety of foods during the week.

Mark

[jlara0429]

Hey guys Thank you very much for your replies i hope you can help me in succeeding in keeping a variety of community fish , as to all the replies my discus is a juvenile and its about approximately 3.5 inches, i currently am doing 20 to 25% water changes every 2 days , as because i read that discus like pristine water and so do rams, and im pretty sure the other fish wouldn' t mind . Currently i don t see any signs of stress or discoloration his fins look perfectly fine he has no clamped fins, he swims actively all around the tank and interacts well with all my current fish. today i performed a water change and rearrange the tank with more plants. Also for his diet i was only feeding him only bloodworms but barely with mixed it up Ocean Plus Brine shrimp flakes , I also had recently purchased beefheart but stopped because it was really messy i still have here but havent continued I also have cichlid pellets from Omega One and Spectrum grow by NewLife but havent continued to feed that only bloodworms, please guys get back to me i would really appreciated and looking forward to your advice it will be gladly taken.

[jlara0429]

Also everyone while we are at the discus discussion, i have a 5 inch snakeskin discus in my quarantine tank , I tried introducing him to my community fish tank the one that currently holds my blue diamond discus that's not eating, but give or take in a matter of 20 to 25 minutes after being acclimated for a hour. they both seemed fine to begin with but after a few minutes they began to peck and slap their fins against each other is their any specific reason why this is happening this is also part of the reason why i added more plants and tried to rearrange the tank. but for now i removed him since i was afraid he was going to hurt my blue diamond and now the snakeskin is in the quarantine tank i just wanted to know a answer or if i could keep both together.

[msjinkzd]

I really think keeping discus in groups of 5 or more is best. They are quite social fish that need to be able to establish a real pecking order, with only two, they will probably just fight unless they are a mated pair.

[jlara0429]

I understand thanks alot for the reply msjink, so is their anything really that i can do i mean i wouldnt be able to afford 5 more or a bigger tank, i went to the lfs and they said that i could give it a try and see if it takes them a while to get used to each other but he said to be careful or try to rearranged just to watch out because i dont want any of them to die of stressed, before that happens i would have to give away one =(

[h2oguy]

Discus do best in a shoal, I think you may need to do more wc`s I have my Discus in a 90 gallon and I change close to75% a day give or take a gallon or two, All of mine are less than a year old and I think juvies need the water changes more than adults.

[h2oguy]

also I think your nitrates may be aslight issue, the less the better..