Discus Color

I purchased a Discus about 2 weeks ago. At purchase it appeared to be an Ocean Green Discus ,looked exactly like the picture on liveaquaria.com.

Now this fish is VERY dark bluish color. It almost looks like velvet or suade. It appears to have a little lighter (grey/white) that is more pronounced when I just stare at him.
This fish had worried me since purchase,and I even brought him back to the store once,but decided to see what would happen.

Any thoughts ?

Although not good quality here is a few pictures from about a week ago. I will try to get a photo of him now.

Current color !
Sorry about the quality

FishyMatty said:

was the color change sudden or does he change a few times a day? I have a blue one that actually changes color while you watch. Light to dark. But Usually when they get really dark like that it means there sick. Hows your water? Temp?

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Well I have only had them for 2 weeks,and you can see the color change from the 1st pics to the 2nd.
Mine actually changes color dark to light,but not as loight as in the 1st pics. It almost looks like he has some charcoal color .
Water temp is 82 degrees. I know they like it warmer but I have other fish in the aquarium that would not like higher temps

FishyMatty said:

Mine are at 82 also but thats because of the plants. But the problem with discus and lower temps is they are delicate fish and very prone to disease. Have you added any new fish recently? how did the other fish in the tank look before, or the ones in the LFS tank?

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No new fish have been added.
The rest of the fish seem fine.
The other fish in the LFS,hard to explain. They all seem to be hanging together in one spot too. One definately did not look good,but I think they removed him. The LFS was brand new,I actually bought the fish on their opening day !

jagwire said:

what are the other fish in the tank. if its possible i would try turning up the temp. i have found if i start the temp as high as 88 and slowly turn it down the discus seem to adjust much better. i would also do a water change. do you have any drift wood or peat in the tank? might help. maybe keep the light as low or off as much as possible. it seems some discus do take a couple weeks to adjust. how his eating.

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The other fish are as follows:
Albino Cory Cats (5)
Harlequin Rasboras (7)
Danios (3)
Black Skirts (4)
Serpes (2)
Glass Ghost Catfish (2)
Swordtails (2)
Sunburst Wag (1)
Twinbar Platy (1)
Sunset Fire Platy (2)

I have 1 piece of driftwood in the tank.
I do water changes every week,and the light is on about 6-7 hours a day at different intervals

Dkarc said:

That is a sick discus. The whitish/grey areas on its body are slime due to external parasites/bacteria. Definetly not a healthy fish. Same goes for the Pigeon Blood. They are just hanging there in the corner with their fins folded. Something is up. What are your tank parameters and what are your water changes like?

-Ryan

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My water parameters are as follows:
PH = 7.8 (same as the LFS)
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 10

I do a 25% water change once a week.

So you think the Pigeon Blood is sick to ?

He does not always just hang in the corner. I do see him eat and he will make trips around the tank. I think he hangs in the corner because that is where the other guy is usually at?

I really enjoy this species,but after 2 weeks I wonder if it is worth the aggravation & worry?