HELP!!! Whats wrong with my NEW Discus?

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J [dot] L

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Aug 2, 2007
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Hi, can i ask, whats wrong with my new discus? is it suffering from stress?
It's a Blue Turquoise Discus, but it looks brown to me. it's not eating either, i've tried feeding it Blood worms and baby brine shrimps but it wont eat.
Someone help! i dont want it to die.

Thanks
Jonathan
 

pinkertd

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May 29, 2007
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Debbi
Need some info first. How long have you had it? Where did it come from? What size tank? What are the water parameters? Is it in a QT tank or main tank? What are tankmates? Something is def. wrong, it should not be dark like that.

Debbi:)
 

J [dot] L

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Aug 2, 2007
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I've had it for 1 day now. it came from this company...http://www.tropicalfish4u.co.uk/acatalog/

I got all my new fishes from there the same day i got the discus. i have a baby silver arowana, 2 gold gourami's. i havent seen any bullying at all. its in the main 180l tank. the water PH is 7.8. the temp is 26 celcius

The discus was laying flat down yesterday, but today it's actually staying upright.

All the other fishes seems normal

Thanks
Jonathan
 

pinkertd

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May 29, 2007
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First off, I'm sure it's stressed from shipping, that's why it was lying flat down yesterday. That's normal. Good that it is up today! 26C is not warm enough for discus. Discus need higher temps than most other fish can tolerate. 29C is a good temp to keep them in, juvenile fish actually do better at 30C, then lower to 29C when they are larger. With new discus, lights should be out in the tank for a day or two while acclimating. Should not even try to feed till it seems less stressed. I am disappointed to see that you only bought one, they need a group of their own to do well. I don't know what else you have in that main tank, but the arowana and gouramis will not work with discus.

Debbi:)
 

J [dot] L

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i was going to get another 2 discus's as i have just fount out the same thing what you said about them being in groups.

I got told they would do well with the arowana and gourami. all of them are only babies. they are about 7cm long.

How would i know it is less stressed?

Thanks
Jonathan
 

pinkertd

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May 29, 2007
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The arowana will get to be 36" long I believe! And that's way too big for your tank. The arowana will probably grow much faster than the discus and don't they eat fish smaller than themselves? The gouramis won't do well in the high temps for the discus. A group of 3 discus is a minimum number, but still low. They are cichlids and I have found there is much more bullying at the lower numbers. Discus are not an easy fish for a beginner aquariast but most important is to start off with the best quality, healthiest discus you can get. Please read as much as you can about them. The red turq is a beautiful discus, I have two. You will know he is less stressed when his color lightens up and his bars disappear. You will see the beautiful red and blue striations then. There's two discus forums I can recommend for reading information, BIDKA.org (british and international discus keepers assoc.) and Simplydiscus.com. Lots of information there.

Debbi:)

Debbi
 

J [dot] L

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Aug 2, 2007
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I was thinking once they grow big i would get a much bigger tank for them. and yes the arowana's do eat smaller fish, so once it gets big, it will need to move to a different tank.:)

By the way, do discus's swim alot, or do they just swim at slow paces, mainly just staying in the same place. as my discus is only staying nearly in the same spot.

Are there any other favourite foods they like apart from bloodworms and brine shrimps?

Thanks
Jonathan
 

pinkertd

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May 29, 2007
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They are a slow paced fish that kind of glide around the tank, calm and peaceful. Bloodworms are an absolute favorite , you can't go wrong there. Mine prefer frozen bloodworms over flakes, pellets, frozen brine shripm and beefheart. There is a feeding frenzy when it's bloodworm time!

Debbi:)
 

jpappy789

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Feb 18, 2007
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Discus, from what I have observed, don't swim a whole lot in the aquarium. They are pretty slow anyways which is why people worry about competition for food. Yours probably is just stressed and also may be why it isn't moving.
 
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