FOLLOW-UP TO DISCUS - '6 Cardinal Rules'

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discuspaul

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A little follow-up to '6 Cardinal Rules' - DISCUS
Just thought I'd add this little snippet to my recent post:



I call it: "Stress" - a major "Poor" factor for discus (and any other fish for that matter)

As most of you know, stress in fish is the prelude to a lot of health negatives associated with successful fish-keeping.

Here's a list of "poor" conditions causing stress, leading to a weakening of the immune system, then failing health, and serious problems for your discus (and any other fish):
- Poor water quality and conditions;
- Poor diet;
- Poor choice of numbers to be kept in a given-sized tank - i.e, overcrowding;
- Poor attention to social make-up & compatabilty - e.g. too few discus & bullying result;
- Poor choice of stocking sources for discus ( e.g. lesser quality LFS's);
- Poor research into caring for discus (and any other fish);
- Poor choice of tank size, and size of fish to keep therein;

The list goes on.​
 

stormywendyann

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Talking about poor quality discus.

Speaking of all the no, no's on your list... I recently got these from a probably not so good source only because I felt sorry for them. I have 5 all together and they all look the same. They sort of look like discus, but then ? What do you think they are? I am just curious. I love them just the way they are and they are actually doing very well now.



New Fish 16.JPGNew Fish 14.JPGNew Fish 13.JPG

New Fish 16.JPG New Fish 14.JPG New Fish 13.JPG
 

discuspaul

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Those are in fact...Discus.
Not very well-shaped, obviously stunted, and very heavily peppered - not good fish.
However, having said that, there is hope for them - If you give them some TLC, maintain good quality water conditions, with large, frequent water changes, and a good diet, feeding several times a day, you could possibly grow them out some more to be healthy, long-lived fish.
Give me a little more info - on your routine with them, the size of tank, filtration, etc. and perhaps I could help you develop them into something you could really like.
They have some good points - they seem alert - their fins are outstretched, and they appear healthy enough - so maybe you can improve them.
Keep up what you're doing, and if you can lighten up their environment - e.g. a light background coupled with a light-colored substrate, they could lose much of their peppering and look a whole lot better -
Hope this helps.
 

stormywendyann

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Yes, that helped a lot. I have the five of them in a 55 gallon tank for now. The substrate is a light light beige. I can take the backing off if that would help make them feel more at home. Currently I feed them blood worms, mysis shrimp, and Tetra Vitamin Flakes. I feed them at 5 am and 5 pm. It sounds like I should feed them more often. I do a 50 percent water change 3 times a week, basically every other day. I have them in a planted tank. I know that my Ph is not optimal, but I keep everything else correctly 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and I keep the nitrates well under 10. Their roomates are 6 cory cats, a frog, and a baby crawfish (which I will move when it gets bigger). I am not so worried about what they are going to end up looking like, I just want them to be healthy and happy, or I wouldn't have gotten them to begin in the beginning.
 

stormywendyann

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P.s. Stunted? What would have caused that and the peppering. I just thought they were ugly discus fish.
 

TheFishBoss97

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Not an expert, but I think stunting probably had occurred before the purchase of the fish, depending on how big they were when you originally got them, idk how big they are, but they look small, so I think with not enough food/WCs/quality which I think is more important when raising them as discuspaul said in the original thread...right?

idk...but I originally had bought 5 small discus like yours which I got from a local breeder for $60 for 5 which became stunted and eventually died:(
Hope yours do better! they look like they will as they look more active than mine used to be...good luck:)
 

discuspaul

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The FishBoss is quite correct - the stunting had no doubt occured long before you got them.
It's the result of discus not being cared for properly over a lengthy period of time - being kept in far less than ideal water conditions - insufficient water changes - inadequate diet, etc.
However Wendy, you certainly appear to be doing the right things to keep them healthy. Your water params are fine, as are your 3 X weekly wcs, and you're likely feeding them enough, so don't worry about it. I don't know if your tank is heavily planted, but if it is, you might consider reducing the amount of plantings to give them more free swimming space & to make it easier on yourself to maintain a good tank & substrate cleaning routine.
As for the peppering, that will not likely ever disappear completely in your fish, but it can be reduced somewhat (and make the fish appear a little better) by maintaing light coloration in the tank, (particularly background and substrate), as these fish naturally adapt to the coloration/ shades of their surroundings, and dark colors bring out darker fish coloration and the peppering.
As I mentioned before, they do look alert & healthy, perhaps happy too, so just enjoy them & best of luck to you.
 

stormywendyann

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Thank you for all your help, I really appreciate it and so do my fish.
 
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