Hi all its being a while.A quick question about discus.I recently bought some juveniles from my lfs had them about 1wk and they were doin fine so i decided 2 buy a couple more.That nite i noticed 1 of them didnt look the best.His skin was goin kinda pale white,his overall colour was really dark and his eyes were really dull,long and behold i took him out dead within 2 days.This repeated with another 1 and its starting 2 spread 2 my other discus.Im just finishing a course of eSHa HEXAMITA which doesnt seem 2 hav worked 2 well has any1 any ideas.ph7 no ammonia tiny bit of nitrites and nitrates and kh 4-5 please i need help:help2:
discus problem
- Thread starter irish paddy
- Start date
Need more info here..
for starters:
Tank size,
Water temp
tankmates
Ph
Size of the discus in Question
for starters:
Tank size,
Water temp
tankmates
Ph
Size of the discus in Question
190l juwel,temp 80f,tankmates are neon tetras,lemon tetras,penguin tetras,black phantoms,apistogrammas,marble hatchets,pecktolias,corys and a couple of rams ph is at 7 there about 1 and a half inches
temp 80f is too cool for juvie discus.. try 84-86 juvies need very clean water..meaning min 3 wc week daily is best since they need to be fed 4-6 X daily
Discus are one of the fish when raised as Juvies need extra attention. the best way to raise them is in bare bottom species only tank.. reason.. they are not as quick to the food and tend to graze.
they can be raised in a community tank but it is more difficult.
Discus are one of the fish when raised as Juvies need extra attention. the best way to raise them is in bare bottom species only tank.. reason.. they are not as quick to the food and tend to graze.
they can be raised in a community tank but it is more difficult.
i agree juvenile discuss is best kept in a bare bottom species only tank with temp around 82 to 84f, at times they can be out competed by other tank mates for food especially when newly introduced to the tank having some preadjusted tank mates.
thanks for that bit of info just turned up the heater.is there anything else i can do the first 3 i got seemed 2 be doin fine for the first wk i was feeding them twice a day it wasnt till i put in the 2 new 1's that bad things start happening which seems 2 me that they were already suffering with something
Perhaps they were...but hard to say. It may have just been timing. The very first thing I do when my discus are acting the least bit funky...change water. Do a large water change several times a week for juvies. Clean water is absolutely imperative. Feeding twice a day for 1.5 inch discus is not enough either. Especially in a community tank. I would start there...increase temp, increase feedings, increase water changes. Then watch them closely for anyother signs. Right now that is all I would do. I would not throw any more meds at them until you have other symptoms. The meds themselves are pretty rough on them.
If you can post a pic.
If you can post a pic.
I keep Juvie Discus at about 86F
which is usually very warm for most other fish. Before you crank up that heater, be sure the other fish will tolerate that warm water.
The purpose of a bare bottom tank isnto of necessity, its simply for ease of cleaning, I have raised several juvie discus in planted tanks with substrate without any issues.
Discus are generally pretty timid fish, and wont usually, until they get larger, fight for food. And usually the smallest discus in the bunch will hide the majority of the time due to bullying of the other discus.
Whenever you add new discus to an established population, you stress them out because a new pecking order will have to be established, as with most any fish. However when you add Juvenile discus to a tank with larger discus, even larger juvie discus, the new smaller fish will be picked on by all of the older established fish, in fact I have seen larger fish get bullied by smaller fish that were in the tank first.
Also a 190 L tank is only about 50 US Gallons, which IMO, is a bit small to house discus, since they should be kept in groups of 5+, especially with other species.
which is usually very warm for most other fish. Before you crank up that heater, be sure the other fish will tolerate that warm water.
The purpose of a bare bottom tank isnto of necessity, its simply for ease of cleaning, I have raised several juvie discus in planted tanks with substrate without any issues.
Discus are generally pretty timid fish, and wont usually, until they get larger, fight for food. And usually the smallest discus in the bunch will hide the majority of the time due to bullying of the other discus.
Whenever you add new discus to an established population, you stress them out because a new pecking order will have to be established, as with most any fish. However when you add Juvenile discus to a tank with larger discus, even larger juvie discus, the new smaller fish will be picked on by all of the older established fish, in fact I have seen larger fish get bullied by smaller fish that were in the tank first.
Also a 190 L tank is only about 50 US Gallons, which IMO, is a bit small to house discus, since they should be kept in groups of 5+, especially with other species.
one more thing.. LFS stock (IME) is not always the healthiest
could very well be as simple as that
could very well be as simple as that
cheers all thanks for all the good info hopefully they'll survive and if not ill put your info to better use next time