Discus Color

Well I brought the Dark one back. I got another fish,but I am in the process of acclimating it.
The owner of the LFS did tell me today he found out from his supplier that these were wild caught.
I believe that may be part of the problem?
Don't forget I have water PH of 7.8 which is alot higher than where they came from.
I believe the Pigeon blood is doing fine. Funny,after I removed the other fish it got alot more active.
 
I agree..generally when discus turn dark they are stressed.

if these are truley wild caught..you may have your hands full.

I am not certain but the wild caught are more difficult..they are very sensitive to water parameters and you may need to up your water changes..however,
can you check what the water conditions are at the lfs..

in my discus tank I change the water a minimum 2x week and try for 30-40% per change..sometimes more. and this is with domestic discus that I have had for over 1 year..I quarantined some more for almost three months before I added them to the main tank. my fish are treated for parasites while in quarantine.

Dkarc/Ryan is a wealth of good information especially regarding discus care.
 
star_rider said:
I
if these are truley wild caught..you may have your hands full.

can you check what the water conditions are at the lfs..



Dkarc/Ryan is a wealth of good information especially regarding discus care.
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Yes ! Actually I checked the lfs water parameters before I even bought the fish. They were almost an exact match to mine.
Possible problem being,I bought these fish the day his store opened. I never asked but those fish might have only been in his tank a few says.

I brought back the dark Discus and got an exchange. While I was acclimating the new Discus(3 1/2 hrs)the Pigeon Blood was the most active I have ever seen him over the past couple of weeks. He was all over the tank and investigating everything like he just arrived. When I introduced the new Discus,he went straight into hiding,but only for a few minutes. He and the old Discus started swimming around the tank like they owned it. I even had one of my Black Skirts come to investigate him,and he showed him who was the boss !
 
those arent wild caught discus. Those are tank bred imports that were purchased from a wholesaler...who got them from Thailand for real cheap.

IMO, you need to increase your water changes and probably add in salt (5-6 tablespoons per 10 gallons) and see how they do from there. Also, what is your temperature?? You probably could bump it up to the high 80's.

-Ryan
Orlando Discus
 
I wouldn't add salt to a discus tank. They are captive bred, not wild caught, you don't find those colors and patterns in the wild. One of the problems seems to be that it seems you added discus to a community tank. They do best when the tank is based on them and any tankmates are carefully selected based on whether or not they can go with the discus, water parameters and temp included. Squeezing in discus to a tank not based on their needs is a good way to get to where it seems you are, dealing with the problems of stressed, unhealthy discus. I recommend you pick either the community fish or the discus. Some of those fish are fine with discus, but most I would not keep with discus for an assortment of reasons. What size tank is it? What filtration do you have?
 
reptileguy2727 said:
They are captive bred, not wild caught, you don't find those colors and patterns in the wild.
Some of those fish are fine with discus, but most I would not keep with discus for an assortment of reasons.
What size tank is it? What filtration do you have?
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The tank is a 55gallon.
Filtration is an Emperor 400.

Unfortunately I do not have another tank so I must deal with the situation at hand.
After returning the blue (sick/stressed) Discus the Orange one became very active. I then got a replacement,and after acclimating the new fish it was very active also. Then the orange one started bullying around the new arrival. It does not appear like any physical damage,just alot of open mouth pushing. I then purchased another Discus thinking this could help the bullying. Instead the Orange one just started bullying them both. Again,I don't think it's malicious,just showing them who is the boss:huh:
The other 2 Discus don't run for their lives when approached,but on numerous occasions the orange one shoves them around.
It has become apparent that the Orange Discus is the boss in this tank. The Black Skirts now move out of its way.

What fish that I have would you NOT keep with the Discus,and why?
(besides the temperature)
Thanks for any advice
 
Platies and swords are cool water from areas with harder more alkaline water. The danios like it cooler and are very fast swimmers which usually stresses discus and makes it harder to ensure the discus are getting enough to eat. What exactly is you black ghost catfish? I would go with smaller species of tetras that have a more torpedo shaped body, they are less likely to be nippy or stress out discus, although obviously your orange one doesn't care. I feed my discus nothing but New Life Spectrum.
 
They still seem a bit stressed. Try doing a water change and putting in some salt and see how they do. You can be surprised by how much good salt would do for the discus.

As for the bullying....best thing I can say is either wait it out and see if things settle down, or add in a few more discus to spread the aggression around.

-Ryan
Orlando Discus
 
Dkarc said:
They still seem a bit stressed.
-Ryan
Orlando Discus
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Why would you say that?
They are all very active,actually much more active than @ the LFS where I purchased them. I watched these fish for over an hour,and they seem much happier in my tank. :dance2:
They came from a Discus tank along with Danios. There were even some aproximately 8" Discus in with them.
 
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