I just came home from dinner and my new discus that were hiding when I left are now gasping at the surface. Any Ideas?
Matt
Matt
my new discus are gasping at the surface
- Thread starter FishyMatty
- Start date
can idicate high ammonia levels. What are your levels? Are you using liquid tests (more accurate than paper ones)
I do have co2 but once I noticed them I turned the air on. I just put a few new plants in today I may have stirred some stuff up. ammonia .5 I did a five gal water change and their back to their hiding spot. Actually the small one just came out to check things out.
your water conditions need to be at or near perfect for discus. . . they are very sensitive to any kind of pollutants in the water. the ammonia present is probably already damaging their gills, causing them to have trouble breathing as you can see b/c they are gasping at the surface. 5g change on 46g isn't really a lot, they are probably still having trouble but stressed by the water change (you fiddling around in the tank scared them). do a bigger water change (50%) and get the ammonia under .25. otherwise you'l probably lose them. your tank was pretty heavily stocked as it is without the addition of the discus.
The planting happened before I got the fish so they didnt have to deal with that. They seem to be doing better. Should I still change more water?
Will that effect the cycling aspect. replacing to much cycled water at once?
Will that effect the cycling aspect. replacing to much cycled water at once?
*water* is not cycled. filters are cycled. the bacteria are attached to solid surfaces in the tank, not free-floating in the water. as long as you do the water changes correctly (temp-match, use dechlor, don't let chlorinated water get into the filters) there is not harm in doing as many water changes as your fish need.