I have 2 small size discus they are orange yellow and black in color and look about 2 inches each . I bought them from my LFS they were cheaper than the other discus
New to Discus have 2 in QT that will eventually be going into my 36g bow community tank a few questions
- Thread starter platytetrafan
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Sorry I had an issue posting the rest of my thread. To continue the 2 discus I bought this weekend were much smaller than the others I saw that were larger and more expensive from my LFS. The bigger ones were approx. $80 each and the ones I bought were $25. each LFS guy told me that the discus I bought will stay smaller than the more expensive ones they look very healthy just smaller.. These 2 are in QT 10 g along with a cory and bleeding heart tetra and they will all be joining my bleeding heart tetras glo tetras cories cherry barbs and glo danios once they are finished with the QT process and will be going into my 36 gallon bow.
I have done some reading and just need clarification because I have read conflicting info regarding the care of discus. My water temp is 82 degrees in my main tank and QT and water conditions are good in both they are both cycled tanks. I do wc's every 2 weeks with a gravel vac once a month on my 36 g. Before I did the restocking process a while ago I had issues with ammonia and I think my tank went through a mini cycle because I was doing too aggressive wc's & gravel vacs too often and was cleaning the sides of the tank too often as well. I also might have been overfeeding now I feed the fish every other day and this schedule of wc's seems to work and am not cleaning the sides of the glass my cories seem to be doing their job so it hasn't been necessary.. I can do weekly wc's on the 10 g but once the discus are in the 36 g I want to keep them happy and my other fish as well & not stress them with constant wc's and don't want to send my tank backwards causing another minicycle to occur. So need advise on what to do.
I read on one site that they suggest feeding discus 4-5 times a day?? How is this even possible with a work schedule? I do have the proper foods bloodworms brine shrimp sinking granules and flakes they are the tetra brand if another brand is better please advise how do I feed the discus without overfeeding the others?. Bottom line is I want the best for all my fish and the discus will be my centerpiece fish to set off the 36g tank so I want to tank good care of them.. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!.
I have done some reading and just need clarification because I have read conflicting info regarding the care of discus. My water temp is 82 degrees in my main tank and QT and water conditions are good in both they are both cycled tanks. I do wc's every 2 weeks with a gravel vac once a month on my 36 g. Before I did the restocking process a while ago I had issues with ammonia and I think my tank went through a mini cycle because I was doing too aggressive wc's & gravel vacs too often and was cleaning the sides of the tank too often as well. I also might have been overfeeding now I feed the fish every other day and this schedule of wc's seems to work and am not cleaning the sides of the glass my cories seem to be doing their job so it hasn't been necessary.. I can do weekly wc's on the 10 g but once the discus are in the 36 g I want to keep them happy and my other fish as well & not stress them with constant wc's and don't want to send my tank backwards causing another minicycle to occur. So need advise on what to do.
I read on one site that they suggest feeding discus 4-5 times a day?? How is this even possible with a work schedule? I do have the proper foods bloodworms brine shrimp sinking granules and flakes they are the tetra brand if another brand is better please advise how do I feed the discus without overfeeding the others?. Bottom line is I want the best for all my fish and the discus will be my centerpiece fish to set off the 36g tank so I want to tank good care of them.. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!.
You got your discus from a LFS and the guy who sold them to you said they would remain small, which tells me he knew they were stunted (stunting occurs from growing out young discus under poor water quality & conditions).
Not be too concerned here, because stunted discus can otherwise be healthy, and be kept healthy - if their color is good, they're moving around well & normally, their fins are outstretched, and they're eating well - that indicates they're healthy.
And even though they likely will not grow any larger than they are now, or very little, they can remain healthy if you care for them well.
No telling how old they are, but they're not likely babies, so they only need to be fed once or twice a day.
However, it's a real risk to their ongoing health by doing a w/c only once every 2 weeks. I suggest strongly that you re-up w/c's to at least twice a week minimum - 50% or more - and each time give the tank glass walls a wipe-down, and vacuum the substrate as best you can.
In my experience, if you neglect to do that, your discus will not likely remain healthy for very long.
Hope this helps you. Please take this advice.
Not be too concerned here, because stunted discus can otherwise be healthy, and be kept healthy - if their color is good, they're moving around well & normally, their fins are outstretched, and they're eating well - that indicates they're healthy.
And even though they likely will not grow any larger than they are now, or very little, they can remain healthy if you care for them well.
No telling how old they are, but they're not likely babies, so they only need to be fed once or twice a day.
However, it's a real risk to their ongoing health by doing a w/c only once every 2 weeks. I suggest strongly that you re-up w/c's to at least twice a week minimum - 50% or more - and each time give the tank glass walls a wipe-down, and vacuum the substrate as best you can.
In my experience, if you neglect to do that, your discus will not likely remain healthy for very long.
Hope this helps you. Please take this advice.
I strongly agree with discuspaul! He knows his discus stuff...but I'd say do even more water changes. At 2 inches I changed water almost every day & fed them 4-6 x/a day. You need to up your tank cleaning game ASAP & hope they can continue to grow. Good luck!
Hi yes it looks like they are stunted they are small compared to the much larger discus I saw in the LFS they look beautiful though they are eating and swimming right now in QT in a 10 gallon tank for now until they go into my main 36 gallon corner bow tank in another 4-6 weeks.. I know it's important to do wc's weekly and I did read about feeding them etc and I appreciate the advise so far so good. I just worry because my 36 g is back on track. I was advised in the freshwater forum months ago that I was doing too aggressive water changes and vacs and cleaning the tank sides way too often. I had a mini cycle am convinced of that but now all is good. I know with adding discus you suggest wc's weekly instead of every 2 weeks 50% twice weekly? How will my other fish in the tank handle that? I want all my fish to be happy and don't want them stressed out. I also saw a video on youtube about how to feed the discus separately without over feeding my entire tank someone used chop sticks lowered them into the tank and fed a cube of food to them this way and it worked I just don't want to end up overfeeding my other fish as well and then have another ammonia disaster lol!
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Whoever suggested you were being too aggressive with w/c's and tank cleansing knew little or nothing about keeping discus - discus need & thrive on constant changes of fresh water and a squeaky clean tank, and it won't hurt your other fish either - in fact it'll be good for them and they'll quickly become accustomed to it - just like discus do.
And since your discus are stunted - they are NOT babies for certain, and so they do not need to be fed more than once or twice a day. Feeding them 4-6 X a day is crazy ! This would be too much food for all your fish, and think of the mess all the uneaten food will make, not to mention the undesirable bacteria which could develop from rotting food.
And since your discus are stunted - they are NOT babies for certain, and so they do not need to be fed more than once or twice a day. Feeding them 4-6 X a day is crazy ! This would be too much food for all your fish, and think of the mess all the uneaten food will make, not to mention the undesirable bacteria which could develop from rotting food.
The advise about aggressive wc’s was given to me before I decided I was going to be adding discus to my community tank. I have been feeding them once a day a variety of foods and so far so good just did a 50% wc on the QT yesterday 1 week so far & they are doing great!! ??? I agree feeding 4-6x a day I thought was a bit much not only for the discus but my other fish too & yes I would have a mess if I did that to my 36g tank so not going there! Thanks again!!
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