How long can a juvy discus go without eating?

[dntx5b9]

Can a 2.5" juvy discus survive 8 weeks without eating? I got 6 juvies about 10 weeks ago, and one guy is pretty thin and haven't seen him really eat, either. He's been like that for over 8 weeks. He swims around here and there, and I have seen him picking on plants now and then, but I really haven't seen him eat. Can a 2.5" juvy survive without eating for 8 weeks? Not sure whether or not he will make it, but I thought he would have died few weeks ago if he was sick and not eating. So, I am still hoping that he would pull through.

[discus lover01]

hi mate not normally will they make it after not eating for that long i would say had he not eaten at all for that long he would of been dead already so he has eaten something to help him survive this long.
But i am unsure why you have waited 8 weeks before asking the ? there has to be a reason why it's not eating and if it's hexamite then you would of seen the signs of this white poo in tank thick white poo not stringy white stuff if not i would of moved it to a smaller tank and increased the temp to 31or 32 and tried to add food and see if it ate then as the increased temp can bring appetite back sometimes.
But after 8 weeks i wouldnt hold much hope of it coming back unless you can get it on food in day or so but even so it would be so stunted now from not getting the food and vitamins it needs to grow that it would most likely be a very small or poor shape fish if it did survive.
The only other thing you may try to get it to start eating is live foods brine or blackworm even though i dont reccomend blackworm to often but you need to try something or just put the poor thing out of it's misery of starving to death.
hope this helps some

[dntx5b9]

It's been kinda weird with this guy. The reason why I waited for so long was because it looked like the was starting to eat and pull through and then not and so forth for the last 8 weeks. He is one of 6 new juvies I purchased over 10 weeks ago. 4 are doing real well, the other one wasn't doing so well (like this guy in question), but had a turn around about a week and half ago. So, I was kinda waiting around to see what would happen with this guy. I was never successful treating sick discus back to health before, so I won't be doing that with this guy either. Just keeping up with the water quality and hope he will pull through.

[discus lover01]

oh ok sorry didnt mean it to come accross as an attack on you in regards to waiting 8 weeks was more a confused why but now i understand i would say he has had trouble even settling down with stress and if others have settled quicker then he would be getting picked on which has probably caused a lot of this stress and non settling but if there has been thick creamy white poo from him he would need to be treated with metronidazole on illness forum is dose rates and temps the worst thing is that with waiting the poor fish is in pain and starving to death slowly.

[dntx5b9]

No worries. I actually did the first does of Metro yesterday. I am going to continue that for few days. Also, ordering Jungle Parasite Clear to treat the tank in case metro doesn't do anything (never had luck with metro treating discus). Hopefully, this guy will pull through. Also, one funny thing about this guy is that he is never really dark. He doesn't have good coloring, but for a sick guy, he looks pretty good.

[discus lover01]

Hi i would use metro for around 5 days and if you see the fish starting to eat rhen you may have a chance to sae it but after this long i am not sure on how you will go but either way hope the fish can stop being sick and start to have a healthy life agauin as this is why we have these awesome fosh discus as they are the king of the aquarium.