Issue ??

[Skitz]

Have been keeping discus for about a month now, and still a beginner so be nice.

I've had some heating problems of late (the new heater gave up the ghost, well it was working, but not heating properly) - anyway thats fixed now.

I have 4 discus - all about 4-5cm old which I've had about a month. Didn't buy them all at the same time so I'm not sure whether this had anythying to do with it, or the temp problems or what, so please, help me out.

Bought Turk & Pigeon first, added Pepper a week later, and a week after that added Snake (their names guide me on what I'm talking about). At first Turk was quite bossy, but for a while there they settled down. Added Snake and he became the boss, though they were still playing nice. Now Pigeon & Snake will happily roam the tank whilst Turk & Pepper hide in the back corner.

All fish are feeding - mix of discus granules, and a flake & dried worm combo.

PH is 7.0 and temp is 28*C.
Tank is 110L and also has a combo of some tetras and also a couple of german & gold rams.
I water change 15% every week. I know some of you say to do more often, but with my years of keeping other tropicals I was always taught that anything more would stress out the fish, so dont do it.

I had a case of white spot on a couple of fish a couple of weeks back (not on any discus) which was treated and has now cleared up. I think it came in wither the gold rams or the plants ??

Anyway, I'm worried about the 2 discus, Pepper & Turk. Turk seems to be a bit darker than he was when I first got him (or her - I have no idea). Also his fins don't seem to stand up as high as the other discus.

I'm just not sure he's happy. Is there anything I should be looking out for ? His eyes are clear, red, no unusual lesions or spots or anything. He's been happy & healthy until just recently. Could it have been the stress of the heat problems ?

All help would be greatley appreciated. I wasn't sure what info you would need, so I just rambled.... sorry.

And thanks in advance,

[Skitz]

Oh and the other thing I should let you know is I'm happy for how they grow, I'm not in a hurry to make them fat quicker or anything. And I will still love my little 4 no matter if they are stunted or anything.

[fish_r]

ok i'm no expert so hope someone else chips in for u, i'm sure they will.
but what i would do is raise the temp to 30c
get rid of the dried worm and feed beefheart mix and frozen brine shrimp as well as the flake and pellets
up your water changes to 30% twice a week.
how big are the discus ? cause u should really only have only one adult discus per 50lts of water unless ur prepaired to do bigger and more often water changes.
sorry to sound harsh BUT
if u dont mind them being stunted ur not really looking after them how they deserved to be looked after imo
up ur water changes as mentioned and feed more often in smaller amounts...

[the german]

spot on fish_r,the prob with discus is they need 2 years to grow and anything you miss in that time is hard to catch up with,no such thing as i dont need to hurry up things,especially in a planted tank,you should follow the things fish_r said and all will be good for them and you will end up with nice big discus


michael

[DIY]

When you watch them for a while, do pepper & turk seem to be picked on by the other two?

I was always told that discus should be kept in a group of at least six so that the aggression is spread and no single discus gets picked on constantly.

certainly in my tank I have one smaller discus that hides a lot as he gets picked on by the others and I have 12 in my planted tank. If you watch for a while you should be able to tell if it's being picked on too much, especially at feeding time. Unfortunately 110l is nowhere near big enough for six so that may not be an option anyway.

One other thing how do the discus go with the rams? do they spook them or anything?

The temp problem you had shouldn't be an issue unless it got really cold? last time I had a heater problem and the temp went from 29c down to 23c it actually induced a pair to spawn.

[Skitz]

The discus are around 4-5cm.

When I said I'm not in a hurry all I meant was whilst I hope they grow big and healthy, if they don't I will still love my little fellas anyway, I wouldn't be in a rush to get rid of them or anything if they arn't a perfect fish.

Turk seemed to be the big boss for a while but now he's lost being the head of the pack it seems. Snake occassionally has a half hearted chase of Turk & Pepper but I wouldn't say they are being seriously harrassed or anything. They were all OK when I first put them together, it's just now.

The rams and the discus seem to go along fine, they don't seem to trouble the discus at all.

The temp (unfortunately) went down to 25*C, was there at that temp for maybe a day ?

Fish R - you said to get rid of what I am feeding them, but you didn't tell me what to replace it with. All help would be great. Currently I am feeding them 2x a day.

[fish_r]

get rid of the dried worm and feed beefheart mix and frozen brine shrimp as well as the flake and pellets

i only said to get rid of the dried worm m8 and i suggested beefheart mix and brine shrinp and keep feeding the flake and pellet.

[Robdog]

I reckon what Rob means is to give them a bit of variety including some good frozen food like bloodworms and beefheart. It may be a little more expensive and fiddly but your fish will love you for it. ;)

[Robdog]

Maybe we should stop posting at the same time Rob! :lol:

[DIY]

I can tell by watching my discus for about 10 seconds if I have been a bit lazy on waterchanges. The discus get darker, tend to be startled or spooked by any small vibration or movement, The fins are less erect and they seem generally more timid.

as suggested by fish_r & robdog, up your waterchanges and give them more variety food and they will love it :D

[Skitz]

So you think it's just that Pepper & Turk are more sensitive than the other 2 then ? The other 2 are doing well.

Thankyou for your advice, I was just wondering why the sudden change in them then ? Turk was the first one to come and he has always been out. The water change routine I have has been the same since I got the tank started. Same with feeding, they occassionally frozen blood worms.

[DIY]

So you think it's just that Pepper & Turk are more sensitive than the other 2 then ? The other 2 are doing well.

Thankyou for your advice, I was just wondering why the sudden change in them then ? Turk was the first one to come and he has always been out. The water change routine I have has been the same since I got the tank started. Same with feeding, they occassionally frozen blood worms.

Discus are VERY sensitive to water quality, and yes it's possible that one is more sensitive than the others. Just like people really, I can't handle smog as well as others may be able to. :oops:

If I understand right from you original post, you have had your discus for a month, and the last one (snake) was added only about 2 weeks ago? you will need to up your water changes now that you have added 4 discus to your tank.

you can do a nitrate test if you have a test kit. For a tank without plants the it's best to keep nitrates under say 10, preferably below 5ppm. If you have plants then you can compromise a bit, I keep my planted tank between 10 and 20. If you don't have a nitrate test kit then just watch your discus, they will soon tell you how good or bad the water is by their behaviour :lol: :lol:

[fish_r]

I reckon what Rob means is to give them a bit of variety including some good frozen food like bloodworms and beefheart. It may be a little more expensive and fiddly but your fish will love you for it
exactly what i meant :) i only didnt mention bloodworms cause have been reading lately there not too good for discus if u feed too much bloodworm so now i only feed bloodworm once a week or so for a treat.
just to give u an idea of what i feed : my own beefheart mix, posaqua discus deluxe, frozen brine shrimp, frozen bloodworm, discus dinner, along with a treat of live brine shrimp once a week. also at every feed i feed a different kind of flake, i use about 8 different varieties of flake

i also have blue rams with my discus with no problems, they do get a bit testy when they have eggs/fry but nothing over the top :wink:
the only thing with putting rams in with discus is u will shorten there lifespan a little cause of the higher temps needed for discus...
good luck with it all
Rob...

[Skitz]

Have taken your advice and upped my water change %. Am now taking out just under 25%.

Was out at Fish Rock the other day and got some Beef heart as well. The fish seem to love it !!!