New Discus.

[Matt_Cardiff_07]

Hi guys, i'm new to discus and put 2x blue discus in my tank yesterday. I have 2 questions. First is it normal for them to peck at each other? That's all they've done for the past hour, I tried feeding them but that didn't solve anything!
Secondly, they're just staying in one area of the tank - will they explore the rest of it given time?

Thanks.

[djceri_g]

did you buy them as a pair?

[Matt_Cardiff_07]

Yeh they were both put in at the same time.

[Dat]

i think they could be negotiating to see who's king of the tank. :)

[scott bowler]

hi matt welcome to the forum mate good luck with the new fish. to answer your questions yes it is normal for them to have a peck at each other for a while just taking care of the boss part .2 t may take a few days before the settle down and have a look around the tank .it is all new to them so they get a bit shy to start with ,if your water quality is good they will be fine .keep us posted matt good luck

[Greggy]

I expect my more experienced friends of this forum wll chime in and sort you out in due course, but let me start off with letting you into some basics for keeping Discus, just in case you've overlooked something.

A Fully Cycled Tank? - If your tank is a newish steyp (less than 2 months old) then perhaps your tank has not yet finished 'cycling'. The Nitrogen cycle involves Ammonia (NH3) that fish excrete being turned into Nitrite (NO2) and then again into Nitrate (NO3). Discus HATE ammonia and they HATE Nitrite even more, and they only tolerate Nitrate in small doses so you had better make sure your tank has fully cycled before adding any Discus otherwise your in for trouble. If your Discus are in a new tank they can begin to suffer from New Tank Syndrome which is basically ammonia and/or nitrite poisoning (which can make them shy and hide at the very least... at worst it will kill them), and if thats the case large daily water changes are the order of the day.

Temperature - Keep the temp at about 30-31C when you add new Discus, as it helps their immune systems during stressful periods (such as tank swaps). After about a week you can lower the temp to say 29C (as its easier on the plants should you have any) but don't set it lower than 28C or you'll have problems. Also, get two tank heaters instead of one as this a) keeps the water temp more stable and b) one is a backup for the other should one fail.

Hardness - Discus can actually tolerate quite hard water, with some keepers convinced that harder water (as opposed to soft water) is actually easier to keep Discus in (note that I am NOT saying easier to breed Discus in). Harder water generally maintains a more stable pH level and offers young growing Discus many minerals etc that help them grow up big & strong. Hard water is also more tolerant of water chemisty mistakes and neglected water changes, as it tends to buffer conditions that would otherwise lead to a pH crash = very bad.

pH - Unless your attempting to keep wild caught Discus or breeding Discus I would not muck around lowering (or raising) the pH too much. Discus generally prefer (soft) acidic water (say from pH 5.5 to 6.5) but the captive tank-raised Discus that we get from our LFS generally have no problems with pH up to about 8.0 (consider this a safe max). A highish but stable pH is much better than a lower pH that moves around alot eg during water changes. Just keep an eye on it but don't be too worried if its slightly alkaline.

Water Changes - Discus love clean water! They dislike large amounts of TDS (total disolved solids) and like I said above they are not too keen on Nitrate either, so a weekly 25% water change should be the minimum amount of water changed. Some breeders change 90% of the water each & every day, but if your like me you'll settle on a more realistic WC regime which generally keeps the fish happy. Many of the members of this forum change their water twice a week (or more) so learn from all of us but try to change your fishes water at least once per week.

Oxygen - Because the temp of a Discus tank is usually quite high, oxygen levels can often become low, especially if you also use some kind of high/low tech CO2 system to help fertilize your plants. Many of us also run an air stone along with various types of filtration systems. I only run my air-stone at night but to be safe you might want to run it 24/7 until you settle the fish down and work out the oxygen requirments of your tank. Basically if your in doubt then run an air stone!

Feeding - Don't over-feed Discus, but don't under feed them either! Growing Discus need to be fed small amounts several times a day, with 3 or 4 feeds per day a minimum (if you want them to grow). Feeding once per day will keep them alive, but don't expect too much from them in terms of development & growth. If you have a bare bottom tank then feed heavy but remove uneaten food each and every time. If you have a heavily planted/large tank (like I do) remving uneaten food is basically impossible, so feed a little lighter, and employ an army of scavenger fish to act as the clean-up-crew. I recommend a school of SAEs and/or several Corys but I find Cory catfish are very delicate where as the SAE's are tough as nails.

Thats all I can think of for now. I hope I have not taught you how to suck eggs, as you may well be an experienced fish keeper, but if you get the basics wrong then you & your Discus are not going to have a happy relationship, and it could cost them their lives! However Get the basics right and you'll find Discus to be very tough and extremely interesting and rewarding.

Good luck!

Regards,

Greggy

[the german]

nice post greggy,all good but i dont agree in ph 8 :shock: thats way too high 6.8-7.2 ok-less better.

michael

[Greggy]

Thanks German, and I know what you mean about the pH!

My 9 Discus are currently living in water that tests pH 7.8 and I've not noticed any problems at all (well not since my 'disaster' earlier in the year, and that was not pH related). In fact they are all going really well, growing, chasing one another around the tank and generally looking for food at all other times. I really think comercially bred Discus can tolerate alkaline water quite well. I'm not saying its a good thing but they seem to cope. Maybe over time it will be detrimental to them, but right now all seems ok.

Obviosuly we all try to keep the pH slightly acidic, but for the tap water in my area this is impossible without going to RO water or some other method such as a pH controlled CO2 injection system... which is probably next on my wish list.

Regards,

Greggy

[the german]

hey greggy

my tap water is 8,4 :shock: :shock: :shock:
i use phospohric acid,when you want i can give you some for free,i get it from tasman chemicals,you only need arround 10ml for 80-100l of water,sometimes even less.


michael

[Matt_Cardiff_07]

Thanks for the replies guys. Cheers Gregg, a helpful post for me to read - i'm neither a beginner nor a veteran :) Been keeping a community tank of tropical fish for around a year, but got a little bored so i got rid of my stock and inroduced these 2 guys amonst a few others.

They seem to have stopped pecking at each other now, so I guess they've decided on a boss hehe. They're also beginning to explore the tank a little more now, I think the introduction of a school of Glowlight Tetras helped the situation.

I agree on the WC front, I do 30% change once weekly. But the feeding situation i'm finding a little tricky. I've got frozen bloodworm and Tetra Prima granular food. I prefer to feed only once a day instead of several, but unless the food is dropped right in front of their nose - they won't go and search for it. Which means i'm inclined to take it out incase it harms my water.

I was particularly attatched to a small honey gourami i'd had since the beginning of my fish keeping days, and when I decided to make the change to discus I had to take him back to the shop, reluctantly! But when I went to get my tetras a week later I seen he was still at the shop! I couldn't resist and I got him back. He's a very friendly fish unlike a lot of gouramis, however i've noticed a dramatic change in his personality since I brought him back. All he's doing is hiding behind the filter, possibly just stressed from moving of tanks? Scared of the Discus? Or not liking the new water conditions? I'm not sure.

[the german]

you should get at least two more discus there are shool fish and will eat and behave better so bigger the group is.

[Matt_Cardiff_07]

I've had them since saturday now, and not once have they been interested when feeding tim comes. When I feed they're hiding, therefore not in a position to get the food - but if I leave it there for them, it makes the water quality poor. I'm confused as to what to do!

One of them has even gone hiding in a cave I have for the catfish!