Shy Discus

[Alexi]

Hey =)

My discus have been happily eating, coming out to explore then shying away. Until the second/third day, when the larger discus stopped eating at feeds, while the younger one will. I noticed that they both seem to open and close their mouth a lot and hide away in the left hand corner of the tank. Is this something i should be concerned about?

My water is pristine, perhaps they are still overcoming shock =/

Regards,

Alexi

[apistodiscus]

Are your fish gone dark? Do they scratch themselves on tank decorations such as boogwood and stones specially around the gill area? What colour are their faeces

[Alexi]

the colour has not changed darker/lighter at all from the day of purchase, they do not scratch against ornaments, but seem shy and almost uninterested in feeding.

Nitrite: 0 PPM
PH: Between 6.6 - 6.8 = 6.7 roughly
Carbonate Hardness: 0-3, 0-50 PPM
General Hardness: 161.1 PPM - Which does not make sense since i did the water change it was perfect...

Would you happen to know if this is the problem, as it seems most likely. Is there a way to lower the GH?

[Merrilyn]

Alexi how long has your tank been set up, and what is your water change routine?

We really need to know the ammonia reading, because that is the first sign of trouble in a tank. I'm not so concerned with your GH level. I'm more interested in your ammonia and nitrate readings.

Usually, shyness in discus that have previously been coming to the front of the tank for food, is due to a water problem of some kind. It can even be temperature related. What temp are you running the tank, and what tankmates do you have in there along with the discus?

[Alexi]

I did a water change along with adding my 1200LPH filter (it filters amonia, 4stage filter) and a 25% water change. Two hours later i fed them, and they seem to be happily swimming about.

I also took out the 2 white albino catfish, as they were out competing them at feeding time. I noticed the dominate discus, after several attempts at forcing the albinos away, would give up and swim to the corner of the tank at a feeding session. now that they are gone, almost immediately they are both swimming happily about and eating, they do not retreat into the corners anymore.

Will keep you posted =)

[Merrilyn]

Alexi how long has your tank been set up, and are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle.

Your filter will only convert ammonia to nitrite and then nitrate once it is fully established and mature. This takes around 6 weeks. Before that happens, ammonia and nitrite can kill your fish.

Have you got test kits? What is your ammonia and nitrite and nitrate readings?

Water is the most important factor in keeping discus, or any fish for that matter.