purplefishtail
Mon Mar 17, 2008, 05:50 PM
Hi All, wondering if I could get some advice on my discus. I've got 10 2-3 inch discus in my 55 gallon tank (probably a few too many once they are larger, but I'm going to get a second, larger tank in the next month or two to spread them out). I got the fish about a month ago and they started out great. They were constantly swimming around the tank and begging for food, eating out of my hand within the first two days. Movement around the tank didn't seem to bother them much either. A couple of weeks ago this all changed drastically.
They now spend most of their time rediculously dark (almost black except for the two orange ones which have turned sort of pale on their faces) and hiding in very cramped quarters behind a piece of driftwood. They are still voracious little eaters but they only are coming out to eat and when they do it is usually apparent that something is wrong. They seem to have trouble staying vertical, often listing diagonally from left to right or with their tails held lower than their heads. They also scratch themselves on the fake plants in the tank periodically. This doesn't happen too often, but a couple times a day for most of them. The strange thing is that sometimes they appear as if nothing is wrong with them. Usually this happens as a group too, in the morning or sometimes immediately after feeding they get their bright colors back and mosey about like everything's fine. Unfortunately this state doesn't stick around long and they soon return to their hiding place or sickly look. Whether they're in one of the "healthy" phases or not though, they've become very jumpy and take a lot of coaxing before they come up to eat out of my hand.
Tank parameters seem fine, temp is just over 30, pH is 6.8-6.9. I do ~50% water changes twice a week though over the last couple weeks I've done a few extra water changes hoping to fix things but with no results. I feed them frozen brine shimp, blood worms, and beefheart (though they're not such fans of the beefheart) 4 to 5 times a day. Other tank mates are 4 clown loaches (loaches are also extra dark since about the same time but haven't changed their behavior), a buttefly pleco (no issues here; the discus harrass him, not the other way around), 6 harlequin rasboras, and 8 neon tetras (I've lost 4 neons over the past 5 days if that helps the diagnosis any, though I suspect this has something to do with the discus getting hungry between feedings...they certainly can't eat a whole fish yet but I've seen them pecking at neons peiodically)
The only thing I can think that changed was that I put some new substrate in the bottom of the tank in preparation for some planting. I bought the substrate here: http://www.aquariumplants.com/product_p/ss-1.htm. Is it possible the substrate is poisoning them or something? Or did putting in the substrate just disrupt their calm, weaken their immune system, and cause them to get sick? In any case, any suggestions on how to get my healthy discus back? Also, if medications are necessary, can I treat with something loach friendly?
Thanks so much for any advice. I really appreciate any help you can give!
They now spend most of their time rediculously dark (almost black except for the two orange ones which have turned sort of pale on their faces) and hiding in very cramped quarters behind a piece of driftwood. They are still voracious little eaters but they only are coming out to eat and when they do it is usually apparent that something is wrong. They seem to have trouble staying vertical, often listing diagonally from left to right or with their tails held lower than their heads. They also scratch themselves on the fake plants in the tank periodically. This doesn't happen too often, but a couple times a day for most of them. The strange thing is that sometimes they appear as if nothing is wrong with them. Usually this happens as a group too, in the morning or sometimes immediately after feeding they get their bright colors back and mosey about like everything's fine. Unfortunately this state doesn't stick around long and they soon return to their hiding place or sickly look. Whether they're in one of the "healthy" phases or not though, they've become very jumpy and take a lot of coaxing before they come up to eat out of my hand.
Tank parameters seem fine, temp is just over 30, pH is 6.8-6.9. I do ~50% water changes twice a week though over the last couple weeks I've done a few extra water changes hoping to fix things but with no results. I feed them frozen brine shimp, blood worms, and beefheart (though they're not such fans of the beefheart) 4 to 5 times a day. Other tank mates are 4 clown loaches (loaches are also extra dark since about the same time but haven't changed their behavior), a buttefly pleco (no issues here; the discus harrass him, not the other way around), 6 harlequin rasboras, and 8 neon tetras (I've lost 4 neons over the past 5 days if that helps the diagnosis any, though I suspect this has something to do with the discus getting hungry between feedings...they certainly can't eat a whole fish yet but I've seen them pecking at neons peiodically)
The only thing I can think that changed was that I put some new substrate in the bottom of the tank in preparation for some planting. I bought the substrate here: http://www.aquariumplants.com/product_p/ss-1.htm. Is it possible the substrate is poisoning them or something? Or did putting in the substrate just disrupt their calm, weaken their immune system, and cause them to get sick? In any case, any suggestions on how to get my healthy discus back? Also, if medications are necessary, can I treat with something loach friendly?
Thanks so much for any advice. I really appreciate any help you can give!