need some technical help !!

[bujin]

hi guys ,
i found out that few of my blue diamonds started on diet , they dont want to eat anything but they looks normal just have a thin tummy ? :( :(
i feed them beef heart n blood worm pack .
Does anyone know wats the problem with them ? i cant figure out the problem .
meanwhile i check my tank ammonia level is 2.0 ( green colour ) .
is these really affect my discus appetite ?

FYI, my tank size 3' x 1.5'x 1.5' is about 170 litres of water in the tank .

i feed 3 time per day and change water after feed .( about 4 " water each time )

last 3 weeks ago i did put the bio -bacteria to the tank , but it seem not working . :? :?



pls advice me on this matter , thank you .

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Bujin,

An ammonia level of 2 is very bad, your ammonia should be 0 at all times. I have an API kit with swatches for 0, .25, .5, 1, 2. With my Hagen ammonia kit I have swatches for 0, .1, .3, .6, etc.

On your tank dimensions I get a volume of 182.25 ltr so approx 170 is about right.

How many fish do you have in there?

What size fish are they?

What are your other water parameters, nitrIte, nitrAte, pH, gH, kH, temp. etc?

Is it a bare bottom tank or do you have substrate in there?

What are the parameters of the water you use to do water changes? Is this the same as the water in the tank?

I seem to remember a post where you indicated the number of fish in the tank but can't find it anywhere.

Things you must do;

Reduce the ammonia levels as much as you can by large water changes ensuring the change water has the same parameters as the tank water.

Monitor Ammonia, NitrIte, NitrAte levels as often as you can. High levels of ammonia are going to result in a NitrIte spike when your tank starts to cycle. This is very dangerous for your fish as both of these substances are highly toxic to the fish.

Good luck, keep us informed of changes whether for the better or worse.

Regards,

Bob

[bujin]

hi bobbybruce ,

thanks for reply my post .

1) currently , i keeping 8 nos blue diamond ,5 nos bulldog blue diamond and 6 nos scorpion discus in my tank ( about total 19 nos .)

2) they all about size 2.5 inches .

3) ph 7.2( due to incoming tap water )

4) i have one storage tap water tank ( same size ) with air stone , choarcol ( 2 pack ) and one softener ( 1 pack ) and always keep about 10 hour clcye with air before use the water to my discus tank .

5) in my own discus tank , i have one top filter with black sponge and bio ring ,black sponge filter , air stone and top hang filter with small balck sponge and bio ring .

4) temp 28-29 c

5) is a bare bottom tank

6) i always change 30% after i feed them and 3 times a day .

i attached a photo of my fish tank .

regarding to nitrIte, nitrAte,gH, kH, i have no knowlegde abt these , pls advice me ,thank you .

hope can hear from u soon

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Bujin,

Too many fish, not enough water, possibly too little filtration.

Ammonia is a waste product produced by your fish, excess fish food and anything else dieing in your tank.

Over time, a colony of nitrosomonas bacteria will set up house in your filter media and start to breakdown ammonia. The product of this process is nitrIte which is also toxic.

In the presence of nitrIte another type of bacteria, Nitrobacter, set up house and convert the nitrIte to nitrAte which at low concentrations is relatively harmless to most fish.

This is known as the Nitrogen Cycle, as a discus keeper you need to have a good understanding of this process.

A pH of 7.2 is not a disaster but discus, and many of the amozonian fish that are kept with them prefer slightly acidic <7 pH values. The other values are gH (general hardness) and kH or carbonate hardness which give you some idea of the mineral content and conductivity of the water. General hardness of 4 - 6 dH is okay and kH of 2 - 4 is okay. The higher these values the greater the buffering effect meaning that you are less likely to have large pH swings which are not ideal for these fish.

Regards,

Bob

[bujin]

hi bobbybruce ,

thanks for the info .

i have changed 60 % water of the tank , and the ammonia reading reduce to 1.0 . i think i will keep changing more water for these few day .

i will transfer few nos discus to other tank to reduce the ammonia level.

i just bought a double black bio filter sponge attached to the tank wall and pour some nitro bacteria liquir to the tank .

hopefully the nitro bacteria can grow well in the tank .

meantime i will buy KH and GH testing kit to test the water quality .

thanks again for the helping me and provide me useful information .

can you send me the photo of the your tank for me have a look ? cos i want to learn how to set up better quality fish tank for my discus .

thank you .

best regards

bujin

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Bujin,

Hope all has gone well for you today.

There are some pics of my discus tank on page two of the photo album. Some under the heading "Wild Greens" which I no longer have, and some under new 6x2x2.

There are probably also some pics of my discus breeding in Breeding Basics. Again look for threads by BobbyBruce.

Regards,

Bob