help!!!

[derekyeakel]

i have 4 discus in my tank i woke up this morning and 2 where dead :cry: the other 2 are inseperable now and they are doing great! my water conditions are perfect. i do my water changes once a week 25%. my question is can the 2 i have left be a breading pair and have killed off the other two? and how can you tell if they are a breeding pair? im realy new with this stuff so any ideas on what happened would greatly be apreciated!

[Merrilyn]

So sorry to hear about your loss. It's awful when our friends die without any symptoms.

Yes, I guess it's possible that the other two rammed the now dead fish, but very unlikely. Without some more information, I can't offer any further explanations. Test all your water parameters. You should have a zero reading of ammonia, zero nitrite and at least some nitrate reading, around 5 - 15 preferably. pH should be in the range 6.3 to 7.5 and the water soft.

You'll know if you have a pair when they start courting behaviour. They tend to shake their fins at each other, like shivering, and bowing, and then select a site for their eggs, and begin cleaning the surface prior to laying eggs.

More frequent water changes will induce them to lay eggs.

[derekyeakel]

ph 6.5 amonia is zero nitrite is 0 nitrate is very low gh is 40 ppm kh is 40 ppm. the 2 fish left that i think are breeding are in fact shaking their fins at each other and they are cleaning out a spot near my driftwood. should i put a breeding cone or something in for them?

[Merrilyn]

You can try adding a breeding cone if you wish, but it looks like they have already picked out their spot. Good luck with the breeding.