Help needed

[UK Discus]

Just like to say a big hello to everybody,and what a great forum this is. I have been reading it for the past few months to learn as much as I can about these great fish.
I have kept fish for years but this is my first time with Discus.
Now to my problem I started my fish room 2 months ago and everything was going well until Sunday when one of my heaters stuck on and Killed 10 of my 11 Tefe Green Discus, I very slowly did a 100 LTR water change to bring the temperature down and the 1 remaining Discus has been OK since, but the problem I am having with Him is he is Hiding all the time behind the filter and wont come out,when he is out as soon as I go in the room he darts about all over the tank until he finds somewhere to hide. My plan was to leave him in this tank until I knew he was completely over the shock, before putting him with some of the other Discus I have as I am worried if his has come down with something he might pass it on to my other fish. But now I am worried as he is by himself and acting in this way he is been stressed even more.
my options are :
leave by himself to make sure he does not come down with something,
put him with some more Discus to see if helps him been in a group
or I have some Angels that I could put in with him to see if that helps
Could someone with more experience with Discus than me please advise me what is the best to do.

Thanks
Mark

[Daetarek]

Hi Mark,

Welcome to DF :)

well it sounds like shock a little, but mostly he is lonely i would suggest, as i have learned from this site and experience they need to be in a group of at least 6 otherwise they get very scared :(

I suggest putting him in a group with others and he will come back out of his shell :) He will probably be jumpy for a few weeks yet even in a new tank, and also he may have suffered some injury from the higher temps, does he look ok ? is he breathing proper etc ?

anyways i hope this helps

ta
Rob

[UK Discus]

Thanks Rob
I was shocked when I walked in the room because all the other fish were dead but this one was swimming round as if nothing had happened,he has only gone like this since I took the dead ones out,his colours are still nice and bright he is not showing the black bars like he was when I first got him.I can not see any sign of illness he is breathing normally the only sign of stress I can see is sometimes he has his top fin clamped to his body.

can you advise me with which fish I should put him with he is about 4 inch at the moment.
the other fish I have are
Tank 1
2 orange 1 orange type pigeon blood 1 unknown but has orange in it all these are about 4 inch so are probably the best but they are showing signs of pairing of ready to breed so I don't really want to disturb them.
Tank 2
I have 4 red spotted tefe greens but these are about 6 inch
Tanks 3
I have 3 young discus that I am not sure what they are but are about 2 inch
or I have pleanty of Altum F1 Angels I could put in with him but I don't think that will work somhow

thanks for your help
Mark

[Daetarek]

Mate, its a hard call you never know how their personalities react to each other.

I think if he goes with larger ones they may over look him, so he may not get bullied and he will feel safer .... then again that may not happen.

If you put him with the smaller ones he may himself pair off as well, i would suggest he is a stronger than most surviving that and would be good breeding stock.

If you put him with smaller ones he will also feel good in a group but may become something of a bully :(

Whatever the case he will feel better in a group.

just outta curiosity where in wales are you ? my mum is welsh, so its always good to hear from over there :)

ta
Rob

[UK Discus]

I am From Holyhead, North Wales

As you can tell not use to fish that get like this if left alone,I did think my self that he would be best with the orange type as they are same size it's just I did not want to upset them by adding another fish as they are showing signs of pairing off.


Thanks
Mark

[kevkoi]

I'd consider leaving him alone for quarantine in his tank for the next week or so. Just keep observing the fish. Sometimes the stress causes a delay in onset of some nasty disease.

I may consider some dither fish such as rummy nose tetras to put your lone discus at ease, but no angels please... Poor fish has just suffered enough, we don't need it to be bullied by the angels any more.

[UK Discus]

That's why he is still alone I was worried he might infect my other discus,the trouble is I have not got any small fish like that, my planted tank has got rainbows in but they are too large to put with him and are probably to fast moving.the only other fish I have are different types of cichlids so they would pick on him.
The angels I was thinking off are all young fish about 1 to 1 1/2 inch including fins,I would not put my adults in with him as they are a lot bigger than he is.I know angels are cichlids but at this size I have not seen any to be aggressive towards other fish,well in my tanks anyway.

Thanks for your help

Mark

[FishLover]

Most people would not put angle fish with discus. They can carry something that does not bother angles but can hurt discus. Also, angles will get all the food because they are faster at feeding time.

In some cases people do that without any problems. I would say that's exceptions other than normal.

[Bill T.]

My experience mixing Angels with Discus has not been good. Angels can often harbour nasty "bugs" with no apparent problem. These bugs, however, will play havock with the Discus.

[UK Discus]

Thanks for the help.
I will keep my angles away from my discus then,I did not know about these bugs they carry,I will pass the info over to some people I know that keep them together,that's why I thought it was safe.
As for the discus he is still OK,I will leave him alone a few more days then put him in with some other discus

Thanks
Mark