discus gone phsyco

[catfishbone]

My discus recently gone phsyco, everytime i walk pass they just gone swim very fast from one end to another end. Currently they not taking any food ... even live worms ...

I do water changes daily ... so does anyone have the same problem before ??

cheers

andrie

[wickedglass]

what are your water parameter? If you do daily water changes, I can't see those being out of whack too much though, but it helps to post them for people's assessment.
do they swim around like mad when you're not walking past? are they swimming towards you, or back and forth, or are thwy swimming away from you and trying to hide? have you watched them what they're like when they don't see you? what's their behaviour like, then? for discus to become skittish can have any number of reasons. water too acidic, parasites, fungus, bacteria ....
the not taking food business won't do at all.
please post your water parameters and whether the fish look different, knowing what colour their poo is, helps with a diagnosis, too. have you tested your tap water recently? have you introduced aything new into the tank?

[catfishbone]

try to get the water parameters tonite ...

but they swim like mad sometimes when am not around but most of the time they are fine. They gone mad again when i walk past and then they get settle down together in one corner ...

i think the last time i test the water ph is about 6.6. so far have't seen them poo yet as they didn't take anything at all ...

the only new thing that i intoduce to the tank is one of my female fighter and 2 angel fish ...

[Merrilyn]

the only new thing that i intoduce to the tank is one of my female fighter and 2 angel fish ...

Ummmmmm did you quarantine the new fish first?

[catfishbone]

Hi ladyred,

my fighting fish was not a new fish. I had her before and I thought that she will live better in a lot bigger tank than the one that she was in before.

so do you think that she's the one who bring all of these fuss ??

andrie

[Merrilyn]

Andrie my concern is more with the new angel fish. Have you had them before, or did they come from a pet shop.

Angels can carry a lot of bugs, but be immune to them, but they can pass them on to other fish, like discus. Now this may not be the case with your fish. We need to see your water parameters first.

When discus go nuts like that, it's usually a water quality issue. Sometimes a big waterchange and a light dose of salt cures it.

[catfishbone]

hi all,

I've run a test last nite and the result is

Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
pH 6.8

and this morning i took out my angel fish and fighting fish out of my discus tank

andrie

[Andrew Soh]

It may not be pathogen or water related problem, andrie.

It may be just that the quantity of discus in that tank is too small and an introduction of aliens may just break their sense of security.....leading to sensitivity to any movement in and outside of the tank.

Therefore, when you cast a moving shadow across the tank and with certain reaction from the angels may just trigger panic and causes the discus to hide.

If you have a 4 feet tank with sufficient discus...say 15 to 20 of 100mm size...and you put 2 angels and a fighting fish, they will not create an effect. But if you only have 5 discus.....then maybe.....

Take care,
Andrew :angel

[Trebs]

Ammonia reading?

[catfishbone]

Hi Andrew,

I had a 4ft tank with prev 8 discus and 3 of them died last nite leaving me with confussions ... ????? .... :(

now in the tank I have 5 discus left and 4 enamel fin tetra after i took out the 2 angels and fighting fish ...

last nite when i still have my fighting fish and 2 angels in there, my discus starting to do less mad swimming but occasionally i heard it about twice or 3 times ...

I was thinking to do a water change tonite and will add some salt and see how it goes ... what do you think ??

and Trebs I haven't had amonia test as yet.


cheers,

andrie

[DR.V]

Andrie, I had the same problem. I figured out that the problem was because no one was home during the day. And they get scared of people because of that.

Turn on the light longer if possible, perhaps from morning like 7am.

I did this before, and all my discus went back to normal. They approach to the front whenever someone stand close to the tank. At that time, I put the light on for 18hours a day.

HTH

[catfishbone]

Hi V,

will do that ... i think that might be the cause too ... was thinking to buy helium gas baloon and tied it somewhere close to aquariums so that they think that there's always people watching over them ... hahahah :lol:

[sammigold]

was thinking to buy helium gas baloon and tied it somewhere close to aquariums so that they think that there's always people watching over them ... hahahah :lol:

LOL!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

That is a cute idea!!!

Sorry to hear about the loss of your 3 discus :cry: ... did they show any signs of any disease or anything on them?

[Andrew Soh]

Dr. V suggestion is good.

Put a tube above the tank 24 hours a day and in no time, they will be normal.

The 3 that died may be of other reasons...and you did not mention the size of your discus, did you?

So long as they do not look sickly or dark and slimmy, there should be ample time to try out the lighting.

Take care,
Andrew :angel

[DR.V]

But remember, it will take some time. Maybe a week before they go back normal.

Good luck.

[catfishbone]

they all look healthy just seem to be extremely scared ...
yesterday lost another 2 more when i get back from work ... :(

now only left 3 of them ... and after i did water change .. they haven't done much mad swimming ...

so far, they are all look fine but still didn't take any food yet ...

the size of my discus are all about 12cm from head to tail ... and now the one left is one about 12 cm and the other two is about 10 cm

Thanks Andrew and V, for all your advices ...

cheers

[Merrilyn]

Catfishbone, how long have you had these discus, and where did the angels come from. Are they recent purchases.

This is much more than just fish being scared.

I've had first hand experience with angels passing on disease to discus, and as a result, losing a tank of discus.

[catfishbone]

Hi LR ...

Had this discus for a while now ... some of them i had it for abt 4 months now ... and another 3 of them about a month ago ...

They all have been living with one of my angel that i bought together with my discus which is abt 4 months ago as well and they all have been living peacefully.

then out of the blue, the old angel gone kaput .... leaving me with 2 small angels and discus ... and starting from that time then they are all gone mad ... and when i clean my tank, can see all their scales everywhere

Now I left with 3 discus and they are all seem to be fine but still hiding and didn't take any food ... so i keep on sucking the left over food ...

the small angels i bought it from another LFS and i put it in another aquarium before i put it together with my discus ...

do you think what happened with my discus is because of those angels ?

cheers,

Andrie

[Merrilyn]

I'm starting to think so Andrie. Can you get hold of some metro tablets. I think it's time to medicate with some antibiotics. This has gone too far, and you don't want to lose any more fish.

[catfishbone]

Hi LR

will do that very soon and hopefully they will be fine ... fingers cross ... :(

cheers,

andrie

[Merrilyn]

Andrie, how are they looking now. Were you able to get the metro?

[catfishbone]

Hi LR,

does sunlight does any effect on Metro ?? now they are all look fine but one still hiding and the other two still stick on the same corner if I turn on the light. but when the light is off they swim around just like normal ...

andrie

[catfishbone]

Hi ...

just an update .... i think my discus is getting better ... can see some big black poo and some red ones on the bottom of the tank this morning ... :)

red poo because of the tetra bits .... :lol: and black poo ... who knows ... :ug

anyway ... i think they eat when am not looking at them ... :?

[Merrilyn]

Oh that's good news. Yes, Metro is affected by light, tank lights and sunlight, so try to keep the tank in the shade during metro treatment.

[catfishbone]

Hi guys ....

just an update with my discus ... they are now all good ... they started eating ... gave them live BS and they eat it straight away like a pid ... hahahha :lol:

thanks for all your help guys ... :)

cheers,

Andrie