my discus doesnt seem to grow

[gops]

Hi,

I have a few small discus around 1.25 inches (8 of them). Its been since 6 months since I have them and except for 2 the rest dont seem to grow at all. What could be the problem with them? I do 20% water change everyday and nitrate/ammonia contents are very low.

Regards,

[samir]

what and hown often do you feed, how big is your tank ?

[gops]

My tank size is 5feet x 1.5feet x 1.5feet. I only have my small discus in them and nothing else. The tank has gravel in it and no plants. I feed them around 3 times a day. Sometimes on very few occassions twice a day (skip noon time because of my work related activities). Do I need to increase the feeding. I feed them beef heart mix, brine shrimps, blood worms, tetra bits.

[marg]

Gops,

I would increase the feedings mate - young Discus need Food Food Food and plenty of water changes.

Are they all from the one spawn? Sometimes some of the Fish in a spawn thrive and some lag behind - Ben or Crocky could best advise you in that regards.

Marg.

[sammigold]

When I got my first 4 discus... 2 of them didnt seem to be growing in comparison to the growth rate of the others, then all of a sudden they had a spurt of growth and now 1 of them is 2nd biggest in the tank... Maybe they are abit like us humans, some of us are tall from the start and others have a growth spurt mid-teens and still end up being tall, it just takes longer... who knows...

but as Marg says Feeding them more often would definitely not hurt...:-)

[G-1000]

I also advocate a routine dosing of prazi and levamisole for babies - to ensure they are worm free - this helps them to bulk up more.

G

[gops]

Hi Marg, all of them are from different spawn. I enquired here in pharmacy shops, but none of them sell levamisole or praziquantal. May be they sell in different names here, Instead can I provide metro treatment for the moment? Does it help in removing all kinds of worms?

[TomNS]

Hi Marg, all of them are from different spawn. I enquired here in pharmacy shops, but none of them sell levamisole or praziquantal. May be they sell in different names here, Instead can I provide metro treatment for the moment? Does it help in removing all kinds of worms?

The Prazi is found in Aquamaster Gill fulke tablets - aquarium or produce stores will have them - people use them for greyhounds too - $42 for 100 tablets last time I bought them

Levamisoles - simplest product is "Big L's Pig and poultry wormer" Avaiable at produce stores all over - make sure it is pig and poultry and not another kind - $20 for 500ml last time I bought it - yellow pages is your friend only took a couple of calls to find both for me in the brisbane area.

Of all the things you are after metro is normally the hardest to get - how did you obtain it so easily ? Where did you get it from ?

Cheers and good luck

Tom

[Merrilyn]

Welcome to the forum gops. Sounds like you are from the States, if you can get metro easily, but not a de worming product.

Metro is an antibiotic (sold over the counter in the States) so it's not suitable for removing worms from fish. What you need is a product to remove roundworm, threadworm and tapeworm. You may need to ask your vet for this if it's not sold at your local pet shop.

Increase the quantity of food you are giving your fish. Discus are slow feeders and like to take time browsing along the bottom. Allow them at least half an hour to finish up, before removing any uneaten food.

You'll soon get a feel for just how much to feed them at each meal. :P

[samir]

you could also get an auto fish feeder to fill in the gaps between feeds

[gops]

Hello Tom, Ladyred,

I stay in India. Metro is easily available here, around 1$ for 100 400mg tabs. I will enquire with the vets for deworming products, will post the contents here before using it. For the past few days i am checking the information here and I found lots of it. Unlike in the Europe, aquariums are not much help for medications, they only sell accessories, fishes and fish food.

Still a beginner with discus fish, but I want to provide all the care so that they are in good health.

Thanks again -

[Merrilyn]

Good luck gops. We have members in India as well, so maybe one of them will be able to give you an idea of the names of the locally available worming products.

Have you tried ordering something from one of the online retailers in your area? That may be a solution for you.

[marg]

Wow, $1 for 100 400mg tabs - send us some - they are pretty expensive here :D :D !!

Marg.

[samir]

hi gops i'm indian as well, i'll search the net for you and let you know, which city are you in ? you will have to go to the one of the veterinary hospitals, they usually have a shop next to it, also you need to age your water for at least a week if its from the tap. if you can get water from a bore well thats soft your discus will thrive.
marg they make generic versions of drugs there that are about 1% of the price and hardly anyone bothers with prescriptions, but on the flip side its very hard to get good quality discus there, one of my grandfathers friends gave me a couple of discus when i was 8, and they paired and the both of them spawned for years, i looked everywhere but could not find another discus, let alone a nice male discus. i went crazy when i first saw them here in Australia.

[marg]

Samir,

If they make generic versions of the drugs over there are they as good a quality as the drugs we get, and what is the deal on obtaining them?

As for how you got into Discus my tale is a little different - I had a bare spot in my dining room and i thought a small Fishtank would look good there, so bought a 2 footer and a number of assorted Fish. That looked fine for a while until I went to the Petshop and sighted a little Turquoise Discus and I fell in love!!.

Out went the assorted Fish and in went the Turk - then next week a small Blue Diamond - the following week a Red Marlboro (still have the Original three) - then the tank got too small didn't it, so off to a few Garage Sales I went (limited budget, otherwise it would've been a trip to Extreme for a Dream tank).

Soon had two 4 foot tanks in the Lounge Room, then ran out of room - I live in a 2 bedroom Unit - so the bed went out of the 2nd Bedroom/Computer room, more fishtanks went in there and it became a Fish room/Computer room.

Sucked in, aren't I ??? If I could afford it, I'd do a Proteus and buy a bigger house (to house more Fish of course). I have thought of converting my Garage into a Fish room but I like to sit in my Fish Room and hop on the Computer and its' too cold out there in the Shed).

Now if I can just get the Devils to successfully rear a spawn instead of eating the eggs I'll be happy (my brain goes into overdrive - if that happens, need more tanks - where to put them - oh well I can always move my bed out and replace it with a single bed - that will give me a bit more room for a tank or two!!!)

Nuts, aren't I !!.

Marg.

[samir]

Marg the generic drugs there are exactly the same but i'm not sure if you can bring them in. we're pretty much in the same boat :D i was thinking of moving the tanks in the garage, but i'd rather look at them while sitting on the computer. you could trying putting a wire mesh around the breeding cone after your fish spawn, and remove it later.

[marg]

The wire Mesh is my plan for the next spawn.

Great minds think alike :lol: :lol: .

Marg.

[gops]

Hi, I just completed adding levamisole to my treatment tank. What should be done next, should I change complete water after 24 hrs? Regards.