Moving Discus A Few Questions.

[Mulisha]

POST ANY INFOMATION THAT MAY BE RELVENT!

Hi guys sorry i come and go on the forums but i have been all over the place with work :lol:

Ok i have a few problems that i want to try and fix before i have to go for another few weeks. :o

I have now 5 discus because 2 had died not sure why but i found 1 dead tonight as well :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: so that's why i thought i will take action so as possible.

I have a 4x2x2ft planted tank fairly heavly planted not sure on water parm yet will post them in a couple of hrs or maybe tommorow.

I want to move them from there current tank into the 4x2x2ft planted tank as the tank there in now is got algae problems and the plants are dying etc just a big mese so to speak.

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Here is what i need to now and anything you can think of let me know please as i want to keep these last 5 alive and grow them and try not let them die :cry: :cry:

Q1: Current fish in the 4x2x2 tank is:

1 Large altum angel/ maybe fake one but still my baby :D
4 clown loachs small 5-6cm long
3 Congo Tetras (Large) 8cm long
1 Pearl Gourmai 6-7 cm long
1 Pleco 9cm long
1 Pictus Catfish Huge 14cm (keeps to himself under a log)
5 Black Widows 4cm long
3 Black Neons
1 SERPAE AND YES HE WILL BE GOING HIS OTHER 7 FRIENDS HAVE BEEN KILLED ALREADY THIS ONE JUST WON'T BE CAUGHT BUT HE WILL GO BEFORE THE DISCUS COME.

Ok that's all the fish in the tank at the moment. I need to know what fish there will not go with my discus?? Or any other info you think might be revelent.

Q2: Filtration the tank will be getting filtered over 6 times an hours and the that spray bars are designed for barley any current. :D
Is this enough filtration and there canister filters. Also i will add some pics of the tank to show how many plants there are.

Q3: What temp to have the tank to keep both discus and the community fish happy?
What ph/kh etc should i be aiming at for both parties to be happy.

Q4: How can i know if the the tank has any diseases that will kill my discus or what can i do to help fix this problem?

Q5: Lighting i have SIX 36w floros that are on the tank but there is alot of coverage and will add a few high plants before the move for more hiding will this be ok??

Q6: Airration what should i have injected CO2 not at the moment but if i add a air stone will this kill my plants if i'm not adding co2 at that stage.


Also when the move does come what can i do to make my discus settle in a little easier so there is less stress as i don't want to lose any :oops: :oops:

Cheers guys in advance and sorry about all the questions but thought what better place to ask the the #1 Discus Forums :wink: :wink:

Cheers Rick..

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[Mulisha]

BUMP :shock:

Any help :lol: :lol:

Cheers Rick..

PS: Don't be scared to reply :wink:

[Phlipper]

Ok, I'll add my advice..............some of the fish mentioned will tolerate the higher temps as required by Discus, but it may affect their health eventually and cause disease maybe. And Discus tend to be shy feeders so fish like Gouramis and Angels may tend to hog the tank, Pleco's are also known to harras Discus by sucking on the slime coating. My personal opinion is never keep Clown Loaches with Discus as they dont tolerate medications well at all, which is something to consider if keeping Discus that may be prone to bacterial infections. Your Pictus sounds like it's Ok, but my experiences with them usually indicate they are a very hyperactive fish and may disturb Discus constantly, surprised your Pictus is always hiding :?

You filtration sounds good, and the airstone should not affect your plants if they dont have Co2 being dosed at the moment. If you were to have Co2 dosing and then suddenly remove the Co2 by extra air bubbled into the tank then the plants will likely suffer.

As far as settling your Discus in, just make the water parameters identical, perhaps add a little rock salt at a rate of 1 teaspoon for 40 litres of water, add it over a 2 day period approx. To determine if your tank has a disease, there is only one real way to tell, if the fish get sick you know you have a problem ! Possibly a little Melafix added to the water "may" help to kill off some potential nasties, but apart from that I would not dose with anything else unless disease is obvious.

[Mulisha]

Cheers mate what temp would you set the tank at to keep them all reltively happy?

With the Melafix will this cause any stress to other fish and could it help with the discus transfer?

The Pictus hides all day and i mean all day under a log then soon as the lights are out he swims around then.. will that be ok to the discus? There are heaps of hiding spots so they should be ok IMO just need some other people to help me out..

Cheers mate.. :D

[Phlipper]

If you have the Discus then 30oC is about right, most fish will tolerate that kind of temp, but maybe lowering the temp to 28oC will keep more of them happy.

The Melafix should not affect your other fish at all, Melafix is only a mild antibacterial, I use it as a preventative frequently instead of UV sterilisers, and it does seem to have a soothing effect on fish that are stressed.

[Mulisha]

Ok thanks mate i'll do a few extra w/c this week smallish 1's to get the tank in prime condition before the discus arive and will dose the melafix asap 8-)

Cheers mate for ur help.

Rick.

[Mulisha]

Hey i just thought of something should i treat for flukes and tapeworms in the tank there in so i don't have to in a couple of months in the tank with all the other fish.

If i do treat them i'll start tonight or tommorow depending on your comments and how long should leave them in there for the treatment becuase i'll also treat the community tank with Melafix tommorow to get that in top shape.

I'm going to do all the water parm now and i'll type them up when i'm finished. :D

Cheers Guys hope some others can help me out :wink: :wink:

Rick.

Ok i just did some tests and there is big differences between the 2 :( :( :(

So here they are..

Planted Tank which i want the discus to go in.

PH: 5.5
KH:1 or 2
Nitrate:5 - 10 ppm

Discus tank the tank that the discus are in now and want them out of.

PH:7.5 - 8.0 :oops:
KH:5
Nitrate:5 - 10 ppm

So what i'm going to try and do is do a w/c now on the planted tank and add some alkaline buffer to the water and get both kh and ph up and see how i go becuase i will be having a prep tank under the planted when the discus make there move. :D :D

Thanks Rick.

[Merrilyn]

Hi Rick, I'd be more concerned with the other fish passing on worms or flukes to the the discus, especially the angel fish and maybe the gourami.

Some of those fish you mention are nocturnal, in other words, active when your discus are trying to get some rest. I've tried plecos with discus several times, and never had long term success. Seems to work for a while, then I catch them sucking on the slime coating of the discus at night. Drives the discus nuts.

I've also tried clown loaches, and they were great till they got too big (they can grow to around 12 inches :shock: ) but they were fine while they were little.

If you're going to move them into the community tank for a short time, then you'll probably be fine, but it's not something I could recommend on a long term basis, and not with those fish as companions. Discus do much better when they are the main fish in the tank, with some small tetras as company, but not so well if you introduce them into an already established community. You may find getting them to eat enough would be a problem.

[Merrilyn]

Agggggggh Rick. That's a huge difference in water parameters. You will need a week to safely bring the pH up on the planted tank, and down on the discus tank. Do a small waterchange each day, till you get the water in each tank similar.

[Mulisha]

Thanks LR i did a w/c on the planted just before i'll test to see how it's going ph etc.

IMO i find my pleco to be very good with all my fish he seems to sit on a log most of the day and just sleep by the looks of it :lol:

Pictus does swim around mainly at night and he does a bit of that but would that really worry the discus as the other fish seem to ignore him ...

Food time well i have thought about this a bit and i think i have found a couple of ways to get food to all the fish..

I'm gong join 3 plastic coat hangeres together just that bit you throw ur clothes over and then zip tie one cone at each end and one in the middle and then put half a block of BW in ea and see how i go becasue as i do that i put in a algae waffer for the pictus and then one for the pleco to keep everyone happy.

I'm trying to arragnge this a perment thing becuase me not being home as much etc etc will mean i can't have the discus in a tank with algae problems and i have no plants in there becuase of the algae problems so that's why i want to put them all in the one tank so that i can get some really good filtration going and it's also packed with plants and i'll be doing w/c on that tank every 4-5 days i hope :)

So it's either try get the discus to live with these other fish or they will have to be sold :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

LR Could you point out what is your main concern about putting the discus in with them so maybe i can sort them out and make there life a bit easier :lol: :lol:

Thanks again for your help it's helped me out lots 8-)

Rick.

[Phlipper]

The coat hanger idea sounds a little extreme, I'd be concerned about it rusting and contaminating the water :? cant you just stick the cones to the glass, most come with a suction cup attatched ?

You sure will need to balance those water parameters before adding your Discus. Aim for about neutral, that being PH 7.0, that should keep all the fish happy and is an easier level to maintain in my findings. No offence mate, but are you sure you have time to care for Discus adequately ?

Your Pleco is fine with other fish, but Discus have a large surface area compared to others, and that is a great temptation for them to suck on the sides of the Discus. I had a similar problem with a pair of Yoyo Loaches, they constantly harrassed the Discus to the point of actually creating sores on the Discus's flanks :( and Pleco's are much bigger fish.
I'd still be a little concerned in regards to your Pictus, they are so hyper when feeding, I had to get rid of mine when I had two in with some of my Angels, the Angels never rested and created a stress problem until I removed the Pictus....something to think about ? By the way, Pictus may eat a bit of wafer, but they are more into meaty foods, this is a must to keep them happy

[Mulisha]

The coat hanger idea sounds a little extreme, I'd be concerned about it rusting and contaminating the water :? cant you just stick the cones to the glass, most come with a suction cup attatched ?

You sure will need to balance those water parameters before adding your Discus. Aim for about neutral, that being PH 7.0, that should keep all the fish happy and is an easier level to maintain in my findings. No offence mate, but are you sure you have time to care for Discus adequately ?

Your Pleco is fine with other fish, but Discus have a large surface area compared to others, and that is a great temptation for them to suck on the sides of the Discus. I had a similar problem with a pair of Yoyo Loaches, they constantly harrassed the Discus to the point of actually creating sores on the Discus's flanks :( and Pleco's are much bigger fish.
I'd still be a little concerned in regards to your Pictus, they are so hyper when feeding, I had to get rid of mine when I had two in with some of my Angels, the Angels never rested and created a stress problem until I removed the Pictus....something to think about ? By the way, Pictus may eat a bit of wafer, but they are more into meaty foods, this is a must to keep them happy

Thanks mate i'll take a pic of my coat hanger idea, byt he way the coat hanger is plastic.

To be really honest the only thing is concerns me lots is the Serpae Tetra that's still in the tank that can't be caught no joke either i think he saw me take his friends and he just wants to stay :lol:

The angel fish that's in the tank has had it's fins attacked by a fish and i think it's the Serpae but do you think the serpae tetra will bother the discus fin nipping wise or should i keep trying to remove him???

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/3950/picture007zs4.th.jpg (http://img61.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture007zs4.jpg)
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Rick.

[Phlipper]

Dont think it's the Serpae Tetra that are be doing the fin nipping, Tetras are usually a peaceful fish, I have 9 Serpaes in one of my tanks containing all kinds of fish, Discus, Angels, Catfish etc etc and never had a problem with them. It's mainly the Barb species that tend to be fin nippers. They are hard buggas to catch in a well planted tank, mine are trying to spawn at the moment but they are just so flighty to catch, I would like to spawn some. I'd say it's more likely the Gourami being territorial, larger Gouramis can get nasty, could even be the Pictus. I mentioned before I had to get rid of my Pictus as the problems two of them caused to my Angels.

[Mulisha]

Cheers Mate for ya help.. :D