picky fish =/

[uh oh discus]

last week i've purchased a 2" discus from a local breeder. currently i place that fish in my six gallon tank with some tectras. the fish has ick and i quickly treated with medicine and now its good again. I assume my water condition is pretty good since i had that tank set up for no less than 4 years. I also have a mechanical and biological filter to keep the water healthy and clean. Also i do a 15% or more water change weekly. but what is giving me a headache is that my discus won't eat and its been a week since i bought it already. i tried to feed it pellet and frozen brine shrimp. but no response.
what is the problem with my discus?? please help a discus newbie out. your help will be greatly appreciated. thanks for reading

[FishLover]

6 gallon tank for a discus plus some tetras and you are only doing 15% weekly WC?

Sounds like trouble to me. The tank is way too small to have a stable water condition. Even if you are only going to use it as a QT tank, I still think it is too small. I would do some high % (80 to 90%?)daily WC at least.

You need to post some water condition parms before people here can help you. In the mean time, step up the WC and try some grozen bloodworms.

[uh oh discus]

the water quality is fine. nothing is wrong there. but my fish is just being picky i guess? i fed it frozne blood worm and it takes it in and spits it back out :shock:

[taksan]

You ASSUME your water conditions are fine????????
You have a SIX GALLON TANK !!!! and are doing 15% Water Changes once per week????????
I'd bet you that your water conditions are FAR FROM FINE !
That tank is way too small for 1 small Discus even if you did a 50% daily Waterchange !

What is your Ammonia reading?
What is your Nitrate level ?
What is your Nitrite level?
What is your PH?
What is your GH?
What is your KH?
What size is your tank?
What is the water temp?
What type of filtration are you running?


Without all these parameters nothing can be done to assist you.

[samir]

could we see a picture ? what colour are the droppings ?

[uh oh discus]

here are the pictures. well i am planning to get a 20 gallon tank soon. so the six gallon is just temporary. by the way i had this tank since around 2001 so the biological bacteria colony is very well established. the droppings are brown... lol

[Nathan]

that looks like an internal power filter, if the current isnt diffused on then your discus isnt going to be to to happy.

[nicholas76]

HI uh oh discus,,


welcome to discus , unfortunatley it appears we have many issues as stated above.

that tank isnt suitable for discus im afraid. You will need a much bigger tank to house discus properly.

Refer to the sticky points in each sub section to learn the basics of water chemistry and keeping discus

Good luck in your endevour.

[taksan]

here are the pictures. well i am planning to get a 20 gallon tank soon. so the six gallon is just temporary. by the way i had this tank since around 2001 so the biological bacteria colony is very well established. the droppings are brown... lol


Glad to see you answered my questions ..... :roll:

[mcloughlin2]

Mate we need taksan's questions to be answered ...

We also need these discus to be moved in a 25g or larger tank as i consider it absolutely cruel to even TRY to keep discus in a 6gal tank ...

Is this your largest tank? Do you expect your discus to grow into the stunning and beautiful fish you see pictured in books and on the net?

And dear god i hope the answers are no .... :roll:

[mcloughlin2]

:roll:

[Mulisha]

If ur looking at upgrading your tank mate and don't want to spend a fourtune look in the classfieds on this site there is always bragins to have. I think ur main probelm is tank size at the moment. You try get a bigger tank as soon as possible usally the biggest tank you can afford/ have room for.

Good luck

[Merrilyn]

Welcome to the forum. If the fish is passing droppings, and they are brown, then the fish must be eating something at least.

Yes, your tank is way too small, but I think you realize that now. Minimum size is ten gallons or 40 litres per discus, so try to get that bigger tank as soon as you can. Also discus are schooling fish, and do much better in groups of at least three or more fish together, so keep that in mind when selecting your new tank.

The three main things that discus require are:-

Warmth - discus prefer temperatures much higher than most other fish, so keep your water around 87 degrees or 30 degrees celcius.

Clean water - this really is an essential for discus. Lots of us change 50% of the water every day for growing fish. And in your small tank, that would be absolutely essential for good health.

Good quality food - A varied diet is essential for good growth of your fish. Young fish need to be fed about 4 or 5 times a day. They need lots of food, but can only take a small amount at any one time. So frequent small feeds are the way to get good growth on your fish. The food should be a mixture of quality dry food and frozen food, the best you can find.

If you still think the fish is not eating enough, ring the breeder and ask what he used as a staple food for his fish.

Good luck with raising your new baby, and keep asking questions.

Ohh, and get yourself some test kits, because you really need to know the parameters of your water.