Discus not eating...

**vratenza** · 1st Apr 2006, 14:31

update:

Up my chiller to 27 degrees but noted that the tolerance of the chiller fluctuate from 27 to 28 degrees.....

Added a batch of 13 discus yesterday night......the size ranging from 2 to 3 inch (melon/leopard strain)......i acclimatized the temperature over 3 hours via floating the bag and putting an airstone to ensure oxygenation....... turned off my tank light during the process........after that slowly mix in the tank water with the water in the bag....... allow the discus to slowly explore and swim out on their own......

Initially they were very curious cos all their life they only see bare tank walls while at the breeder......after a while all started hiding among the vals and the swords......seeing not much activity, i went to sleep.....

This morning, to my pleasant surprise, all of them shoaling /schooling around open space in front of my tank........magnificent view!

Tried my hands on some frozen hikari BW....... initially i was worried cos all of them just suck the BW into their mouth and later spit them out....

but gradually some of them start to retain the BW!

Eventually all of them fighting over the few BW left after chasing away my corys and SAEs (they are kinda bully with their size

)
So i dropped in another cube of BW and the manage to finish 70% of it and the rest cleared by the cories.... now my tank bottom is prestine clean!

Haha.... must get more corys to clean up after the discus.... they are quite messy eaters....

but noted some white spots on the fins.... prob due to temp and trasnport stress...... going to start treatment soon......can planted tank take salt?

**grey_fox** · 2nd Apr 2006, 00:41

Good on you dude! Glad to hear that your new found tankmates are eating well.

Just as an update, my 2 brown discuses are eating now

I'll wait a while before intoducing more into my tank.

Btw vratenza, for the white spots you gotta treat it asap. Discuses are super sensitive fishes. So far my pair has not gotten any white spots yet. Maybe instead of putting salt into the tank (don't think it'll be wise to put salt in a tank with your discus in it) you might want to invest in a UV filter.

Think 27 degrees is probably the minimum you can set for your tank. Best if you monitor the health and situation. My tank is currently at 28-29 degrees at the moment and I don't have the chiller attached yet. If you do encounter success with the low temperature, let me know

I'll slowly acclimatize my tank and have the chiller added on.

**guan** · 2nd Apr 2006, 00:44

wao. thats a pretty good sign that they are eating well.
but dont over feed them, just incase they will grow too fast and outsize you tank, one feeding per day should be just nice.

by the way, adding salt sounds risky to your plants?
maybe you should observe for 2 more days to see what happen to the spots?

**StanChung** · 2nd Apr 2006, 01:54

good to hear that.

take the fella out and give it a salt dip. 3ppt. 5 mins. very effective in riding external parasites without the need for hard chemicals.

1 ppt for a planted tank is ok for long term treatment. no plants died at at level.

**vratenza** · 2nd Apr 2006, 02:37

Originally Posted by grey_fox

Good on you dude! Glad to hear that your new found tankmates are eating well.

Just as an update, my 2 brown discuses are eating now

I'll wait a while before intoducing more into my tank.

Btw vratenza, for the white spots you gotta treat it asap. Discuses are super sensitive fishes. So far my pair has not gotten any white spots yet. Maybe instead of putting salt into the tank (don't think it'll be wise to put salt in a tank with your discus in it) you might want to invest in a UV filter.

Think 27 degrees is probably the minimum you can set for your tank. Best if you monitor the health and situation. My tank is currently at 28-29 degrees at the moment and I don't have the chiller attached yet. If you do encounter success with the low temperature, let me know

I'll slowly acclimatize my tank and have the chiller added on.

In fact, my tolerance limit just breached when i saw 1 of my choc gourami starting to rub against the leaves!

on the other hand, the affected discus has no other symptoms

So went to C328 and bought some ammo...... tonite just started treatment using protozin (damn....it's expensive to treat a 160 gallon tank!) and added some salt....about 1 tbsp per 10gallon.... going all out to ensure no fatalities.......

The salt will prob be short term..... gonna WC out the salt gradually after 2 weeks

Actually I have a UVC running already.... but i switched it off after reading on the protozin label to do that.... not sure why though.... maybe UVC will deactivate the active component...... if i am just using salt treatment alone a UVC will be good cos it will kill the freeform of the ich.

I have set my chiller at 29 degrees currently (to speed up the ich lifecycle).......hoping to bring it down by a degree or two after i wipe out the ich......eventually aiming to maintain a good balance between moss health and discus health

**vratenza** · 2nd Apr 2006, 02:38

Originally Posted by standoyo

good to hear that.

take the fella out and give it a salt dip. 3ppt. 5 mins. very effective in riding external parasites without the need for hard chemicals.

1 ppt for a planted tank is ok for long term treatment. no plants died at at level.

how much is 1ppt? i added about 1 tbsp per 10 gallon...... issit too much?

**StanChung** · 2nd Apr 2006, 06:20

1 part per thousand-100 g per 100 liter
1 tablespoon per ten gallon
roughly equates to...
15g per ten gallon 38 liter =0.4ppt
you can afford to double the dose.

**vratenza** · 2nd Apr 2006, 13:16

thanks! will go add more salt later.....

my discus appetite seem to be improving!

13 discus finish 3 cubes of hikari bw in 15 min.... and the still look hungry!

**StanChung** · 3rd Apr 2006, 04:40

that's really good. you just have to ration them a bit. they are real beggars once they like you and recognise you are the caterer!

more often meals but keep the portions to what they can finish within 5 minutes. [discus are not very fast compared to altums or african cichlids]

**vratenza** · 3rd Apr 2006, 12:29

i am starting to see why discus is the king of aquariums! Other then being beautiful and graceful... they are pretty smart! all my cherry barbs/choc gourami do not even give a damn when i come up to the front of the tank even though i have them for more than a month......
But my discus all swam up to the front when i approach...... even followed my hand movement thinking i will drop in some BW or wat!!

All this within 3 days of being introduced into the tank!

You are right... they are like cute puppies whom u can never resist their pleading for food....lol

**StanChung** · 3rd Apr 2006, 14:30

ah another one gets the 'fever'...

anyway they are much smarter or selective of who they come up to...not like GF!

**grey_fox** · 3rd Apr 2006, 16:40

Hey hey hey.... GF = girlfriend or Grey_Fox?

**StanChung** · 3rd Apr 2006, 18:33

hahaha...that fella is smart...
i meant goldfish...really duh...
genetically inbred till it can only hear this sound 'this is your stomach...it's empty...please fill it up'

**grey_fox** · 3rd Apr 2006, 20:03

agree agree.

Anyways, just as an update, the new discus I purchased are eating as now as well, just that there's some squabble at the moment to annouce who is the king of the tank.

**Harsh** · 4th Apr 2006, 02:28

Let us have some pictures, if possible grey_fox.

**PeterGwee** · 4th Apr 2006, 02:44

Think its time to lock this thread since the main issue is solved. Folks, please do not chit chat out of topic. There is always better ways to do that realtime via MSN and etc.

Regards
Peter Gwee

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