Discus help

[Apistoinka]

Hi all bro... My discus is in my tank for 3 days already yet it still cluster together in a corner in my tank... Is my fish ok... Please help and guide me...

Some picture of my discus...

[toto55]

from my limited experience.. maybe your tank too cold for the discus.. i believe discus should like teperature above 28deg.. hope other bro can help u too..

[Apistoinka]

My tanks temperature is at 29 and my tank got no chiller...

[copycat01]

If it eating, what is the tank size and what is their tank mate.

[Apistoinka]

Tank size Is 3ft by 1.5 by 1.5 planted tank with cardinal tetra and blue ram in it... The fish is eating..

[benjidog]

Lol ! Cold, that's why they stick close to each other? Actually, NO!

From your desciption, your discus are actually scared!

I always feel that discus fish have a little more grey matter compared to your Rams or cardinal tetras, so they will feel insecure, when faced with strong lighting and many colorful plants all around.

Why?

Because most discus fries are raised in bare tanks, so imagine suddenly, they are placed in new planted environment!
They do need some time to get used to the planted tank.

In the meantime, the plants are not yet fully developed in your planted tank, so there are not many places for the discus to "hide" in (unlike a fully grown Dutch style planted tank, with lush growth and areas of shady/darker areas to hide in/swim to if they are spooked for any reason).

If you add a big piece of Driftwood, tied with some anubias or moss, the discus will be able to gravitate towards the DW as their "centre"' so that if they are spooked, they will be able to hide behind the DW, until they feel assured enough to explore the whole tank.

You have stated that the discus are feeding well, so that is a good sign.

Just set up an auto timer, to dispense pellet food (tetra bits or other discus pellet food) at regular intervals, and hand feed/drop in frozen beef heart / frozen bloodworms (before work/school? And dinner times).

Keep the lighting on timer, feeding at regular times, and soon, your discus will be feeding out of your hands in a couple of weeks.

At the very least, your discus will recognize you and come to you/your hand very soon.

Shoalling around the tank, and coming to you like little puppies.

[Apistoinka]

Picture of my tank...



But bro benjidog my discus will hide behind the wood with java fern on the left... As there is gap and space for them to swim in there... The picture also show how the cluster together at a corner...

[benjidog]

Wah... Good job on the beautiful tank!
Thanks for clarifying with a full tank shot.

I am not a discus psychologist, but your discus will feel better once they are in a bigger group/tribe.

I suggest you get a few more discus progressively in another week's time
(add pieces slowly (consider albino LSS/ Golden/ blue diamond)
until you get maximum 6 pieces.

What's the present size of your discus, (I reckon, about 2.5 inches, less than 3 inches, right?)

6 discus should be about right for your tank size.
Good balance between healthy plant growth and requirement for discus health.

Of course, depending on your filtration (looks like you are using canister, right?)
you may have to upgrade to a bigger tank once the 6 discus reach 4-5inches,
otherwise you have to do more frequent water changes.

[Apistoinka]

Where can I get cheap LSS discus than bro... Not going to spent much on discus... Most likely will gonna add 2 more inside only... Current discus size is about palm size without finger... Yup using a canister... Still looking for nice and easy foreground plant to occupy the empty area..:

[Apistoinka]

Here is another picture if them... How long will it take a discus to settle down???

[coolgear101]

a week or two depends on the environment.

Don't worry, can see your discus are adapting well

[copycat01]

Bro from photo, your discus is spooked. just need time to recover and like what other said, add a few more, should help

[RCS2GO]

You said you just put those discus in 3 days ago? I have the same problem I got fish from somethingsphishy.com and they sent me 5 very sick fish with cloudy eyes and they turn all black with a layer of white film all over the body fins all chopped up and the first week they did nothing but hide on the bottom of the tank or all the way to the top just floating there not moving and not eating so I put some aquarium salt in and did water change everyday and after 10 days they seem much better and started to eat and coming out of the back and swimming around but they still look sick well see how it goes the next few weeks


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[Apistoinka]

What strain of discus I should add in order to make the school look nicer???

[benjidog]

Depends on your preference. If you like colors, add melons, blue diamonds and (albino) golden.

[Southy462]

Hi RCS2GO,
How are your discus now? I, too, bought 4 red melons and they were hiding and scrapping themselves on the driftwood, with slimy white buildup on the bodies the first week. Has yours improved? Mine are into the second week now. Hoping for improvements. If yours improved with time, then I am hopeful it will be the same for me. You only used salt?

[Tony]

Hi Bro,

Nice scape you have there. It is normal for discus that is newly introduced into a tank to hide at the corner. It will take them some time to adapt to the new environment. From my observation, it is also natural for discus to slightly darken in their colour when in planted tank since it is their natural instinct to camouflage itself. So you may find that they are not as brightly coloured as compared to when you saw them in bare tanks at LFS. Although after sometime, they will improve; but it will not be comparable to bare tank. Another observation, most breeders will have bare tanks for easy of maintenance and have white or blue oyama so that the fish will not darken. From your second picture, they seem to be doing ok, so give it some time to settle down.

Note that discus can get spooked easily with sudden movements near the tank so at times it might just do the sudden dash. So just avoid sharp decorations in the tank.

The water sprite that you planted infront are fast growers so expect frequent triming

[D|n0]

for discus, you can try do more water change....they like fresh water....

[Enespe]

Hi there,your discus looks fine there no sight of fins cramp and darken in body color
in no time they will be swimming around.

[vtengls]

IMGP1221b.jpg
Hi Guys,

I just bought 3 checkerboard discus (2" to 2.5") 2 weeks ago and the smallest fish is
not eating much. I notice that it has internal red mouth since day 1 (see attached picture). I treat the tank with Anti-External Parasites but no improvement after 3 days.

Don't know what happened to the discus, can anyone help?

Thanks!