stressed discus

[Sploke]

I just got 4 more discus to keep my one company. The pet store ordered them for me, and assoon as they showed up, I went to pick them up. They didn't come out of the bag until they went into my tank. They're all looking pretty stressed, I'm just wondering if there's anything I should be doing to calm them/acclimate them a little more.

Its a 55 gal tank, ammonia/nitrites at 0, nitrates at or close to 0, its hard to tell with the color scale, but definitely closer to 0 than 12.5 which is the next gradient. Temp is at 90, filtered with 2 canisters, with some driftwood, a flowerpot, and some live plants for cover. Barebottom.

The one discus I had is about 2", the rest are between 1.5-2". The original one is a bit territorial, he chases them all to some extent, which probably isn't helping. The other 4 look pretty good, but they all have clamped fins, look like they're breathing heavily, colors going from light to dark, showing dark vertical bars...generally looking just stressed out. One of the cobalts tends to float in the middle of one of the plants all day, but is perfectly capable of swimming if he feels like it. I think one or two of them ate something this morning, but it was hard to tell. They went into the tank on Tuesday afternoon. Anything else I should be doing to chill them out a little? Is that temp too high?

 

[VTwinFanatic]

I think I would drop my temp down to about 86-88. How often are you going to be doing water changes and at what %. What are you feeding and how many times a day? How long has the tank been set up? But other than those few questions Time is your best bet. Just keep up w/ your W/C's and you should be fine. Mine were stressed for a few days after I got them, but soon they became less skiddish and their bars went away and now they are doing great.

 

[Jay-Stew]

Yea 86-88 for your temp. is good. being cichlids, your original discus is going to be a jerk for a while. you could try leaving the lights off for 2-3 days. are there lots of places to hide in the tank? you could put some hygros in as they grow like weeds and provide good cover . that would really help them get comfortable. my first thought is you really should quaratine them and maybe dose some metro. to fight off any possible infection or parasite. they could spread it through the tank if one of them gets sick. I change 30% twice a week ,you could probably do 40% twice a week. what kind of lights are on the tank,watts? are there any other fish in the tank? if an of them start to show any signs of stress get them out and into a q- tank. also make sure that they are eating well. what are you feeding them?

 

[VTwinFanatic]

I actually found that my discus do better with less hiding places than they did when I had them in my 30gal planted in QT....( I know kinda strange for a planted tank to be a QT but its kinda a LONG STORY). They hid more in there than they do in my 55 with only a piece of drift wood in there. I feel that an open tank makes my discus a bit more bold. And a QT tank is a great investment...ESPECIALLY for a discus tank

 

[Sploke]

In the tank with them, there are 3 cardinal tetras and a few guppies, thats it. I'll probably end up getting rid of the cardinals and getting a school of rummy nose instead. I'll try dropping the temp down a bit as well. The tank has only been set up for about 3 weeks, but I used filter material and most of the water from the previous tank which had been running for 3 or 4 months. So far, no sign of any type of cycle. I've been feeding them once a day, a mix of brine shrimp and mysis shrimp. I want to get some beef heart and start making my own food mix though. The tank has 3 decent sized pieces of driftwood with some tall plants, plus the flowerpot. I usually do 50% per week changes on my other tanks, I'll probably end up doing 30-40% twice weekly on this tank. As far as qt, I got the 4 new ones all at the same time, so they would have been qt'd together anyway, so I figured I'd just put them all in together. They're starting to look better tonight, so I guess I'll just have to be more patient and let them settle in.

 

[Sploke]

Alright I'm definitely seeing at least one or two of them darting around and rubbing their gills against the heater, driftwood, filter intake...what does that point to, parasites? Recommended treatment?

 

[Star_Rider]

How did you acclimate them???

flashing could also be signs that there is something in the water that is bothering them.

be on the safe side and test your water frequently.

could be that the water they came from is different than the water in your tank.

these are young discus..are they eating??

if so you will need to feed them several times per day and do waterchanges atleast 3 times per week.

discus will let a hormone in the water that will stunt growth..another reason to change water frequently.

how much bigger is the single discus from the 4 you added??

I'm betting that the discus are just stressed..the came from one environment then to another..you have no idea how long they were in the original bag..it could be the main issue

 

[Sploke]

I acclimated them by floating the bag for about a half hour, then poking some holes in it, let it float a little more, poke some more holes in it, let it float a little more, probably a total of 45 min-an hour of float time.

I've been testing the water every day, the levels have been completely stable, which surprised me a little, but its fine with me. The original one is maybe a half inch longer than the other 4, not much bigger.

 

[Dkarc]

Your first mistake was not putting the new fish into a QT tank. Even if the other discus you have appears to be healthy and doing well, ALWAYS QT new discus. The new fish may bring something in with them, or the older fish may have something the new ones have not been exposed too...and there by making them sick. This goes with ALL new fish...not just discus. The stress they are showing is fairly typical with new discus, but most of the time if things are done right, it should only last a day or two at most. Adding salt into the tank will help wonders in relieving stress. I recommend 2-3 tablespoons per 10 gallons to start off with. The temp is fine where it is at. The higher temps will help boost their metabolism slightly and will encourage them to eat somewhat. Try doing a water change and see how they do. The flashing/rubbing against objects in the tank means there is something bothering them....not in the water, but on them. Parasites like gill and body flukes are a common culprit. Treat the tank with something like Parasite Clear or even straight formalin at 2 drops per gallon (make sure aeration is increased) followed by a big water change. See how they do after that.

Another question is where did the discus come from? The LFS ordered them for you, but where did they order from?? If they ordered them from their wholesaler, then most likely they arent in the best of shape to begin with. The source of your discus will make a world of a difference in how well they do.

-Ryan
Orlando Discus

 

[Sploke]

The pet store got them from a wholesaler called fishmart. These guys looked pretty good but apparently in the past, the store has had problems with DOAs and sickly fish. They were tank raised. I'm treating the water with salt and General Cure, for parasites, and keeping the lights off. They're starting to look better, more swimming around and less resting/scraping/hiding behavior.