Should I always quarantine in singles

[GeauxDiscus]

I have room in my show tank for three more adult discus. I figured it would be best to purchase and quarantine them one at a time, but I'm starting to wonder if that was the right choice. I recently purchased a new discus online and had it shipped to me. (Most beautiful fish I've ever seen, by the way.) It is very healthy-looking and is always at the front of the tank - very friendly. The fish shows no signs of bacterial, viral, or parasitic infection. I've also put it through a standard metro/prazi/levamisole de-worm that all my new fish get.

However, I've had it a week now, and it still won't eat. I understand that it's normal for discus to get freaked for a while after shipping, but I want to make sure I don't lose this fish, because it's such a beauty. Since my new fish has only been in quarantine a week, I'm wondering if I should go ahead and purchase one or two more adults locally and add them to quarantine. The thinking being that maybe if he/she sees the other fish eating (hopefully they will), he/she will want to eat too. Of course, my worry is that I may have a bullying situation in the quarantine tank that then causes one of the fish not to eat. Any thoughts on this from the more experienced peeps out there? Thanks in advance!

[strawberryblonde]

Nope, do NOT buy locally and add them to the QT tank unless you are willing to lose that gorgeous new discus!

You have a couple of choices at this point, and either may work to make your new discus feel more comfortable. Oh and btw, it's totally normal for a larger discus to refuse to eat for more than a week after you put it into a new environment. How big is this guy? Larger than 4"?

Back to the choices:

1) If you are determined to buy new discus now, purchase them from an online sponsor. Check out the sponsors here on the forums and ask a lot of questions till you find one you have a good rapport with. I can personally recommend Discus Hans, and many here can tell you about their experiences with the other sponsors. (I can't since I haven't purchased from them)

Once you've made your purchase, set up a separate QT tank next to the one you currently have. Leave some space between them so that you don't get splashing and cross contamination between tanks during WC's and feedings. Also, if you do this you need to have separate cleaning equipment. Once you have observed everyone for a month, go ahead and add them together. At the same time add 1 hero discus from your main tank, so that you now have 4 discus in QT together. If there are any problems they will show up!

2) If you don't want to go through all that hassle right now, move your QT tank closer to your main tank so that the single discus can see the others. Just be sure to leave space between them (as outlined in choice #1), but get them close enough so it sees and can interact through the glass with the rest of the group.

I've used the "close tanks" method when I've had a single discus in a hospital tank and others in a QT tank. It works well and they all interact by hanging out at the common side of the tanks.

[GeauxDiscus]

Thanks, Toni - I appreciate the feedback. That's really a great idea, but unfortunately my space/organizational situation doesn't allow for that right now. (Not to mention my wife's wrath - LOL!) So it sounds like I may just need to keep trying different foods, changing water, and he/she should eat eventually? How long before I should worry with a new discus?

To answer your question regarding size, it is a 5" discus that I purchased from Hans.

80006

[GeauxDiscus]

Also, what do you think about this: I have a couple of hopelessly stunted juvi/sub-adult discus in my big show tank. (These were purchased online and from my LFS before I knew what to look for with regards to stunting.) I may move my two worst stunted discus to my quarantine tank. That way they can serve to help look for disease, and hopefully encourage my new guy to eat. Would this plan be okay?

[timmy82]

Nice, I've had some adults after shipping not eat for 3 weeks and now eat like pigs. Keep the lights out keep doing your routine maybe try a bit of blood worm might get him started.

[GeauxDiscus]

Thanks Timmy - will do! Unfortunately, he won't even touch bloodworm or beefheart yet. Gonna try soaking the food in garlic next.

[jsullins]

You can try raisinf the temp to 84 if it's not already there.

[GeauxDiscus]

Thanks for the suggestion. The temp was at 84, but I'm going to slowly nudge it to 88 over the next couple of days. Also, I did go through with my plan to move two of my runts from the big tank into my quarantine. They are still eating like pigs, so I'm hoping that will be a good influence on my new one. Wish me luck!

[netlooose]

Very good question Shane. Solid info for new comers like me.

[John_Nicholson]

If you fish came directly from Hans than it is healthy. I don't know about the fish you already had. If your plan is to add the new Stendker fish to the existing stock I would go ahead and do it. I would not say that about fish from most suppliers.

-john

[GeauxDiscus]

If you fish came directly from Hans than it is healthy. I don't know about the fish you already had. If your plan is to add the new Stendker fish to the existing stock I would go ahead and do it. I would not say that about fish from most suppliers.

-john

Wow - huge endorsement for Hans. I went ahead and moved two of my existing fish into quarantine to help encourage my new Stendker to eat, and it started eating within two days. Of course, I can't say for certain that it wouldn't have started eating on its own within that timeframe anyway, but at least I know it didn't NOT work. :D The new fish would only eat beef heart at first, probably because Hans has waiters in black ties feeding them gourmet meals several times a day. As of last night, I had encouraged it to eat some high quality flake as well.