PDA

View Full Version : How or can I create a less stressful environment?



judijetson
03-15-2014, 01:02 PM
I recently have had a bout with 3 aggresive pairs in my tank and due to that stress I ended up losing a beautiful 6-1/2" ARSG (quarantined when I saw white stringy poo & had stopped eating but the move seemed to stress him even more and he died within 2 days), I still have the first victim of bullying in a qt tank (treated with prazi & metro after she stopped eating and had white stringy poo) but she has never regained her color and has only nibbled on some fbw (no cloudy eye, no clamped fins) and will only pick at a few of the fbw on the bottom of the tank, will not eat from cone feeder which was the norm before.

As it stands in the main tank (135 gallon) I have sectioned off the areas of the overflow boxes with egg crate on each end of the tank for the 2 most aggressive pairs and in the center of the tanks is 1 pair (threesome actually) and 2 other discus.

Can this tank be brought back to a discus communtity tank? I know I can set up separate 29 gallon tanks for each pair and then order some more discus for the main tank but what happens if I get more pairs after that? I could end up having a dozen tanks for pairs and I honestly just don't have the time to deal with that situation.

Would increasing the number of discus in the tank lessen the spawning aggression if they are more focused on feeding instead of breeding?

Is having a tank that is more open (less decoration for defined territories) better than trying to create areas that break up the sightline of territorial fish? I originally had manzanita branches placed vertically in the tank and though beautiful were a territorial spawning magnet.

If I can't resolve these issues and give my discus a healthy safe environment I won't be able to keep them, I can't have them pay for my failures.

81930

81931

judijetson
03-15-2014, 04:28 PM
Bumping for advice

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3

PP_GBR
03-15-2014, 05:43 PM
Judi

Your displayed tank looks awesome. I would add more fish in the displayed tank than section it off.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?112641-MY-NEW-TANK-(ALL-DISCUS-CAME-FROM-KENNY)

judijetson
03-15-2014, 07:11 PM
Thanks PP_GBR, I'm not used to tanks being so sparse but the beautiful discus don't seem to mind and its a breeze to clean.

The tank and discus in the link are beyond stunning!

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3

OC Discus
03-15-2014, 09:49 PM
Probably a larger number with less spawning sites would reduce the harmful aggression. Maybe the ones in qt can even be added back- It might help them come out.

Rudustin
03-15-2014, 10:55 PM
I think the key is to have more discus in the tank. I find having more discus distracts the idea of spawning in my 125 display tank. There are skirmishes but nothing very serious. Good luck.

judijetson
03-16-2014, 09:07 AM
Probably a larger number with less spawning sites would reduce the harmful aggression. Maybe the ones in qt can even be added back- It might help them come out..

OC, I lost my ARSG two days after moving him to QT...I can only think it was the stress of moving him because he went down hill quickly after that. The Penang still in qt hasn't regained any of her color (still dark) and is barely eating so at this point she would never be able to compete for food in the main tank. I'm considering moving her to a smaller qt and continuing to work on getting her to eat but chances are she will not improve. I do agree that more discus will decrease the spawning so I am going to follow that route.


I think the key is to have more discus in the tank. I find having more discus distracts the idea of spawning in my 125 display tank. There are skirmishes but nothing very serious. Good luck.

Thank you for posting, I took at look at your tank pics and I agree, more discus!!! I have been drooling over Kenny's Rafflesia for a while now so I think I am going to add 4 of them to the tank. I noticed the back of your tank is also painted black, are you having any peppering with the Rafflesia? I've stayed away from anything pigeon based for fear of peppering...I keep going back and looking at your discus, they are just beautiful!!!!!.

John_Nicholson
03-16-2014, 09:38 AM
While the answers here are correct. Adding more discus will spread the aggression....fish do not die like that from stress. Stress related death takes a long time. The fish will normally breakdown due to secondary disease and waste away. If it dies that quick either he had bee sick a long time or something else was the problem. Not sure what it would be but I would keep an eye on the rest of your fish.

-john

Rudustin
03-16-2014, 09:41 AM
Hi, the rafflesias are my favorite discus! Thanks for admiring them. I was also concerned about the black background for fear of peppering however my fire reds and the raffs share that tank and the only peppering(very slight) is on the nose bridge of two fire reds and no peppering on the raffs. If I had known about raffs in the beginning of keeping discus I would have probably had only raffs in every tank! LOL! You will afore them. Mine are now almost six inches and still growing. Joining them will be two new San merahs both male that are still in qt and two snow whites next Wednesday. Should be quite a contrast of red and white. Best regards. Rufus


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

judijetson
03-16-2014, 02:50 PM
Thanks John, I appreciate the reply. I know being new to discus I'm at fault for his death. Being an albino I didn't notice symptoms of him being stressed/ill until I saw the white stringy poo then noticed he was not eating, even when I fed fbws or holding fdbws right in front of him. His fins weren't clamped, eyes were bright but he was also lethargic, mainly staying in one place. When I moved him to the qt tank (no tank lights) he began to have difficulty swimming properly and was bumping into the tank glass and sponge filter. I thought this had to do with the stress of being moved (tank parameters matched the main tank with obviously less nitrates). Jesus, I just realized something...couple days before moving him to qt I turned on the lights in the tank room as normal to wake them up for feeding and noticed he was doing the same thing, swimming slowly but bumping gently into the branches that were in the tank at the time...at first I thought he may have just been startled by the lights..is this a symptom of something I'm not aware of? It's nothing I've seen the other fish do since then and they are all eating well and pooping nice, dark and solid.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3

judijetson
03-16-2014, 02:52 PM
Rufus, I can't wait to see those red and whites together..that will definitely look spectacular!

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3

Elliots
03-16-2014, 06:14 PM
As people say more Discus. I would say as many as possible, at least 5-6 more. Hans has said that 10 is the minimum number, hard to argue with Hans! I would also get 2-3 very large pieces of driftwood to give the fish places to hide. I like Malasian wood, you can find large ones with spaces inside the piece so that the Discus can swim througfh the wood. The reason I like more than one piece is the fish can swim from one piece to the other. If you are interested multiple pieces are great for Clown Loaches.

OC Discus
03-16-2014, 08:16 PM
Look at the San Merah. They are a darker red, more solid sometimes with a blue face. Not sure what the origin strain is, but I want some. How bout some pics of your new ones here Rufus?



.

OC, I lost my ARSG two days after moving him to QT...I can only think it was the stress of moving him because he went down hill quickly after that. The Penang still in qt hasn't regained any of her color (still dark) and is barely eating so at this point she would never be able to compete for food in the main tank. I'm considering moving her to a smaller qt and continuing to work on getting her to eat but chances are she will not improve. I do agree that more discus will decrease the spawning so I am going to follow that route.


Thank you for posting, I took at look at your tank pics and I agree, more discus!!! I have been drooling over Kenny's Rafflesia for a while now so I think I am going to add 4 of them to the tank. I noticed the back of your tank is also painted black, are you having any peppering with the Rafflesia? I've stayed away from anything pigeon based for fear of peppering...I keep going back and looking at your discus, they are just beautiful!!!!!.

Rudustin
03-16-2014, 09:57 PM
Look at the San Merah. They are a darker red, more solid sometimes with a blue face. Not sure what the origin strain is, but I want some. How bout some pics of your new ones here Rufus? Okay here are some quick pics from my phone camera. The pictures do not do them justice. These are most probably male San Merahs.
http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w615/Rudustin/photo-2_zps0eb2dfe4.jpg[/URL[URL=http://s1332.photobucket.com/user/Rudustin/media/photo-3_zps7f82b03d.jpg.html]http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w615/Rudustin/photo-3_zps7f82b03d.jpg (http://s1332.photobucket.com/user/Rudustin/media/photo-2_zps0eb2dfe4.jpg.html)

judijetson
03-17-2014, 08:00 AM
Wow! The San Merahs are beautiful also, the red looks very rich and deep like velvet. Okay, maybe 2 Rafflesia & 2 San Merahs! Lol

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3

judijetson
03-18-2014, 11:29 AM
Elliots, do you know of any good distributors for Malaysian wood? I really like the look of it.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3

Kyla
04-25-2015, 04:27 PM
how did this work out? was adding more discus to the tank the key?