Total frustration

[Phishman1]

40 Plus years as a hobbyist. Reef, Cichlids, livebearers, angels you name it. Just recently thought I'd try my hand at Discus, read like a mad man everything i could find. Set up 55 gallon, perfectly cycled, parameters perfect, temp 84. Driftwood, live plants purchased two discus and one just died after a week, hanging near the top and now found him on the bottom dead. This is the one of the two taking food, the other took a bit and spit out. LFS discus was the one that died, the remaining was a Discus Hans fish that the LFS owner had just got in....FRUSTRATED......when I saw him at the top I researched again, did what just about every site said, change water about 30 and nothing new...there was a reason I never wanted to try discus I guess.

[Udeservit]

Don't give up! Try again, however LFS have been known to sell unwell fish. If it was a goldfish that died you'd go back to the store and get a new one. I am lucky to have a breeder here in town that has some hearty stock and the fish don't go through some of the horrible shipping that most fish do but my first try with these babies have been a huge success. The 2 I have bought from LFS over the past couple months have been sick. One died and 1 i am still treating<<< looks good however but still...Im so glad i quarantined.
There are some things you can look for at the store when buying discus at the LFS. look at both gills, are they working well. Is the fish playful at the store and eat there? Clamped fins and dark colour. I'm sure you know most this as you have been reading a lot so my comments are hopefully to encourage you not to give up. Its so rewarding to have these beautiful guys grow before your eyes. I've never had a fish that was as social and liked petting etc. So much fun!!!

How big was the fish that died? Are you 100% sure the tank was cycled? how often did/do you do a water change? What are you feeding them? Maybe post a new thread in the sickness/disease section and some experts can chime in to help the little guy thats still in your care.

I'm a Discus newbie but I encourage you to keep trying. I'm not convinced these guys are that difficult to house. I just think it really stinks when you pay a great deal and they die.So I feel for you. You may not feel so frustrated if it was a goldfish.

Try ordering from Hans directly or another sponsor here with great reviews. Or find a reputable place/breeder within driving distance.

I hope you try again and let us know how your future Discus keeping goes!!! Kelly

[Phishman1]

Thanks Kelly, just frustrating. Like you said, if if was a $5 angel fish or AFrican I could be a bit more understanding but when you read everything and talk to people and research then set up and it dies within a few days, its more than frustrating, lol. Oh well, you're correct, try again perhaps...

[Nick Klimkowski]

Like said above, don't give up so easy. We have all been there it is part of the hobby. Unfortunately you will lose fish, and stunt fish. It is all part of learning. If I were you start out right and buy a nice group of three to five and get them from one of the spinners here and not the LFS. Hth.

[John_Nicholson]

Don't give up but if you had read anything that was close to right it would have suggested going bare bottom with at least 6 discus. It would have also said not to mix fish from different sources. I wish you luck but for your first discus tank I strongly suggest bare bottom with 6 discus. Change water daily and feed well. If you do that you will have success.

-john

[Rudustin]

I think it is a very frustrating time in the beginning of keeping discus. I have tried for many years up until about two years ago to be successful. I had Jack Wattely as a guide at the time and it was even more complicated then because of the use of RO units as a must, tap water was a no no, there was no dechlorinator, he only sold baby fish and once they got to two or three inches they would die. I had an under gravel filter with plants, hundred gallon tank that I would constantly over clean the filter thinking that I was doing the discus a good favor and of course the tank would lose it's cycle. I would have massive die offs, incredible algae growth, made my own BH but it would foul the water, could never keep the gravel clean enough. It was a mess many times!!!! Years of discus death and destruction. Then it was Gabe and I went to him and bought more discus. They would die as well. Quarantine wasn't even in my vocabulary! I would add fish without quarantine and buy numerous fish from an LFS. The mistakes could fill an entire book. Tanks were given away or in some instances thrown away in disgust and frustration and disappointment. In 2011 I decided that I would try once again but really take steps that would be more researched and then I found Simply! There were so many revelations once I found this forum! I had been doing every thing completely wrong and technology of keeping a fish tank for discus had vastly improved and so had the knowledge base. I did make a few mistakes in the beginning and I have five stunted fish to prove it that I keep as a reminder of my mistakes and they are the hosts in a quarantine tank when a new fish arrives. They are still alive and some of them are almost two years old. Small and sad but lively and once again a reminder that buying stock from a reputable breeder is not the only solution but it is a very good start. My LFS that I had been dealing with lied to me for over thirty years that their discus stock was from Hans! I found out by directly contacting Hans to ask if he had this particular LFS on his sales list. He did not and never heard of them.Needless to say they don't see me very often unless I need meds or supplies and normally I can take care of that online. I rescued a blue diamond from the LFS a year ago and luckily it was in quarantine. Guess what? It started getting sick in the quarantine tank!!!! Had to medicate it and of course it took some time. It is now about 6.5 inches and beautiful but I am so paranoid about this one discus that I constantly watch it for any kind of weird behavior because I don't know where it came from originally. Where is this novella going? It is to explain that in spite of doing all the right things that you thought you had done, somewhere along the line you did allow something to slip in the process. You need to review all the parameters including buying a group of at least six to eight discus and they need to be older than babies because frankly, even though adults are more expensive, they fare much better than baby discus or juvies when you are new to the hobby. And in spite of you have so much experience with other fish, discus love other discus and thrive with other discus. They feel safe, they teach each other what kind of food is there, they seem to calm their brothers and sisters and they love being together. One or two or three isn't the right amount. Tried it and it didn't work for me. I now have about thirty discus. They are not mixed in kinds. Meaning, Forrests, Stendkers, Imports are all in separate tanks and their is virtually no mixing. LFS fish are out of the question for me. I don't even look when I have to go there for something. I'm sorry to hear about your frustration and disappointment and perhaps you will try again but don't take a short cut because there is no short cut for discus. I love my tanks and the beauty of these fish is such a joy for me. I hope that soon you will experience the joy and the majesty of these incredible freshwater fish. Best wishes. Rufus

[OC Discus]

Jim,

Sorry for your loss, but I agree with John and Rufus. You need to start with at least 5 or 6 discus in a 55g. Bare bottom will be much easier to keep clean and more healthy for the fish. Discus are sensitive to diseases common to other types of fish, so it would probably be best to start with only discus. If the tank has been used for other types a fish, it might be wise to sterilize it before adding 5-6 new discus.

[JaydubAiC21]

Jim,

Also sorry about your loss. It could have happened in a week or a month, its always frustrating to lose a discus. I know when I buy them I just feel like I have have so many plans for them, but we all know the best laid plans of mice and men yadda yadda. Would you consider getting a couple cheap angels or something to make sure that the bacteria is built up proper in the tank? Aside from getting more to assure they arent stressed, this is the only other thing i could think of. Say if you have a small school of tetras or a few cheap angels, maybe lose a couple but stabilize a small shoal, then youd know your probably ready for discus if you are getting those same readings. You can always get rid of them before you put the discus in. Ive never had a problem with diseases unless it was a well known carrier oh ich (loaches. cardinal tetras) so I dont have a problem with not sterilizing. But i am not nearly as experienced as others on this site. Well, at least not in success.

Jay

[OC Discus]

Jim,

Discus keeping is different from any other fish. I've had several community freshwater tanks and a successful reef setup. Most of the discus commercially available were raised in discus only tanks with daily water changes. Their requirements are pretty simple, but they must be met for discus to thrive:

1) Pristine water
2) Quality food- high protein, vitamins, and some green like spirulina
3) Peaceful surroundings

There are different ways to accomplish these goals, but they are required for healthy discus. I hope you give it another try.

A couple of other common recommendations:
1) Minimum 55 gallon tank
2) Minimum 5-6 fish from the same reputable source (SD sponsors are among the worlds experts in discus fish)
3) Bare bottom tank is best for first time discus keepers
4) Test water often and change up to 50% daily to maintain pristine conditions.


40 Plus years as a hobbyist. Reef, Cichlids, livebearers, angels you name it. Just recently thought I'd try my hand at Discus, read like a mad man everything i could find. Set up 55 gallon, perfectly cycled, parameters perfect, temp 84. Driftwood, live plants purchased two discus and one just died after a week, hanging near the top and now found him on the bottom dead. This is the one of the two taking food, the other took a bit and spit out. LFS discus was the one that died, the remaining was a Discus Hans fish that the LFS owner had just got in....FRUSTRATED......when I saw him at the top I researched again, did what just about every site said, change water about 30 and nothing new...there was a reason I never wanted to try discus I guess.

[OC Discus]

Jay,

Because of cross contamination (disease), I would not recommend cycling the tank with other fish. Most sd sponsors are breeders who recommend a fishless cycle, or huge daily water changes of 50% or more with prime. Another option similar to seeded sponges is Tetra Safe Start. Tetra bought the patent for bio spira, three types of beneficial bacteria in the cycling process. I have successfully used it many times at the point of adding fish. It is essentially an instant cycle. Start with a clean tank and clean filter media, add the TSS directly to the filters at the time of adding the fish, wait 24 hours before doing a water change. Test water daily and do water changes as needed to keep ammonia, nitrite at 0 and nitrate below 20.

Best of luck.


Jim,

Also sorry about your loss. It could have happened in a week or a month, its always frustrating to lose a discus. I know when I buy them I just feel like I have have so many plans for them, but we all know the best laid plans of mice and men yadda yadda. Would you consider getting a couple cheap angels or something to make sure that the bacteria is built up proper in the tank? Aside from getting more to assure they arent stressed, this is the only other thing i could think of. Say if you have a small school of tetras or a few cheap angels, maybe lose a couple but stabilize a small shoal, then youd know your probably ready for discus if you are getting those same readings. You can always get rid of them before you put the discus in. Ive never had a problem with diseases unless it was a well known carrier oh ich (loaches. cardinal tetras) so I dont have a problem with not sterilizing. But i am not nearly as experienced as others on this site. Well, at least not in success.

Jay

[treemanone2003]

Jim,
My condolences to you on the loss of your Discus. If you get anything out of being here, take this into consideration please. You found a diamond by taking the time to sign up, post, and look for feedback for your situation. I've not been here too long, but you can get a great idea on those that speak from the heart and shoot from the hip. Fwiw, I learned more about Rufus in the last 5 mins then I did in two months of being a member and the 6 months of stalking prior to that. Also, IMO, the same holds true (though they didn't know it till now) about stalking John, Nick and O C (in a good way) that they all speak from the heart with TONS of reputable experience. I've seen Udeservit around as well and anything Kelly's had input in, I can't disagree with.

I don't have 2 or 3 or 8 years as a member, or that kind of solid time in the hobby, but I think I've got my common sense about me to know that this is where to come to vent, ask questions, learn and live a little and sit back and just relax.

Like the above (what I consider) pros have said, don't give up. Discus aren't hard to keep at all. It's just learning a new "strategy" on how to do things. I hope that helps and you stick around some more.

[discus rookie]

I do not have much experience with many fish but I was very lucky that when I first started with discus I received a lot of help from Rick of Canadian Aqua Farm. He taught me clean water is the best medicine and lots of water change is the real secret. He also gave me the precious opportunity to try growing out his home grown discus that were only quarter size to start. I had lots of problems but he was always there for me. He taught me to succeed I need to change lots of water, which I do to this day. :)
I have learned so much through this very valuable experience and I saved a lot of time and headaches. With this first grow out of 6 juvies, the biggest one was a bit bigger than 6" but I did lost 3 out of the 6 of the group. I can relate to your pain of your lost. On the bright side, I have fallen in love head over heel with this wonderful fish since this experience and I just want to keep learning more and trying to get better at it. The mistakes I made have taught me so much.
Now, I am growing out some of Rick's beautiful Forrest giant blue. This time around, I am feeling so much more confident because of the previous experience--both good and bad--that I have had. I have not lost any and they are looking better than my last group already. I am still learning everyday and I feel that each and every grow out experience will teach me more and help me to become a better discus keeper. It is so much fun.