Discus Transferral

[MarktheShark3]

Hello,

I've now had a singular Pigeon-Blood Discus for about 12 months. I bought it on the basis that it was severely emaciated and felt that I could resolve this with a little TLC.

This is the condition it was in on the same day of purchase once I had placed it in my own aquarium:
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Ever since having this Discus it has been a pain-staking task to get it to eat. At present, it will only eat Tetra crisps providing they have been crushed with the fingers and wetted. If they are sharp on the edges (which is how they are mean't to be) it will split them out. Also, the food has to come to it; when it was still emaciated I had to feed it baby micro pellets by placing them on a grey slate and point to the pellets so it just knew they were there! Now, thankfully, it will eat food that floats providing it floats directly into its face. If the food floats passed its face it will take between 5-20 minutes for it pursue the food!

Is the cause of the above behaviour down to the fact that it is in an aquarium by itself? If so, how do I introduce additional Discus without upsetting it? I do plan to add it into a new aquarium but I don't know how it will cope with 12 Corydoras scurrying around given that they will get to the any food I put in faster than the Discus would.

As you can see from the picture below, the pain-staking feeding has paid off as it is not emaciated now but its demeanour is yet to be fixed.
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[Second Hand Pat]

Appears to be an albino and it may not see very well. At this point until this fish is eating/doing better I would not add any new fish ATM.
Pat

[MarktheShark3]

Testing 123.

[Dudley Eirich]

It would be really good if you could provide a lot more information, like what size tank, water change routine, what foods you've tried, what medications you have tried, etc. It looks like you have gravel in you tank. Usually the best way to help stimulate a discus to eat is to go bare bottom and do lots of water changes. I had one discus that stopped eating for over a month and the only way I got it to start eating again was to treat it with antibiotics. Ergo more information would get more responses. I agree with Pat. Until you get this fish a bit healthier, you wouldn't want to expose healthy discus mates to whatever is ailing it.

[Ryan925]

Have you tried sticking fdbw cubes to the glass so he can pick at them?

[MarktheShark3]

It would be really good if you could provide a lot more information, like what size tank, water change routine, what foods you've tried, what medications you have tried, etc. It looks like you have gravel in you tank. Usually the best way to help stimulate a discus to eat is to go bare bottom and do lots of water changes. I had one discus that stopped eating for over a month and the only way I got it to start eating again was to treat it with antibiotics. Ergo more information would get more responses. I agree with Pat. Until you get this fish a bit healthier, you wouldn't want to expose healthy discus mates to whatever is ailing it.

The aquarium which it is in is 120 litres. I plan to put it into a 260 litre aquarium. I do weekly water changes. The foods i've tried to get it to pursue by itself are: Tetramin crisps (yellow top), Tetra Pro crisps (red top), Tetra Pro Algae crisps, Ocean Nutrition Discus formula, Hikari Discus Bio-Gold, frozen bloodworm, various flake brands, Hikari Micro Pellets. I'd like the point out that it is able to eat providing the food floats directly in front of it. It has an amazingly good appetite but it is very shy and will not seek out the food that has landed elsewhere until 5-20 minutes AFTER I have stayed very still or leave the room (i've observed it in the crack of the door). Shyness seems to be the issue. There are no signs of any sort of disease. The need for me to ensure food precisely floats into the fishes face means that it takes 1-2 hours for me to feed it.

I need to work out how to stop the fish from being shy because I'm planning to sell the 120 litre aquarium and transfer it to a new 260 litre one. The issue is that the new tank has 12 corydoras which will out compete it for food if it continues to be this unproductive and shy. The new tank is a bare-bottom.

[LizStreithorst]

Weekly is not enough. I do 30% daily. Most of us long time Discus keepers do the same.

[MarktheShark3]

Weekly is not enough. I do 30% daily. Most of us long time Discus keepers do the same.

If this was upsetting the Discus it wouldn't eat at all though?

[Ryan925]

The aquarium which it is in is 120 litres. I plan to put it into a 260 litre aquarium. I do weekly water changes. The foods i've tried to get it to pursue by itself are: Tetramin crisps (yellow top), Tetra Pro crisps (red top), Tetra Pro Algae crisps, Ocean Nutrition Discus formula, Hikari Discus Bio-Gold, frozen bloodworm, various flake brands, Hikari Micro Pellets. I'd like the point out that it is able to eat providing the food floats directly in front of it. It has an amazingly good appetite but it is very shy and will not seek out the food that has landed elsewhere until 5-20 minutes AFTER I have stayed very still or leave the room (i've observed it in the crack of the door). Shyness seems to be the issue. There are no signs of any sort of disease. The need for me to ensure food precisely floats into the fishes face means that it takes 1-2 hours for me to feed it.

I need to work out how to stop the fish from being shy because I'm planning to sell the 120 litre aquarium and transfer it to a new 260 litre one. The issue is that the new tank has 12 corydoras which will out compete it for food if it continues to be this unproductive and shy. The new tank is a bare-bottom.

That's right but how much can it eat? Especially if it can only get what floats directly to it. That's why i suggested fdbw cubes that will stick to glass. If this albino has poor eyesight it can at least use its other senses to find the food and not have a moving target.

[MarktheShark3]

That's right but how much can it eat? Especially if it can only get what floats directly to it. That's why i suggested fdbw cubes that will stick to glass. If this albino has poor eyesight it can at least use its other senses to find the food and not have a moving target.

Do you know where I could get FDBW in the UK? Strangely I've never seen them in any of the fish stores I've visited so far. :(

Also, how would I get the FDBW cubes to stick?

[Filip]

You have done a great recovery on this discus Mark, he seems fat and healthy on the second picture .
Like other said , being albino he might have poor eyesight problems and sticking a FDBW cube on a tank wall or a cone feeding might help him finds the food easily .
FDBW are cubes that stick to the tank wall by pressing them with your finger against the glass.
Feeding cone also , always helps for keepin the food in one place .

Off topic.
On the second picture I see a lot of poop and debris on the bottom of the tank .You also said that you change water only once a week .
Try siphoning the poop from the bottom daily and change water at least 3 times a week- 50% and I think you ll see improvement in his appetite and shyness.
And also , discus are schooling fish . They feel secure and relaxesmd in big groups . 6 is a bare minimum of keeping them happy and secure .
So his shyness might be coming from the fact that he is alone.

[Ryan925]

Do you know where I could get FDBW in the UK? Strangely I've never seen them in any of the fish stores I've visited so far. :(

Also, how would I get the FDBW cubes to stick?

Check the sponsors here. I am not sure who ships them to UK. I order mine from Al but I believe there are many others that supply them

[MarktheShark3]

You have done a great recovery on this discus Mark, he seems fat and healthy on the second picture .
Like other said , being albino he might have poor eyesight problems and sticking a FDBW cube on a tank wall or a cone feeding might help him finds the food easily .
FDBW are cubes that stick to the tank wall by pressing them with your finger against the glass.
Feeding cone also , always helps for keepin the food in one place .

Off topic.
On the second picture I see a lot of poop and debris on the bottom of the tank .You also said that you change water only once a week .
Try siphoning the poop from the bottom daily and change water at least 3 times a week- 50% and I think you ll see improvement in his appetite and shyness.
And also , discus are schooling fish . They feel secure and relaxesmd in big groups . 6 is a bare minimum of keeping them happy and secure .
So his shyness might be coming from the fact that he is alone.

Hi Filip,

I will get some FDBW cubes ASAP and stick them to the glass. I've been able to locate some on eBay but they are located in Australia! How does the feeding cone work?

The Discus has indeed put a lot of weight on; it was almost dead when I bought it. It may have some sort of eye sight issue but on the other hand it notices new objects (i.e. my phone) and slight movements quickly. It's not blind thats for sure.

On the 2nd picture, I can assure you that it is pea gravel and grains of sand. If I see any faeces I will siphon it straight away.

[Ryan925]

Sorry amidst my suggestion of fdbw I forgot to commends you on bringing this fish back. I'm sure it was quite the endeavor but very fulfilling to see this guy come back. Congrats on your progress and best of luck

[MarktheShark3]

Sorry amidst my suggestion of fdbw I forgot to commends you on bringing this fish back. I'm sure it was quite the endeavor but very fulfilling to see this guy come back. Congrats on your progress and best of luck

Thanks Ryan :)

[MarktheShark3]

Update: FDBW's (freeze-dried black worms) have been ordered. Will try them out soon. Meanwhile, will continue feeding the freeze-dried blood worms.

On a separate note, is it possible to tell the sex of the fish using the images that I have provided? I ask this because when it is appropriate for me to introduce additional Discus into it's environment I would be looking to introduce the opposite sex to avoid aggression.

[LizStreithorst]

I'd guess female. I'm correct over 50% of the time.

[MarktheShark3]

I'd guess female. I'm correct over 50% of the time.

Thanks, I think it is female too due to the relatively small lips and curved-shaped fins.

I do hope it is female as I acquired this male today:
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The feeding issue of the albino female is not going to resolve itself as I think it has a genetic eye-sight issue (although not blindness). I guess I will just have to feed the albino larger chunks of food and when it is sharing the same tank with the male my hope is that it will see the male consume/disturb food and therefore associate him with meal time. I also have some Seachem Garlic Guard that I could use with the food so the albino can smell it out. I've had fish, however, that hate the smell of garlic.