Help and advice!!!

[Jimmy]

Hi all again,

My Discus has turned very timid. When I moved in near the tank, they will swim to the back of the tank and their fin will close up. It happen eversince they are spooked by the switching on of the light yesterday morning. They only swim out when i throw frozen bloodworms to feed them but after sometimes they swim back to the back again. what can I do to help them feel secure?

I decided to turn on the light all the while to let them get use to florescent light. Is it advisable to lay a piece of blue transparent paper over the florescent light to make it darker?

For your info, my tank does not have heater, pH level is about 6.5 to 7.5. My tank has the length of about 16 inches and Depth of 19 inches. Is heater a must? I am from singapore. Temperature is around 26 degree to 32 degree celcius.

:)

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Hi Jimmy
How long have you had them? What's your water parameters. Check your water. Have you tried increasing the heat to 88 and add 1 to 2 tbsp. of salt per gal.

Dan

Depending on where you're located. Heater is a must to bring water temp. up between 82-88 degree if your discus are under 3" bring it up to 88 degree until they settle down. Keep the light on. They still can rest with the light on whenever they're tired. Intensity dosen't bother them. It's the turning off the light and shadow that can spook them. Make sure you have bare bottom tank to start with. Decoration can come later once they've settled down. You're giving a wide range of Ph. Do not fluctuate more than 0.5 a day.HTH.
Jimmy

[kjmillerfw]

Jimmy,

I have some 4 month old fry that are acting the same way when I turn the light out at night. If I leave the lights on continuously, they seem to be fine. I'm not sure what the lights have to do with anything, but I can tell a difference.

I've been leaving their light on for the last week and last night decided to try turning it off just to see if they were over their "spooky" stage. This morning, they were back to hiding in the corner everytime they see us walk by. Then they run back out to eat their worms once we're gone.

I find this quite interesting.

Kathy

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Sometimes the problem is placement of the tank or there's not enough competition. They tend to be shy when the tank is too large in relative to their size and quantity. Sometimes just moving them to a different tank will solve the problem.

Dan