Why would a discus left alone by the others...?

[Mart]

Hi all!

I am new here and would like to say congradulation for all the great info people keep maintening.

I own 6 discus in a 50 gal tank. 5 of them are about 3 inch and one of 5-6 inch long. Since a couple of day, I am paying more attention to a particular one.

It has a damaged fin. This morning, when I fed them, he comes out from his HIDING place to eat as well as other did, but didn't seems to love the food, hehe.
But right after, others seemed to attack him. This is not only the bigger one, but the smallers too!

Also, when light turns on, he is darker than his original color and when night comes, he turns lighter. But I wouldn't care much about since any fish that wakes up has a loss of their original color (like my tetra in another tank), or maybe I should...? ???

I also made a big mistake until this morning. When I saw somewhere in one of your topic that we should feed our discus 3 to 5 times a day, then I understood why mines didn't grow so much in the last months. I bought them when they were almost 3 inch long, and now they have not grew longer: I was feeding them once a day thinking it was ok :-[

So maybe it's an overall effect that my particular discus is not going well or just... unhappy? :( Damn, I really care about it. My girl friend thinks I'm giving him too much attention... maybe! :-[

Thank you all
~Mart~

PS: Can sombody tell me what kind of discus this particuar one is? It has the same anal and dorsal fins' blue color as a Red Turquoise has, but doesn't have ANY red on his entire shape.

Thank

[Carol_Roberts]

Besides lack of food I wonder about your water quality. How much water are you changing and how often? Do you have gravel in the tank? I bet it all needs a good cleaning. Do 30% water changes everyday. Your temperature should be 84 -84 right now.

[Mart]

Oh, I think you must be putting your finger where my probem is. I do a water change once a week. Thought it woul be ok like my tetra tank ::)

My tank doesnt only have gravel, It has a driftwood, a big artificial plant, live plant and rock. This is kinda hard to do a cleaning everyday even if I should.

How if I do a total cleaning once a week and 25-30% water change (including vacuuming gravel) every 2-3 days? Would this still be bad for my discus or ok?

Thank
~Mart~

[Amadhunter]

I'm seeing the same situation in my 58 gal. I have 8 discus in it, ranging from 2.5 to 3.5". 7 of them are healthy, happy, and sociable. One is darker, and solitary. He seems to eat ok, not as vigorously as the others though. I've worried, and asked on the chat sessions about it. The most prevalent advise I've gotten is to flush him. I'm just having a real hard time deciding to do that. :( Probably need to though, as he seems to be stunted.
I do daily 50% water changes, my PH is 7, TDS reads 222. I'm using RO aged for 24 hrs, 1/2 waste, 1/2 RO. Temp is 86 deg. I also add Doc Wellfish's aquaruim salt at 1 tsp per 10 gals.
I feed 5 to 6 times a day, beefheart flake, earthworm flake, ONF 1 & 2, hikari frozen bw's, and Tetra color bits. They dont seem to care which food I give em either, they gobble everything I toss in up like little pigs!
It's just the one that I'm concerned about. Oh, one other thing, their feeces is dark, almost black, kinda stringy. Is that a sign of some malady? Looking at it, kinda looks like blood worm "skins", like they digest everything but the cover. LOL
A couple of things that I have proven to myself, that the pro's here have stated over and over, is that constant ph, temp, and water changes are imperative to the well being of discus. Due to work schedule, (overtime), I had a hard time doing my water changes for a couple of weeks. In two weeks time, I was only able to change water twice! They became kinda lethargic, didn't eat as well, and didn't look nearly as colorful. AS SOON as I'd make a 50 to 75 % water change, they perked up, ate, and "got happy"!
I've since taught my 12 yr old how to do the maintenence, now they never go more than 36 hours without fresh water.
Sorry for the lengthy reply, but, if you listen to the advise from Carol, and others here, you will be successful.
Good luck, and don't give up on them.

P.S. I think it'd be easier for you if you go bare bottom, no gravel, or plants.

[Mart]

Hi again all!

I've done a water change yesterday during the day. And this morning, it seems to be working. The "particular" discus has his normal body color and doesn't seem to be hiding from other anymore.

Everything is fine with my water quality. Except the PH is a bit highter (7.4) than discus should be living in. But I didn't care about it to avoid any stress or disease due to a major change of it... until yesterday.
I bought "Discus Buffer". It is written to use 4 teaspoon for 10 gallons, but I'm using 2 instead. I still don't want to create any stress or whatever during the PH adjustment.
My Discus should be happier with a proper PH I think ::)

And for the fac that it would be easier to use a bare bottom tank, no way! It is ugly without decoration. I like the watch my fish swimming trough stuff as if they were in their natural environment ;D
More work I agree, but much satisfaction ;)

Anyway,

thank for helping. If it still seems to do bad, I'll ask again!
~Mart~

PS: Sorry if you misunderstand my written english. I do what I can with the word I know and learn everyday. I live in quebec and my mother language is french ::)

Thank again!

[lesley]

Hi Mart and Amadhunter,

I think that you can keep adult discus in a tank that is not barebottom with success if you pay attention to what the discus need. In the planted tank section, is plenty of info on how to keep a planted tank. I think the main problem for a newcomer with a planted tank is that it is easy to walk past and think that you'll change the water tomorrow because you can't see any pollution. In a BB you can see what is on the bottom.

Mart, I have a snakeskin that is a good indicator of the water quality in my planted tank. As soon as this fish looks a little unhappy I know that I have been a little lax and I jump to attention quickly!!! Maybe you also have a fish that is telling you when your tank needs attention.

To me the main differences between the planted tank and BB is that when things are not quite right it is harder to correct in the planted tank, but it is quite possible to get it right if you are prepared to do the extra work.

HTH, Lesley

[DiscusFevaa]

Daily water changes is a must when you want to keep Discus especially if you have a planted tank. On my own experience my Discus was a lot happier when I do daily water changes than doing once or twice a week. And Mart i really don't think that you should mess with the ph especially if you have a tank breed discus and not wild caught, check where you got the babies and ask them if they kept the discus on high ph if you live close to where you got them then it's possible that they were kept on the same ph as you do. My ph is 7.4 out of the tap and I don't do anything to drop it and my babies are doing fine. As long as it's stable then they would eventually adapt to it....

[Carol_Roberts]

No need to adjust your pH - mine is 7.8 in the growout tanks. A long a your water, tank and filters are clean they will be fine.

[planteddiscus]

lesley,

in your planted tank, do you put salt in it? if so what pros and cons.