New Juvenile Discus acting extremely shy!!

[AuroraDiscus]

How can I break their skittish behavior? There were two large slates that I was using now to block the filter and heaters from veiw, but eventually theycould be breeding sites as well. The young discus have been hiding since I got them 3 days ago. I took the slate out so that they would stop to watch me put food in and they would realize that I ment food. Because every time I came near the tank, they would hide behind the slate and out of veiw. Was this a bad idea to remove the slate? It is basically a barren tank without the slate. Heres a pic of the juveniles and the tank.

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/2081/discus2cf9.png

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/470/discus1al5.png

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/7552/discustank1qq9.png

[Tropical Haven]

They will take some time to get use to their surroundings. Mine finally quit running behind my sponges after 7 weeks.

[mmorris]

How many discus do you have in how large a tank? What are your water stats? ie. ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. I highly recommend a barren (bb) tank. If they have something to hide behind they will, and it will take them that much longer to learn that you are not a threat. Three days might be a bit early to start worrying. Are they eating? Martha

[White Worm]

where did you get them?

[Kindredspirit]

What was the purpose of having slate in there? Martha is right, if your tank is really big and they look really really small to me....they are feeling insecure ~

They don't look really happy or healthy either:(

[renae]

Mm,How big is this tank?I can't see pics properly.How many juvies are in there? :confused:I can only see 3,do you have a smaller tank for these guys whilst they are still small? Just a thought and good luck with them

[AuroraDiscus]

It's a 35 gallon tank and is barren. As I said however there was a peice of slate used to cover the filter outlets and heaters from veiw, and it was also used to dull down the current being emitted.

I took those pics the second they were introduced, and got them overnight from Discus Madness.

The Ph is 6.5, the hardness is 125, the AMmonia is 0, the Nitrite is 0, the Nitrate is 20 ppms, which is the level of my water source, but I just purchased an Ro unit.

And they are all eating nicely. I am feeding them a shredded and peeled shrimp, with beefheart, and flake food in between. They were all over the shrimp and beefheart. There is one who is really agressive though and scares the other 6 away during feeding time.

[pinkertd]

Give them a few weeks to adjust to their new surroundings, plus the stress of transportation to you. Hopefully you have the tank in a place where there's movement and activity. If not, and it's a quiet place...like a bedroom....it will take even longer for them to stop being afraid of room movement. If the fish came from Mathias's place in Glen Ridge, NJ, his fishroom is separate from the house and doesn't get as much room activity as say a living room, so they just need some time. I would venture to say at least a couple of weeks. They are eating and that is a great sign! Discus startle easily also. I think you could move the slate out of there just to ensure that no one gets hurt dashing towards it or trying to get around it in a hurry. More than one of us has had one going "ping-pong" through the tank due to an unexpected room movement that caught them offguard....or a black shirt! :D:D Good luck with your new babies!

[Apistomaster]

Debbi made some good points. Discus retain a capricious reaction to their surroundings all their lives. What doesn't spook them in weeks can set off a panic attack out of the blue.

It may help to add a school of peaceful Tetras as dithers. I would consider getting about eight Black Neons as tank mates. Their prescense may defuse some of the fear the little discus have.

[mmorris]

You have seven discus in a 35 gal., is that correct? They're going to outgrow that pretty quickly, I think. Most people here recommend around 10 gal. per discus. I personally wouldn't bother with dithers, especially if you already have seven discus. They would have to be quarantined for a month or six weeks and by that point, the discus should be sorted. If you've got seven discus in that tank, you really don't have room for more fish anyway. Now you have a good excuse to go out and buy a bigger tank! :D Martha

[AuroraDiscus]

Give them a few weeks to adjust to their new surroundings, plus the stress of transportation to you. Hopefully you have the tank in a place where there's movement and activity. If not, and it's a quiet place...like a bedroom....it will take even longer for them to stop being afraid of room movement. If the fish came from Mathias's place in Glen Ridge, NJ, his fishroom is separate from the house and doesn't get as much room activity as say a living room, so they just need some time. I would venture to say at least a couple of weeks. They are eating and that is a great sign! Discus startle easily also. I think you could move the slate out of there just to ensure that no one gets hurt dashing towards it or trying to get around it in a hurry. More than one of us has had one going "ping-pong" through the tank due to an unexpected room movement that caught them offguard....or a black shirt! :D:D Good luck with your new babies!



LOLThank you very much. And these guys are really calming down now that I removed the slates. They are in a bedroom but it's a high movement bed room. And yes I am hoping this will become an excuse to buy a bigger tank. I will be making a 150 gallon semi-planted tank. I plan on adding various rarities like dolphin knives, various wood and algae eating plecos, and others. I will watch the plecos very meticulously to see any problems occuring with them and the discus, but I may add a few discus to that tank as well.

Yeah and I though the school was larger enough and the tank small enough not to need dither fish. I cannot quarantine at the moment either and I'm not putting new fish in with them without quarantining, not worth my 300 hundred dollars and my lovely fayshies lives.

I see the point about mathias's discus hatcheries being in a low traffic area, but I'd imagine any hatchery would be similar, as breeding on a large scale requires many rooms that normally are put in another building or a garage.

Thanks for all your help ladies and guys.

[johnm]

I also purchased the same strain as you did from dm and was very displeased with the outcome. Health was great however color was terrible. I posted this before you received ur fish i believe. good luck

[judy]

your nitrate level is much too high. It needs to be below 5 ppm for discus to thrive. If you introduced a few fast-growing potted plants, like Amazon Swords, they can help lower the nitrate, give the discus a better feeling of safety, and decrease the stress they feel from being in a big space.