Need Help!

[diamonddiscus08]

Hello I am new to discus obviously and I have a 55g with a pH of 6.8 and a temperature of 80F. I am using a wet-dry filtration system and just added a hydor koralia 2. I Along with an orbit ultra 4x130watt lighting. In the tank I have a juvie blue diamond discus along with 10 jumbo neons, 5 corys, 3 albino corys, 4 albino tetras, 2 red-clawed crabs and a blue knight lobster. I am using 90% RO and 10% tap as a buffer with w/c of about 5g every couple of days. I was wondering what the optimal temperature and pH would be to get my juvie to show more activity and eat. He seems to hide quite a bit and I never can actually see him eating. I also noticed that his feces was white however that has disappated. In addtion it seemed his slime coat was shedding just around the belly and tail area. I dipped him in Rid-ich over a stretch of a few days. What should I do?

[phidelt85]

Hey, DD08, welcome to Simply. 80* is on the very low end of the acceptable range for keeping discus. I would shoot for a range of 84-86*. Since your seeing white feces you may want to bump it up to 88-90*. Was the white feces smooth and kinda transparent or did it look segmented. It may be due to stress and bringing the temp up may be all it needs but if you continue to see white, stringy feces you may have to treat for hex with metro. Try the temp first, however.

Another note is regarding the water changes. I don't know how heavy you are feeding but for the bioload you have going in there, that 10% water change is not going to be sufficient and the may be contributing to your BD's declining health and poor disposition. Being that it's a juvie I would definitely recommend WCs of 50-75% daily. Your gonna hear it from alot of the experienced folks here that your best bet is to raise juvenile fish in BB tanks. It's not that it can't be done in a substrated planted tank, it just takes more work. Is it the only discus in the tank? Discus are social animals and do best in groups of 6 or more. 5 more friends of his kind would probably help him feel much more secure.

HTH

[diamonddiscus08]

Well thank you for the advice and help his feces is transparent in color however I am wondering why do you recommend such frequent w/cs when I am utilizing a wet/dry filtration system? This helps immensly with the bioload when feeding. Also why does the temperature need to be so extreme?

[Tropical Haven]

84 to 86 is the normal range for discus, the reason for the temporary 88 to 90 range is that it will speed up the metabolism of your discus and trigger it to start eating again. But be careful the rest of the stuff you have in your tank may not be able to handle those higher temps.

[hboute]

If you only have one discus, I would recommend getting some more, discus don't do well by themselves, they like to be part of a group of five or more...

[judy]

if the blue knight lobster is the creature I'm thinking of, the discus may be under attack at night. you need to choose between discus and lobster; both won't co-exist. and the lobster will win.