new discus troubles

[jagwire]

I currently have 6 discus, 1-6inch blue diamond, 1-6inch red turq, 1-5 inch red panda, 1-4inch colbalt, 1-4inch orange, and one 4-inch red marlbro all in an 80 gallon tank. filtration is an xp 3, emporer 400, and a sponge filter with 125g rating. i feed bloodworms, blackworms, and pellets 3 times a day and do a 50% water change every other day.

the question i have is about the red marb which is about 6 months old. I got him at about the size of a 50 cent piece and grew him out for about 4 months in 46 gallon bowfront. i have since added him to the larger tank and been very disapionted in his eating or lack of since. He is not the smallest or most picked on discus but he dosent seem to go after the food like the others and has been almost a month now. he stays in his spot and if food goes near him hell make a stab at it but it almost seems as if he is blind and lacks the cordination to grab the food out of the water. im thinking that i might remove him from the tank and treat him with metro. if you have any suggestions i would really apreciate it because he has great potential and i dont want him to stunt. WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

thanks

[jagwire]

so is it a dumb question or did i not give enough info.

the main question is about the red marb discus and how i can get him to start eating like he was on his own. i was told by lfs to use metro but i have only used that for certain things.

the fish looks good overall if not a little skinny but it seems as if he is partially blind because when food goes by him he makes a very akward stab at it infact it usually takes more than one try for him to get it. He also spends alot of time just hanging out in the corner buy himself and he has been in this tank now for a month.

if i use metro could that have negative effects or would there be other steps to take first??

[White Worm]

There are no dumb questions...you just have to wait for someone to come along that has had similar situations to what you describe. Your situation is just guesses from anyone else since there is no clear cut fix for every fish that doesnt eat. It may be that he is still getting accepted but if it still looks good (eating a little), I wouldnt throw meds at it. You could try raising the temp into the high 80's / low 90's. Try larger water changes less frequently since you could be fluctuating the tank parameters depending on the water you use. Do you use conditioner? i have a Red/White that does the same thing when eating. He has to take a few stabs before he gets the food. I seem to remember or read somewhere that reds have been known to have this problem. Patience.....and someone else will come along that may have some better ideas. Discus are all different......some aggressive..some shy.

[Wahter]

the fish looks good overall if not a little skinny but it seems as if he is partially blind because when food goes by him he makes a very akward stab at it infact it usually takes more than one try for him to get it.

Some fish just don't 'see' well - this does show up in some blue diamonds now and then; sometimes they can figure their way and learn how to find the food.

One thing I've done in the past is get the fish to learn to eat from the worm feeder cone - put the food in there and even if they can't see straight/ clearly, they can find the food.

HTH,


Walter

[jagwire]

thanks for the responses all

I have two of the feeding cones in the tank right now but he does not seem interested. ill hope for the best and wait on the meds for awhile.