Need hiding tunnel or cave for adult discus

Alas, my foray in to discus has been a failure. I thought 30 years of fish keeping, a massive web site on aquariums, soft well water, and a Masters degree in analytical chemistry was enough to keep them alive but it's not. Hats off to all of you experts. After a year, I am down to one discus in a 65 gallon tank who I plan to keep but never get more discus. He's just got 5 male congo tetras, live plants, and enough Malaysian trumpet snails to choke a horse with him. Caesar hides in his tunnel all day but he's too big to fit now and has to lay on his side. I cannot find any tunnels (better than a cave which would trap him in) that fit a full sized discus. What can I buy or make in which Caesar can hide? He finally figured out how to eat floating cichlid pellets so at least he's eating well now (only when I'm not looking). Before, no matter how much food I put in, it would just end up on the floor uneaten. Anyway, I just want info on the tunnel. The last time I asked a question, the only response was about water changes which was irrelevant to the topic at hand. I spend all weekend doing animal chores.

Congo Tetras and Discus are not a good mix. If you could get some rams or smaller tetras to keep him with he wouldn't need a place to hide. If you want to keep him where he is how about a big flower pot on it's side? You might also pick up a few assassin snails. It will take time but they will solve your problem with MTS. They did it for me when I had enough of them to choke a horse.

Discus keeping is way different from keeping any other fresh water fish. Their requirements are different and to keep them healthy you must give them what they require. Back when I started out I got my education here. If you decide to try again read everything in the beginners section. I promise you that you will succeed.

How big is your adult discus? You could get a piece of 4” pvc cut it to size and lay it in the tank. Thing is discus in general aren’t hiding fish. So it could be the movement of the tetras that’s making it hide.

The mts are from over feeding. I’ve got them in all my tanks with no problems. They eat anything rotting in the substrate.

Thank you for your replies. Caesar is about 4" high. I found some stackable bins but they'd take up half the tank. I read a novel on discus before I got my fist one. I learned very little (since I have a lot of knowledge) but the book had the best layman's descpription of water chemistry that I've ever read. I also read many of the articles on this forum before I got my first discus. I've been advising people about aquariums and ponds for 25 years so reading the beginner's information is fruitless for me. I need to know the real secret!

Caesar is hiding from me, not the congo boys. When I come in the room, he dashes for cover. When I leave, he will come out. He didn't used to hide. In Jan of 2021, I revamped my 65 gallon tank and started with congo tetras, cardinal tetras, Sterba's cories, a couple of German rams, and 2 clown plecos. I couldn't keep the cardinals or cories alive but the others did very well. The water chemistry was fine. I have soft well water, and, in my 20 gallon tank, I have a breeding colony of panda cories, self sustaining for over 20 years. As a chemist, I could run my water on ICP-MS, ion chromatography (nitrite, nitrate, sulfate, chloride, fluoride, bromide) and discrete analyzer for ammonia. The water was fine. I introduced a discus (Brutus, hence my screen name) in April of 2021 (he killed the one in quarantine with him) and then got Caeser and Calpurnia in late May 2021. They beat up Brutus. At the start of this year, all three discus suddenly had fins torn up like someone had ripped them. They all started hiding. I asked on here who might be at fault and was told I needed to change half the water every day but I didn't see how that was relevant to the infliction of damage (but maybe healing). I moved the 2 clown plecos and surviving ram to my 50 gallon tank two months ago out of desperation. That tank has a self-sustaining (since Feb. 2002 so 20 years) colony of rosy barbs. Rammy has made himself at home but I haven't seen the clown plecos in a few weeks. The algae on the glass is bad now, and I can't scrape the one side due to arthritis in my left shoulder. I left the congo boys with Caesar (Brutus died about 3 weeks ago from his fin damage and Calpurnia 6 weeks ago) because the congos have never shown any interest or aggression to the discus or vice versa. Rammy I did see going after fish, nipping. As for the plecos, Caesar (but not the others) had round damage on his side which could have been from the plecos). Caesar is slow healing but the wounds have not worsened, and, as I said, he's finally eating some quantity of food. The water's ~82.8 degrees F. So, I guess all these problems are simply because I don't change 50% of the water daily? I can't. I already spend 45 hours at work and 35 hours a week taking care of animals. If that's the secret, then I don't speak that language. I wanted to try discus before I died. I have. I won't again. Good bye!

Just like to mention one thing. 1,2 or three discus, you may always have issues without enough to establish a proper discus hierarchy. They usually wind up killing or chasing each other to submission and often succumb to fatal wounds or at least fin rot most times. You should start with at least six, a few more would be better. Like mentioned the discus fish is another ballgame altogether and not quite like other species. They is always something new to learn; I'm still learning a few things after over 50 years of keeping fish.

I totally agree, Mervin. The beginners section in this forum is strictly for Discus keeping. No matter how long a person has kept fish there is a lot there to learn that specifically relates to Discus.