I’m new here would any one be willing to help my discus looks big

Hi so I have been keeping discus for about 1-2 years I still have so much to learn one of my discus looks to big on its sides usually discus are flat but looks to big I have took a photo I hope this makes sense does anyone know what this is and would be able to help thanks

Hi Regz and welcome to SD.
Looks like he's getting bloated. Have you seen him poop lately? Hopefully others will chime in, too. If you continue to have problems, I encourage you to fill out the Disease Questionnaire (red link top of page) so folks have more info to go on.

- temp is 31

- ph 7-7.5

- ammonia reading 0

- nitrite reading 0

- nitrate reading 30-50 which is very bad for discus I have not done a nitrate test in a week or 2 I’m just going off what the readings was last was on


- I mainly use RO water I never really use tap water I do water changes about 30-40% once or twice a week just depends on if I can get a lift to the fish shop usually I can but sometimes I can’t

Tank size 529 litres


7 discus all of them are fairly big I would not say they are fully grown yet in between 4 of them I had since I started keeping discus the 3 others I had for about at least 6 months
7 plecos
8 loaches
6 tetras of some kind
2 corydoras
2 I don’t know what there names are but they look like stick fish they don’t do much just hang around xd

Now that I think about all those fish I have I think the tank maybe over stocked

They have a 2000 litre per hour filter + a hood filter I do not know how much the hood filter does per hour

I feed them twice a day also I’m pretty sure I have not seen that discus poo in a while

I really do love my discus I don’t like seeing one like this I hope I can get it sorted out thanks for replying

As much as i would like to recommend dosing Epsom salt as your first resort..that option will not work because your plecos will not tolerate salt. Unless you have a separate hospital tank... that is what I would recommend trying as it looks like bloat.

You want to consider more or larger w/c's as your stocked heavily and the use or pure r/o why?
I would lower you heater as without proper aeration your prized Discus are gasping for air.
Your rise in nitrate levels clearly indicate your Discus are in need of cleaner water.

...Ralph

Hi thanks for saying this I do have a air stone in the tank does that make it any better or not? What if I started mixing ro with tap water would that help at all with the water changes? what temperature should I lower it too? I know I will need to take out a lot of fish but I will do anything for my discus I want them to thrive not die. I know I’m doing stuff wrong I need to learn a lot thanks

Hello Regz...Having your airstone does help with oxygen levels. Why are you using r/o to start with? and were you using anything to remineralize lost minerals back into the water. A product like Kent R/O right is used but there are also other brands on the market that offer the same benefits.
There are some hobbyist like myself that prefer temps around 84F with others lower to 82F.
There are other factors you have not mentioned like is tank bare bottom or does it have substrate and how deep? Food and feces debris get caught in gravel and if left for long periods will rot and spoil the water.
I still highly recommend not treating with Epson salt while plecos are in there or do you have a spare tank you can set-up?

Here is a very good video put together by our very own Simple Discus owner which is highly recommended for beginners.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...TCH-THIS-VIDEO!

...Ralph

I started using R/O because I was told it would be better to use for the discus as we have hard water in our area and discus need soft water or maybe I am wrong? I think I’m going to start mixing the R/0 with tap water start doing bigger water changes. I have not added any minerals that’s another thing i should definitely do. i have sand as the substrate i would say that I don’t have a lot of sand in the tank. I did at the start but took most of it out as it was getting hard to get the debris out whilst doing water changes. It’s probably about 2cm or less i will have to double check this tomorrow as it’s late where i am from. I also do not have a hospital tank at the moment but i should be able to get one in the next day or two. I think i might just remove the plecos and loaches and put them into a different tank so it’s not as heavily stocked then treat the tank with the discus in there would that still be okay whilst the other discus are in there? I really want to get this sorted out thanks replying.

Your tap water source should be tested and if possible aged, aerated and heated to closely match tank temp. If tap proves to be fair there is no need for r/o unless you intend on breeding. If you decide you want to still use r/o a 70% tap to 30% r/o seems to be a favorable ratio. Domestic Discus as you have can thrive and have been adapted in hard water conditions but most important is that perimeters are stable.
Reason I bring up water source...is because it's the first step you need to get right before Discus are put in our glass boxes.

Yes you can keep other discus in tank during salt treatment.

Again...I will encourage you to sit through the linked video and absorb all the veteran knowledge.

...Ralph

...Ralph

I have actually watched this video when I first started but I’m going to re watch it again. I do also watch the king of diy a lot. the substrate is very little it’s just covering the bottom of the tank. How long do you reckon it would possibly take to get that discus back to being healthy? Also thank you for helping :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Regz

I have actually watched this video when I first started but I’m going to re watch it again. I do also watch the king of diy a lot. the substrate is very little it’s just covering the bottom of the tank. How long do you reckon it would possibly take to get that discus back to being healthy? Also thank you for helping :)

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This is a mystery question...as we have not yet determined if it is indeed bloat. Epson Salt treatment is my suspected first step. I never resort to dumping meds into your tank without knowing what exactly your treating.

...Ralph