65 gallon 7 discus

Hi and thank you for all the information, I have one question, I introduced 6 discus to my tank, all juveniles, one got stuck to a external filter so I lost him, I replaced him and seems to be doing great, now one of the larger ones witch did not seem right I flushed due to it was being picked on and was not swimming straight more side ways, now I have 7 not an even number, can I leave it at an odd number for a few weeks and monitor the rest of my Discus, bare bottom, few wood pieces in the tank, canister filtration with a foam bubbler. Water changes every other day at 25%
Is there anything thing else I should be doing?

Thank you very much

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Originally Posted by New at this ca

Hi and thank you for all the information, I have one question, I introduced 6 discus to my tank, all juveniles, one got stuck to a external filter so I lost him, I replaced him and seems to be doing great, now one of the larger ones witch did not seem right I flushed due to it was being picked on and was not swimming straight more side ways, now I have 7 not an even number, can I leave it at an odd number for a few weeks and monitor the rest of my Discus, bare bottom, few wood pieces in the tank, canister filtration with a foam bubbler. Water changes every other day at 25%
Is there anything thing else I should be doing?

Thank you very much

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Odd or even it does not matter. You definitely should be changing way more water though

It sounds to me like you may have a couple issues ahead of you or currently going on.

First off, when you replaced the fish, did it come from the same source and all, even so, you contaminated the first batch by adding one lone new one, could cause issues.

Second, where the fish in bad shape on arrival, to loose one to a filter and another swimming weird is a sign things may be off for you.

You should really up your water changes big time, especially these first few months. What size are the fish, when you say juvies? Are they tiny, 2"-3" if so, ideally you want to do the max amount you can do daily, as close to 100% as possible.

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Originally Posted by New at this ca

Hi and thank you for all the information, I have one question, I introduced 6 discus to my tank, all juveniles, one got stuck to a external filter so I lost him, I replaced him and seems to be doing great, now one of the larger ones witch did not seem right I flushed due to it was being picked on and was not swimming straight more side ways

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Flushed it after you killled it properly I hope?

Hi and welcome to SD,
I agree with Ryan. An odd number is fine, and you should probably be changing more water. It is generally recommended to keep discus in groups of 6 or more since they are schooling fish and this helps minimize aggression, so you're OK there. It is also a general rule that you want 10 gallons for each adult fish, so again, your numbers seem fine. Discus like clean water and are susceptible to various illnesses if the water becomes dirty or the dissolved organic compound level (the ones you don't see) becomes too high. This is paricularly true of juvies, so changing large amount of water frequently is recommended. You want to change more than 50% so you are continually decreasing the amount of waste in the water. Doing this at least every other day is encouraged. The other issue to watch for is adding new fish to your group. You risk introducing contamination and making all of your fish sick. The usual recommendation is to quarantine new fish in a separate tank for up to 6 weeks. You've already mixed them so just keep a close eye on them and change lots of water to keep it clean. You'll also want to clean your canister regularly, weekly, otherwise it just collects debris. If you're new, I suggest you read the stickies in our beginner section, but please keep us posted and ask any questions you have.

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Originally Posted by Swedgin

Flushed it after you killled it properly I hope?

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+ 1

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Originally Posted by Clawhammer

+ 1

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This brings me to the questions?
What's the best method to properly liquidate a suffering Discus?

You'll get a range of answers from putting them in a container with a dose of clove oil to anesthetize them, throwing them in the freezer, or a quick slam to the ground. Kind of depends on your idea of being humane.