Discus help

[wyld]

As I am new to aquariums im not sure if my discus are ok or if there may be an issue

I have attached 2 photos for advise as to if the darkening of the discus is normal or if there is an issue



Tank/Water

Our tank if a Aquaone 620 T , 29 gallons, we do 40 - 50 % water changes every week

Thank you in advance for any help / advise given

[IMG][IMG=http://www.image-share.com/upload/2527/170.jpg][/IMG]
[IMG=http://www.image-share.com/upload/2527/171.jpg]

[rickztahone]

well the good news is that the discus look pretty healthy from those two shots. The not so good news is that they look to be a bit stunted. This would have to do with the fact that you are only doing 1 WC per week. Most people here will do daily water changes to maximize the growth of their discus.

[wyld]

well the good news is that the discus look pretty healthy from those two shots. The not so good news is that they look to be a bit stunted. This would have to do with the fact that you are only doing 1 WC per week. Most people here will do daily water changes to maximize the growth of their discus.

Thank you rickztahone, do you suggest we do daily water changes ? If so how much water should we be changing? Because you have said that they appear stunted, is this something that we can rectify? Thank you kindly for your reply

[Madaboutdiscus]

50% daily at least. Most do more

~Victoria

[rickztahone]

Thank you rickztahone, do you suggest we do daily water changes ? If so how much water should we be changing? Because you have said that they appear stunted, is this something that we can rectify? Thank you kindly for your reply

It depends. How old are they? How long have you had them? Are there only 2 discus in there? Most do anywhere from 40% to 100% water changes a day.

[wyld]

It depends. How old are they? How long have you had them? Are there only 2 discus in there? Most do anywhere from 40% to 100% water changes a day.

Im not sure how old they are, but we have had them for 3 months. We have 3 discus in total in the tank. We feed them twice a day - could they be stunted because they are not eating or maybe not eating as much as eachother? Sorry for all the questions. I really like discus fish and just want to do whats best. What is the best thing to feed them?

[rickztahone]

Well, you've had them for 3 months, lets say they were 2 months when you got them. That means for 5 month old discus they should look larger and rounder.

For example, take Kenny's recent shipment of discus, some of those are very young and show much better shape than your pictured ones. I am not sure at what point you call it and say that the discus will no longer grow but you can definitely try. This would mean, anywhere from 3-8 feedings a day. Daily 100% water changes if you can manage it. If you see some significant growth then maybe you can save them. Don't beat yourself up though. Almost every single one of us have stunted discus when we first started. Once you stay here on SD and read around and see what good quality discus look like, you will want to start ordering from our sponsors.