New discus all hiding is this normal ?

[Candydiscus]

Hey guys.


I have had discus for a couple years now but ive never purchased small ones before. I had 5 large discus like 6-7 inchers in my main 92g corner tank forever.. About 2 months ago two of them died for reasons unknown and tried medicating all the usual but nothing i did would help. The other 3 are fine.

I want more discus so i waited a few months, and i found a local breeder who was selling some beautiful leopard blue mixed discus he bred and good sizes too all 3 inchs.. and only for $15 each. I purchased 6 of them, after verifying they all ate food and they are big and plump and eat beefheart which is what i feed.

I put them in my tank and they all pretty much hiding in the corner near the amazon swords and the outlet of my filter spray bar.. Its been 3-4 days now. When i put in beefheart they do come out and they do eat and their poop is dark colored and normal looking. The tank is obviously established and i keep the nitrates below 20. One thing that struck me as odd was the breeder kept all his tanks at 77f i asked his temps after noticing his probs on the side said 77f. He aparently hasnt had issues breeding or raising discus in low temps. The temps in my tank is 82.5f, do you think my higher temps are shocking them or is this normal ? I do have 3 large discus in here with them so maybe they are spooked.

As i said they do eat beefheart so it isnt like they have stopped eating. They just hang in the corner and fight the current coming directly out of the spray bar its weird. I just now turned my heater down so when the water cools it should be around 80f vs 82. Maybe they dont like the 5-6f higher temps they were born in raised in ? Another thing i noticed is if i turn the main light off and keep the smaller back light on they come out more. The main light isnt that bright.. its just 1 65watt power compact 6500/6500

Or again do you think its the size of my other 3.. they are like 6-7 inchs so double/tripple the size of these juvies

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Candydicus and welcome to the forum. I am guessing you did not QT the new juvies? If you want to get the full potential from them would be best to raise them in a dedicated bare bottom tank with several feeding a day and daily water changes.

On your little guys hiding now try turning the light off or down. Did they have a light over the tank at the breeders place?
Pat

[Candydiscus]

I feed them 2-3x a day anyway and do 80% water changes every 2-3 days. Even before them

As for a light, no he didnt have a light, he seems to keep the lights off on all his breeding tanks and tanks with his babies and as i said he kept the temps at 77.5f. He used a big oval hand lamp to show me the fish. And yes when i turned my main light off which is a 65w power compact and just keep the little 14 inch T8 on it in the back of the 92g corner tank. They seem to come out more like that

[atlantadiscus]

Give it time,they will stop hiding.I would keep your temps where you originally had them as the fish tend to be more active in warmer water.

[Candydiscus]

Here is a pic of my tank and the corner they hide in and what they look like. Not sure why they like that corner.. All the current is there.. they are swimming in it like mad men they must like it lol.

Sorry for the pic being sideways

[Candydiscus]

well they seem to be coming out alot more with the main light off, and so i keep it on for shorter periods to get them to adjust to the tank, they seem to swim around more with it on now too. However the smallest of the discus doesnt eat too much. I know he wants too as i see him eating but he tends to hide and not eat.. and these are the same baby batch hes barely an inch or two while others are 3 inchs .. So i assume he is skiddish..

Would it be bad to take him out and put him in a seperate tank so he can eat and get bigger ? or should i leave him with the other 8