Reply With QuoteYou mentioned cycled tank.How did you cycle it?I'm guessing that you contaminated the discus by using a tank that other fish were previously in,without sanitizing it first.
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At a loss as to what to do
65 gallon tank (36x18x24)
Eheim professional 3 65 filter, out put from filter rippling the surface sufficiently.
50% Water changes with 1/3 tap water, aged, and 2/3 RO (water here is super hard) I still add a capful of prime just in case, the barrel is heated with a heater, and has a small water pump in it to move the water.
Ammonia 0 no spike or change ever
Nitrite 0 no spike or change ever
Nitrate 5 got up to 20 once, water change fixed it
Temp 83
Now bare bottom
ph 7
Now 5 discus
11 rummy nose tetras
I am at a complete loss as to what to do. Here's the long story.
I started a discus tank about 6 weeks ago. I put 2 inches of gravel in, lots of plants, a piece of driftwood, some rocks. It was a well cycled tank with clean parameters. I purchased 6 2" discus. The fish were fantastic. Excited to see me, ate out of my hand. One morning I was going to feed them, they all came up to the surface, super excited, and I accidentally let the hinged lid slip out of my hands. It came down with a huge loud crack. The fish panicked, and hid. They basically never came out again. A week later, They all died one by one. My LFS said that I probably damaged their ear drums. I was devastated.
My new light fixture shows up, a bright LED plant light, I install it.
So I start again 8 days ago, 6 2" discus, after reading these forums exhaustively, I discovered that twice a week water changes were not enough, so I started every other day, 50%. The second set of fish are super shy, only were eating when the food was placed close to them. The get distressed with every water change. 3 days ago I notice that the fish started scratching on the plants. So I start daily water changes, dosed with paraguard, check my parameters constantly. My bristle nose pleco starts sprinting to the top of the tank grabbing air. I realize that the meds are probably hurting him, I remove him and put in in my daughters tank. Yesterday I notice one of the fish is not eating, and hiding out at the top of the tank by the filter intake. after more reading of this site I realize I have done everything completely wrong. I place all of the fish in a bucket, drain the tank, remove the gravel, remove the plants, I saved 1/3 of the water, refilled the tank, bare bottom. Lost one of the tetras in the process. Put 4 plants in clear glass pots, put back in the drift wood, replace the fish. Everyone is skittish yesterday evening. Today I wake up, the one who looked sickly yesterday is dead, no one is eating, not even the tetras. The discus are breathing heavy. I am beside myself. I have no idea what else I could possibly do. I decide to go back to the fluorescent fixture this morning. Do I put some sand in the bottom so they can't see their reflection? The tank is on a wooden cabinet, that is black. Do I give up on discus all together? I am beside myself as to what I can do to save these fish now. Please help.
Last edited by siren; 11-27-2017 at 10:04 AM.
Re: At a loss as to what to do
You mentioned cycled tank.How did you cycle it?I'm guessing that you contaminated the discus by using a tank that other fish were previously in,without sanitizing it first.
Re: At a loss as to what to do
I purchased the tank, and filter from someone who was also keeping discus upgraded his tank. He had a well established aquarium for a long period, with no known disease. The filter was pre cycled in his tank. I added the rummy nose tetras almost immediately with no ill effects. Waited a couple of months, then added discus. Perhaps I have somehow contaminated the discus, the question is now, how to fix it?
Re: At a loss as to what to do
The majority if the biological bacteria that supported your friends discus tank died in the 2 months it took you to add discus. Tetras oin their own cannot support the same bio load that your discus need.Originally Posted by siren
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Re: At a loss as to what to do
Ok, so I've never had any ammonia or nitrites in the tank. This tank is not cycling. I've been testing daily.
Re: At a loss as to what to do
It sounds like there are a ton of off factors here, any of which or a combo of them can and will kill fish, especially fragile small 2" discus...
Could be cross contam, mini cycles, swings, pure stress of moving and startling them (never heard of fish dying from blown ear drums)...
You should really start over the right way. Not pre-seeding and one fish two fish... Get a bare empty tank. paint 3 sides and cycle from scratch, fishless, then go get yourself 4-5" discus and enjoy them...
Too many people try and jump in with small fish and this chaos of tank changes and upgrades, it is very hard to win this way
Re: At a loss as to what to do
If you go with juvies there's work to be done daily. Start with an 75G bare bottom tank, two sponge filters, heater(set at 84F). No other fish in the tank at this time. You will have to feed these guys at least 4 x daily, and do an 80% water change daily. If you are not willing to do this work, do what my man Philldubs suggested. Oh ya start with quality fish from any SD sponsor. I wouldn't buy any discus fish from an local fish store. Good luck and don't give up just yet. SD people are here to help you get started again on the right foot......
Re: At a loss as to what to do
What chemicals other than Paraguard have been used? Have you been using dechlorinator?
Re: At a loss as to what to do
It seems to be one calamity after another. I have increased my water changes to 80% daily, still no changes in my parameters. I'm offering food 4 times daily.
I use prime to condition the water in my ageing barrel.
The tetras are eating well, no sign of illness in them at all.
This morning when I woke up, two more discus were dead, when I fished them out, noticed the water was cool, checked the temp, it was 74.... sigh, on top of everything my heater stopped working. Replaced heater with the one from my barrel, slowly raising my temp back up. It seems like what ever can go wrong will go wrong.
It seems to me that they discus stopped eating when I started medicating the tank with paraguard. I was reading that raising the temp higher could potential kill off parasites and increase appetite. I'm think I'm going to back off the paraguard and try raising the temp.
I don't want to give up on these fish. It seems cruel to just throw the towel in.
Re: At a loss as to what to do
Precisely! Lots of problems here.
1. Go with barebottom tank. Every expert here tells you to only raise 2" discus in a barebottom tank. There is no other way. If you insist on gravel, sand, plants, ornaments, etc., expect the same results.
2. Get healthy, high quality fish from Simply Discus sponsors. Don't start with cr$p.
3. Tank size is not critical for 2" discus, but water changes are. You might be able to start with a 30 gal tank and 100% water changes. Move discus when it looks too crowded, but don't skimp on water changes.
4. Don't put chemicals into the water - don't mess with the water. R/O is okay, but that's all.
I wish you good luck, Willie
At my age, everything is irritating.
Re: At a loss as to what to do
I totally agree with Phil! Small 2" Discus should not be put in planted tanks with substrate. Go Barebottom and get big discus and enjoy these incredible fish. Sorry to hear about your Dilemma. Good Luck
Re: At a loss as to what to do
Assuming you want to continue this quest, go bare bottom, no other fish, daily W/Cs, multiple feedings, quality thermometer & dual heaters. Redundancy is a safeguard (2 sm. rather than 1 lge.) Patience & persistence will be it's own reward. "T"
125g Tenecor - Cardinal, Serpae, Bloodfin, Redeye, Phantom & Pristella Tetra - Ghost Shrimp - Raphael Cats - Stendker Discus
Rena XP4, Eheim 2075, 2 A/C500, 2(250w) Ebo-Jagers / Jehmco Controller, 29g AGA-sick
"Knowledge Gained & Not Shared Is Knowledge Lost"
Re: At a loss as to what to do
Sorry about those babies....on the positive side, you have many people here on SD to help you. Please don’t give up hope read,research and keep reading what works for healthy Discus.
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