New Discus Juvies Skittish since taking sand away

[TimB]

Hi there, this is my first post here and I sincerely hope that I have put it in the right category!

My situation is as follows:

Yesterday I have bought 10 young red turq Stendkers (5cm / 2inch) at a local certified dealer near my city. As i have some experience with discus, I know that they will be skittish and will have to adjust to their new environment. However yesterday they were already swimming (a bit cautious though) around the tank.

Now I had set up the tank with a piece of wood, some anubias and about 0,5 cm (0,2 inch) of sand which has grains with a diameter of about 2mm (0,08 inch), so you can say it is somewhere in between sand and gravel.
However, after doing a bit more research, I found that raising juvies in a bare bottom tank is the way to go. So when I was doing my daily waterchange (I am currently doing 50% WC a day), I siphoned away half of the sand and am planning to do the rest tomorrow.

Now the problem: since I have taken away half of the sand on one side of the tank, they are more skittish than yesterday and dash under the filter as soon as I walk in the room. 2 times even, they panicked so much, they were bouncing on the walls of the tank. They do not seem to avoid the part that is bare bottom and have been eating fine, even though being mostly positioned behind the wood or under my filter.

I am wondering if it is wise to take away the sand for the fish's wellbeing, but the dealer also had them in bare bottom tanks so I see no reason why not. Then my question here: Should I make the tank bare bottom and just hope for them to become more comfortable, or keep a small amount of sand in it and risk bacteria pockets and stunted growth?

Some specs:
Tank: about 300 liter (80 gallons) Juwel tank with internal filter
I have added an external filter on top of this
standard juwel dark imitation cork background
temp: 29-30C (84,2-86F)
in the tank there is a large 110cm (about 3,5 feet) piece of wood with anubias and some moss

The Stendkers share the tank with 20 Cardinals (from the same dealer). I bought them since Joey (the King of DYI) suggested that bringing in fish like these make the discus less cautious and make them feel safer, so they'll come out more.

If it would help I can post some pictures tomorrow. The tank light has already turned off at the moment...

I could use some advise since I want to really give my fish the best environment they can get!

[Kyla]

New discus were often skittish in my experience so maybe it's a normal adjustment phase... A lot of ppl will paint the underside of a BB tank or tape a sheet of paper to it so the fish can't see all the way down thru it - not sure how urs is set up but this might be an issue? U can also try sheets on the sides and back of the tank for additional security. Background light from a window with ppl's shadows moving in front of the tank can startle them too. Joey's guys never came out for the camera in the beginning either

[Willie]

Looks like you've made a great start - especially understanding why so many of us recommend a bare bottom tank for young discus.

It'll take 2" discus easily two weeks to get comfortable with this tank. One problem is that it's an awfully large tank for small fish. At your local dealer, and at Stendkers, you'll see that discus are kept in crowded conditions. Young discus are schooling and are not comfortable in too large an area. Also, the decoration gives them a place to hide and actually delays their adjustment.

I don't think you need to do anything for now, except keep the lights off and leave them alone for 48 hours (you don't need to feed). This is difficult to do and most hobbyists cannot help but scare the heck out of their new fish. They'll eventually get comfortable and come out to explore. You can feed then. If you remove the decoration, they'll get used to having no place to hide. But that's up to you.

Have fun with this, Willie

[Filip]

Hi Tim and welcome.

You have done a right decision taking your sand out and I sugesst you take out the other half too with your next WC .

Your discus are pretty new and unadjusted in your tank and regardless if its sand or BB they would probably be skittish anyways . Give them 2 weeks keep your cleaning routines and they will start to adjust just fine .
And please send some pictures of your Red Turqks if you can

[TimB]

Thank you all for your replies!

I decided to go full BB anyways the day after my OP and the discus are getting somewhat more accustomed, but are still scared by me. However they are eating well so im not worrying too much as you all said that they will need up to two weeks at least.

A funny thing is the following though:
During the day when there is daylight around the tank they are more scared. Probably due to there being less reflection and being able to see into my room and see people move. When its getting darker outside (even when i have all the light in my room on) they become suddenly very curious and are always in the corner of the aquarium which is near my desk when i am sitting there. I even tried putting my hand up to the glass on the other side and they curiously swam up there.

Now this is no point of concern, but i am interested in why they are afraid of me in the daylight, but actually come explore my when the light is dimmed. (note that the aquarium lighting will remain the same throughout all of these situations). Is there anyone who has a clue?

And i will be posting some pics shortly!

[Filip]

They don't like shades and huge, dark moving (predatory)objects in front of them .They see those object (us ) less in the night when the room is darkened and their lights are on .
They will be most active at night , when all the movement that causes shades and vibrations in your room subsides .
After a few months you should be able to play ball in front of the tank , without having them being scared .

[TimB]

Great!

I tried uploading pics, but it they were too large, so i hope the resolution of these is still OKish:

20180205_121219_opt.jpg

20180205_122124_opt.jpg

20180205_122126_opt.jpg

20180205_122134_opt.jpg

[TimB]

Also, @Filip, since ive seen you have a lot of experience with growing out juvies, I have a foodwise question. Starting next week, ill be doing my internship which means being away from home from 9am till 5pm. Right now I am just feeding them 1 blister a time, about 5 times a day (frozen beefheart mix & vegetable crustacean mix). How do you recommend feeding them during my working days?

[Filip]

Very nice looking BB set up Tim . It does not look empty spaced at all with that huge wood and the outer 3D background . You can even additionally attach some bigger anubias on the wood . Perfect combination of a BB grow out tank with decor and plants .
Your Stendker RTs looks promising . They should turn in to real beauties 4-5 months from now .