Daniel's First Discus Tank

[karmicwheel]

Another quick update. The final 6 arrived from Hans today, and they are doing well so far. Still adapting of course, and a little stressed from the journey, but most of them ate within an hour of being added to the tank. Here's a shot that I think has all 14 in it.

IMG_1013.jpg

[Iminit]

Congrats! So small!! Good luck growing them out and enjoy!! Lots of food and water changes .

[karmicwheel]

So far I'm doing 50% water changes daily. And they are ready to eat all the time. They seem to really like the Cobalt Discus Hans flake food, and they eat about half of the frozen beef heart cube. They aren't so much a fan of the vibra bites or of the Hikari frozen discus food. I'll keep giving them that stuff so they get used to eating a varied diet.

[karmicwheel]

I have one fish from the new batch who is a little unhappy. If I thought he was just stressed I'd leave him be, but he has a white spot on his tail fin and some on his lower and upper fins that is a bit concerning. Could be ich I suppose, or it could be some kind of fungus? Here's a pic. It doesn't look quite like ich to me, anyone have an idea of what it is?

IMG_1014.jpg

[danotaylor]

Daniel how did you acclimate your new arrivals? The causal & anal fin looks a little like ammonia burns. If you add tank water to transported fish and raise the pH suddenly ammonia burns can happen, which can cause stress and result in discus pimples also, which is what the white dots look like. Good clean water and 3tbsp salt per 10gal will correct it.

[karmicwheel]

I acclimated them according to Hans' instructions. Added tank water to the transport bag so there was a 50/50 mix and let the fish sit for 5-10 minutes. I just double checked my params and I'm at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and less than 5ppm nitrate in my tank, and the pH is steady at 8. Are you saying the ammonia burns could have come from the transport bag? or that nitrates were high in the transport bag and this is just a reaction?

Add aquarium salt and keep up my daily water changes and this should clear up?

Thanks for the info so far.

[Iminit]

Ok this does happen. Some discus will get these pimples from stress,water quality or other reasons. Of my Hans discus one does get those pimples. Should go away in a few days with water changes.

[danotaylor]

During transportation in a small quantity of water ammonia is released through the fishes respiration which is generally increased during the stress of shipping. The bag water pH gradually drops below 7 making the ammonia present in the bags less or even non-toxic. When you add tank water to the bag, especially alkaline water such as yours, the ammonia concentration in the bag quickly becmes toxic and can burn the fishes fins, gills and disrupt the protective slime coat. Ammonia is more toxic in water w pH >7.
Most folks here acclimate temperature only by floating bags, then remove the fish and plop it straight in. The stress of a 1 time sudden pH change is far less damaging to the fish than being in a bag with toxic ammonia even for 10-15 minutes.
Its most likely not connected to nitrates in this situation.. Salt and clean water will help for sure.

[karmicwheel]

I did a water change and added aquarium salt, but unfortunately it didn't help. I lost that fish at about 9:00pm last night. The remaining 13 are all doing well. I'll be continuing on with daily water changes and lots of feedings.

[danotaylor]

Sorry to hear mate

[Iminit]

Wow sorry to here this!!

Dan I’ve thought that for a long time and have always done my version of drop and plop. But with the discus I just got from Dennis discus his instructions were to slowly add water to the bag after temp matching. I did it his way and all 4 were fine. I think it’s about how long the fish are in the bag. If you remember back a few months ago I was moving discus from one tank to another and a pair of blues did not like the move. Though mine were bigger one of my looked just like Dans. Fins closed and the white pimples. But it was back to normal after 3 days and 2 water changes. Thought that’s what would happen here. Kinda surprised it died!

[karmicwheel]

It happened fast enough that I don't think there was going to be anything I could do. But on the bright side the remaining 13 are doing quite well. They're even getting to the point where they appear to enjoy the water change, swimming through the stream of new water being pumped in from the aging/heating tank. They may also know that I feed them as soon as the water change is done. Overall, the grow out tank is going well, and I believe the fish have gotten larger in the week and a half that I've had them.

Enjoying the water change:
IMG_1019.jpg

[karmicwheel]

The remaining 13 are doing well. The turquoise color is starting to emerge for several of the fish.

IMG_1048.jpg

It's hard to get a picture with this group, cause as soon as I come anywhere near the tank they come straight up to me and beg for food. Even if I've just fed them. They eat a lot, and seem to prefer the Cobalt Discus Hans flake food over any other. That food is completely consumed, whereas with the beef heart (or as my son calls it, "bee farts") there's always some left over on the bottom. Same with the Vibra Bites and Hikari frozen Discus food.

[karmicwheel]

And then there were 12. I got up this morning and found one of the fish had managed to jump out of the tank. I believe it was the other tefe. There is a narrow gap where the HOB filter is that it could have jumped out through, though it is a very small gap.

[AndyW]

Daniel
I am so sorry.
Andy