Dull looking Türkis discus

[Raimisx9]

Hello all!

I seted up another discus tank and got some discus from my godmother, they are about 19-20cm in size but two Türkis discus looks very pale/dull in colour.

It is their 3rd day in tank and she fed them blue enchancing food, so maybe if I feed food high in carotenoids the red spots will turn more intense?

There are 3 Pigeon Blood discus, 3 Blue Diamonds and 2 Red Türkis discus of the same size

All suggestions will be highly appreciated!

Thank You!

[Willie]

Hikari VibraBites really bring out reds and blues in my discus.

[Raimisx9]

Nice to hear, thanks Willie! I will buy VibraBites and try to feed them. Also maybe he is just stressed still so the colour is dull?

[Iminit]

I’d say it’s stressed. The black bars kinda point it out. Maybe add some salt to the tank and see if that calms t down

[Raimisx9]

Thanks Tom, I know I have to use not iodized salt, byt maybe you can advise ratio per gallon?

[LizStreithorst]

Try 2 tablespoons per 10 gallons. It's hard to know exactly what the problem is with out more info about your water parameters.

[Raimisx9]

Hello,
I will put 2 tbsp per 10 gallon to see if it calms him down a bit.
My water parameters are:
Ph around 7.2
dKH 6
dGH 8
Amonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates around 5
Temperature around 28.5C

[LizStreithorst]

That sound perfect. Lets see how he does with salt. It could be just stress. Did you see the fish before you bought him and was he deeply colored at that time?

[Raimisx9]

Yeas, I saw the fish before, my godmother let me to catch the fish myself, before catching he was deep blue with red pattern and barely visible black stripes, but she had black backround in tank and mine is white, maybe he is trying to blend in?

[Iminit]

Well they will definitely lighten up in a white tank. But the black bars are stress. It can take awhile before it gets used to the tank. Any major changes in the water from one house to the next? Are either of you using ro water, different ph? How often is the water changed?

[jwcarlson]

It was a drastic difference between black background and when I switched a middleish blue with textured light colored "sand" painted on the bottom (outside). It's easy enough for me to change between the two backgrounds, but I am not sure which I like better. The peppering on some of them has mostly gone away, but it wasn't too bad with the black background and bare bottom. Mine are young, though.

[jeep]

If they've only been there 3 days, it could just need a little more time to adjust. I would turn the heat to 88-90 and add 2 TBS salt per 10g and see if this will stimulate appetite and metabolism.

[Raimisx9]

Thank You Brian, salt has been added and he is more colourful alteady, I will turn on the heat a little more as suggested! Also they are not eating yet, but seems interested in food a bit