Hello from Europe

[KikiSt]

Hello to all discus and freshwater fish hobbyist and breeders.
My name is Kristian , I live and work in Germany but my home country is Croatia.
2 weeks ago I am proud owner of 8 discus fishes.
Besides discus I also have some shrimp and one scaped aquarium.
Registered here because I want to now as many tips and info of discus what I dont know yet.
Unfortunately I already have problems with adapting my discus to new aquarium , but I suppose It is a new thread discussion or?
I hope to find first hand help and experience from you guys , so my discus adapt , eat and of course love me

[jeep]

Hi Kristian and welcome to SimplyDiscus!!

Don't hesitate to ask anything about discus you're curious about. I would recommend starting a new thread in the appropriate section if you're are having problems.

Have you seen Al's video!



Brian

[Red Eye.]

Hello to all discus and freshwater fish hobbyist and breeders.
My name is Kristian , I live and work in Germany but my home country is Croatia.
2 weeks ago I am proud owner of 8 discus fishes.
Besides discus I also have some shrimp and one scaped aquarium.
Registered here because I want to now as many tips and info of discus what I dont know yet.
Unfortunately I already have problems with adapting my discus to new aquarium , but I suppose It is a new thread discussion or?
I hope to find first hand help and experience from you guys , so my discus adapt , eat and of course love me

Welcome... tips...

1.cycled mature clean tank.
2.28/30 deg with O2
3.have a tank you can clean easy.....!
4.warm water changes...
5. get a PH /TDS...meters
6.use a UV a few days a week.
7. use different high quality foods....some say not to use beefheart?
8.don,t get LAZY or your fish will tell you the hard way!!.
9.allways QUARANTINE fish/plants etc clean hands ,nets,etc.
10.little and often with feedings like in the wild fish or always looking for food.....
11.add fish of the same size and even then there will be one who is Top dog.....
12.get a RO ..... water is very clean in the amazon ....but not from your Tap.
13.....13 ...unlucky for some like a Planted Tank sorry been there when younger....just does not work long term...like have a Drag Car.... use would be taking the engine apart before each race....!!!

Watch Tom Farmer,s Discus planted problems......on U Tube for a classic example......Lots of food Co2 and too much Bacteria build up hiding away in the system.... the fish when all dark ( build up of slime on the fish trying to protect its self) and so he changed the tank design ...but he didn,t want too.

Top Film Tom....Honesty.

But Im still learning Too.....have meet over the years many Top Uk breeders and keepers.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi Kristian and welcome to SimplyDiscus. How are your discus doing Any photos? We love photos
Pat

[KikiSt]

Thank you all for warm welcome.
My problem is that discus still dont eat and I just cant get to aquarium , they ran away as soon as someone in the room is standing.
If I am sitting and slowly approaching then It is possible to come to aquarium and I tried slowly moving my hand and they are not scared at all.
Aquarium is under Tv , cca 20cm from floor , that was the only option due to apartment.
They have a lot of hiding place behind driftwood, tought maybe to get some out and leave just enough for them to feel secure.
I learned a lot , watched videos and everything , but nothing specifically for my problem I didnt find.
They came from same owner , 8 discus , all healthy , still looking healthy and all but just skiddish, as soon as someone aproaches room on foot they just dissapear at the back.
They are now in my aquarium for 12 days , they come out a little bit more than before , but mostly at night time when all other lights in the room are off.
Tried frozen , 6-7 variants of dried , tried night feeding , they just seem scared when I approach.
Yesterday they went out and one discus (think the leader) attacked my female apistogramma , just nibbled her a little bit , so they must be hungry.
Aquarium is 375 liter , fully cycled , fluval fx4 , led light now on 50% of brightness.
Did first 3 days with lights off.
Lot of wood , opened area , sand , few plants.
Parameters are good , will test water again afternoon.
All other fish (2 rams , 3 apistos , 20 corys) are thriving , eating and are normal.
No scratchings , hard breathing , fins are perfect , they look healthy over all.
Just want them to adapt and become normal , but primarily I want them to start eating as soon as possible.
When they get that I am source of food I think that will be It , but in the moment I really think that is also mission impossible...
So my next step would be to maybe rearange a hardscape , leave them place to hide but not as big as now , so that they can hide but also when they hide that they can see me in a room.

[Red Eye.]

Oh Aquarium is under TV ....I,m sure I won,t be the first here...... Think about it for a minute....How tall are you ???....what if i was a 5foot 9inch fish and someone came in the room who was around 25 foot with big feet ....WHAT would you do...!!!

There is nothing on Utube that should promote .....COFFEE TABLE TANKS OR TANKS ON FLOORS for Discus....they MIGHT get used to you they may not and get ill.....!!!!


I live my life with common sense in everything I do ...Believe me when I took a complete rusty 1958 Aston Martin ( on Utube PUX 700)apart down to each panel and then Jigged it back to a new car.....you need common sense.

I,m new to this Forum....so sorry to speak this way.....started in around 2000 and have had planted high tec tanks with and without discus ...and then Discus ONLY tanks......my dad showed big Altum Angels in the 70,s

We can only help.

Note Breeders sometimes have tanks near the ground but they are on solid concrete floors and not subjected to vibrations...

[KikiSt]

IMG_20231219_163537.jpg

So this is my aquarium.
Yes I understand , so basically they will always be like this than ?

[Red Eye.]

It,s a beautiful tank....BUT how on earth will be able to clean it to the level needed for discus....

27.1??? For me 28.5 too 29.5 degrees.

TV ....its makes noise doesn,t it....?

Move the TV and raise the tank too waist height or a wee bit more....would also look better...

Thin out some wood.....??

You need to clean in that corner....

[brewmaster15]

Hi Kristian,
Welcome to SimplyDiscus and Discus Keeping!

Part of the problem you have here is tank location and lay out. Discus do not really like being in low tanks... they much prefer eye level tanks. They can in time get used to them but its a long process as they do not feel comfortable and safe.

The other issue is your layout. DISCUS evolved making use if things like branches and fallen trees to hide under . Add the tank being low to the ground and they are not feeling safe to giving them a place to hide and they will hide.

First step to make this work for you is to either rearrange things in your apartment so the tank can be higher or slowly acclimate them to a lower location. To do that you will want that beautiful driftwood out. Give them no place to hide and always have a room light on so they are not startled. You need to make them feel safe enough to start eating.. once they are there then you can try the wood again.

Hope that helps,
Al

[KikiSt]

Currently temperature is 31 , that was older picture.
In order to get aquarium more in a waist height I need to move my tv and around furniture , so that means getting redone almost half of my living room.
I will try to move hardscape in order to acclimatize them , If not than another ideas and projects will be done.

[KikiSt]

I will definitely remove hardscape and give them no place to hide.
That is first option , another one is completely rearrange my living room , but that is really big and expensive project.
Will try with easier option at least for now...

[Iminit]

Great looking tank! 100g. Looks great but as said that huge piece of driftwood is making it to easy to hide. Height to the floor doesn’t look like a problem to me. I’ve seen many rack tanks with double tanks. One low one high. Being new it will take time to adjust. I’d remove the driftwood for now. Next add a school of dither fish. Rummie nose tetras and bosemani rainbow fish have worked for me. The constant movement of these dither fish reduces the stress of you walking around the tank.

[Iminit]

Looks like a few pieces of driftwood. To the right there is a smaller piece. Leave that and move to the middle of the tank. This will still give the discus something to hide or be around but put them in the middle of the tank. Something I like to do is take a piece of driftwood and suction cup it to 2 sides of the tank and high on the wall. The discus will move under it.

[KikiSt]

Tonight I am gonna remove all hardscape from aquarium , tommorow I am going to pick up some branches and do the scape but only branches so they dont have a place to hide.
I know they need time to adapt but I just want them to be happy and make them to start eating.
Dont sure how would rainbowfish be under 30 degrees celsius temp. Probably better to add rummynose 20-30 as a schooling fish.

[brewmaster15]

Tonight I am gonna remove all hardscape from aquarium , tommorow I am going to pick up some branches and do the scape but only branches so they dont have a place to hide.
I know they need time to adapt but I just want them to be happy and make them to start eating.
Dont sure how would rainbowfish be under 30 degrees celsius temp. Probably better to add rummynose 20-30 as a schooling fish.

Two notes here,
1) On the branches, They don't need them. Thats something that you may like to see, but they don't need them and if they are flighty and skiddish, they will run into them and get injured.
2) Please don't just add fish with out proper Quarantine. If you are having issues now with your new Discus, dealing with an introduced disease is going to make things so much harder.


al