IS AN RO UNIT A NEED???

[Howie_W]

If your keeping your holding tank aerated, and at the same temperature, you should not have any problems with your water changes.

Stay patient with your fish. Overtime, they should become used to you and greet you...especiallywhen they know food is coming.

Howie

[Jono]

does aerated mean, stir the water??
to stable the ph level??

i'm testing out this idea..
since theres traffic around my tank.. i've put a towel over the tank so all walls are curtained.. and i'll open the towel to feed them..
do u think that they eventually get use to it, whenever they see me is when i open the towel and feed them.. do you think that'll get them to greet me for food?

[Carol_Roberts]

Aerating the water does mean to stir or agitate the water.

I would not cover the front of the tank. Leave one side open so they can see you walk up to the tank. My tanks are open on all 4 sides - they get used to you in a couple of weeks.

[Jono]

i think i was getting impatient...
but you reassured me again carol thanks.
my discus never eat granules or flakes, but one time one discus ate some and i dunno if it was just me, but it colors did look brighter..
how can i make them eat the granules.. i have some tetra bit and specrum discus formulas, is it god to try and feed both?

[Howie_W]

Try holding off food for a day, then in the morning try feeding some flake or pellets (fish will always be the most hungry in the morning). If you've primarily been feeding beefheart, blood worms, shrimp etc., it's not unusual that they aren't interested in the other foods. If your first attempt doesn't work, wait a week, then give it another shot, possibly holding off a bit longer before the first feeding.

If you try some of the foods such as tetrabit, make sure you soak it first before placing into the tank...these foods expand in water, and can bloat your fish...no reason not to use them, but something to be aware of.

Howie

[Jono]

hey guys, again the discus are acting extra strange lately.. im hoping that i juss need a good w/c to fix things up.. currently their the type of discus nobody wants.. hiding in the corner dark and not eating properly.. :'(
is there an effective method to cope with stress, kuz it looks like they have plenty of it. im just soooooooooo eager to have them greet me when i come to feed them..
when i do water changes.. my ph to my tank to my aged water sometimes doesnt really match... would that be a BIG NO NO to put it together anyway?
these are my babies.. they looking unhealthy or what?

[Carol_Roberts]

How far apart is the pH of the tank water and the pH of the change water?

[Jono]

the tank is on 7.2, the change water is on 7.8
i've been considering to get myself an aquaclear 300..
would this filter be of any difference to my internal aquaball filter?
would it do a much better job of cleaning the water and in maintaining the filter?
is there a way of doing water changes without scaring the hell out of my fish? :-\

[Carol_Roberts]

the tank is on 7.2, the change water is on 7.8 You may be able to change straight from the tap

i've been considering to get myself an aquaclear 300..
would this filter be of any difference to my internal aquaball filter? I don't know what an aquaball filter is. I use an aqua clear 500 on a 55 -75 gallon tank

would it do a much better job of cleaning the water and in maintaining the filter? Aqua clear is the filter I use

is there a way of doing water changes without scaring the hell out of my fish? Pumping water in the tank during refills is less scary than dumping in buckets

[Jono]

thanks alot carol...
had a bit of a scare, when i looked closely in my tank and saw tiny white dots, that were jumping and skimming on the bottom of my tank... they looked like little fleas or something!
i immediately put all my discus into the ageing barral again...
what do i do ??? ??? ??? ???

things are just getting worse and worse for me.. maybe discus aint my thing.. :'(

[Jono]

sorry carol... what do u mean by change straight from the tap??

Jono: Sorry I don't have time to read the whole thread and the changes that you have made. If I mention anything it has been said. Just ignore it. Looking at your last pic. Your fish is stress and it has not been eating properly for a while. Prolonged stress will lead to opportunistic bacteria taking advantages of the low immunity and start attacking and taking contol of your fish. IMHO. I'll raise the temp. to 92 degree without delay and apply a lot of salt. Starting 2 table spoons per 10 gal and adding one tablespoon every 4 hours for 3 more dose. No feeding unless they start nibbling at the bottom to take in salt. I won't worry about feeding until they get their fluid balance through osmosis and get rid of the itchness from the gill and salt is a also act as a mild antiseptic solution.

W/C the next day and replace salt. If they start nibbling at the bottom of your tank. Give them a small amount of frozen blood worm. Just wait and observe. Hope they will turn around. If you see white slimmy substance on their fins. Add a few drops of Methy. blue. Otherwise it's not necessary.

I'm not sure if you have used any med. on them. From the cloudy water. Your filter is lacking good Nitrobactors. Salt can control the poisonus Nitrite and 50% W/C daily is a must. 20-25% of fresh water straight from the tap is acceptable. Anything higher should be aged. Adding water with a few degree lower will perk up their spirit provided you have a higher voltage heating system.

Aquarclear is a hang on filter that were rated very high for ease of maintenance, effectiveness and durablity. HTH
Jimmy

[Carol_Roberts]

The little skittery bugs on the bottom of the tank are copepods. They don't attack discus, but are a symptom of too much food/dirty water. Copepods are very hard to get rid of. Keep their numbers in check with daily water changes and avoid overfeeding/leaving food in the tank. It's OK to see a few on the bottom of the tank when you turn the lights on.

[Jono]

hey thanks for the great posts guys...
i'm going to try your procedure out jimmyL...
did u want me to use aquarium salt, or just salt we eat?? kuz the salt we eat seems to really cloud the water... is that ok..?
and during this process how long am i suppose to not feed them??
is methy blue very nescesary? because i dont have any..
i'll follow the procedure with normal table salt..
please keep me updated with instructions...
thank you very much everyone..

[aggie_67]

Better to use salt without iodine: kosker or pickling salt. Aquarium salt is good too, it's just very expensive.