New Discus

[darcy12877]

I just got 5 new discus and one of them (my red turkoise) is always hiding behind my filter box and not eating that much (but is eating some). He is also getting chased by the biggest discus (not to much). Also it looks like some of the discus will eat the bloodworms im feeding them but after they put it in there mouth they spit it back out. What can I do to help them???

[RyanH]

Welcome to Simply.

It takes time for new Discus to get settled in after a move. Move slowly around the tank at first until they get to know you. You may also want to add some non-iodized salt (1-2 t/ 10 gallons) to help alleviate stress.

If they continue to not eat, raising the temperature to 88 degrees will sometimes help. Spread the food around the tank so all of the fish can get to it without getting chased.

Be patient. Keep the tank clean and change lots of water. They'll come around.

[darcy12877]

I do a water change of about 25-35% every day or so, and the two turkoise out of the 5 new are being chased and the ones fins are frayed now. Should I separate them from the others??? Also I have stingrays with my discus so does anyone now if my rays would be alright being in a tank that 88f??? Its about 81 or 82 right now.

[RyanH]

Your rays are from the same area of the world as Discus and have similar water requirements. You will want to check if your particular species can handle Discus heat but I suspect they probably can.

Can you tell us a little more about your setup? Tank size, maintenance regiment, substrate and decorations, filtration, water parameters, etc.


81 is too cool for Discus IMO. Particularly if you're trying to get new ones to eat.

[darcy12877]

I have a 150 gallon tankl with two p. reticulatas in it (commonly reffered to as teacup stingrays). The biggest discus (a royal yellow) is picking on my two turkoise discus and the smallest one's fins are frayed. The filter is a 35g wet/dry sump and the decor in it is a large plant (fake) along the wall covering a little more than half the wall. I also have a pile of large rocks in there, and plan to go to the pet store (only sells tropical fish) and pick up a extra large piece of drift wood. I made a divider for my tank and was thinking of dividing the two turkoise from the others and heal there fins. Should I divide them???

[RyanH]

The best thing you can do to alleviate aggression is to have a large group of fish that are relatively the same size. 5 Discus in a 150 gallon tank makes for a pretty lightly stocked tank.

You have a pecking order that has formed in your tank. Since there are so few fish in there, the smallest ones are going to get picked on pretty aggressively; as you are finding out.

At least a dozen fish would be a good sized group for a tank that size. Since adding more fish doesn't really seem to be an option in the short run, you can try the divider.

In the long run, adding more fish is the best way to go IMO.

hth

Ryan

[darcy12877]

I put up the divider today and added some salt and discus buffer to lowere my ph. Im going to raise my temp a couple degrees as well. I hope they will make it they're awsome!!! Also im only a 15 year old kid, yet I do have alot of expierence with fish and rays, its just I dont have the money at the moment to get more discus (i will later on though) I already spend $200 for these 5 which for the kinds of discus and their sizes were a great deal. The kinds are :
2 royal yellow discus
1 pigeon blood
2 turkoise

[darcy12877]

Oh crap is this non-iodized salt bec i put this in my tank

http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=NJ007

[RyanH]

That's perfect.

[darcy12877]

thank god lol

[darcy12877]

I've devided the two from the rest and the two seem to be eating just not alot and they will put the food in there mouths and then spit it back out, Is this normal???, will they continue to do this or will they start eating like normal discus??? The smaller one of the two is still very dark. But the other discus's in the other side of the tank are now coming up to the front when I walk by the tank and they're waiting for food.