Help..My discus are dying

[Daniella]

That kind of makes me wonder about the white worms I feed my fish, which are in a potting soil mix with peat.

I could not find any potting soil bag that was not enriched with some type of fertilizer..so not sure it's a good thing?

I have been feeding them for 2 weeks and they love it but I wonder if it is safe.

Topsoil- Unless you are getting the organic kind, this stuff is full of feces, sewage, pesticides, chemicals, you name it. I do a lot of gardening and after talking to my kids pediatrician, he made it very clear to not let young children play with soil ( particularly topsoil, supersoil etc...) without wearing gloves. way too many pathogens. There are certain agricultural byproducts that are alkaline and some that are acidic. Definitely could have affected your pH.

I think you will be good to go without the soil.

That actually gives me a sigh of relief because I think you have your solution!

Good luck!

-Julie

[Munchkinz]

just got finished reading this thread. I do agree it was probably caused by the top soil, but could this have been caused by a phosphate problem? She stated a few times that she was having an uncontrollable algae growth. I remeber my mom a few years back having a phos. issue with her tank in which she lost quite a few fish, mostly tetra types.