darting discus

[copmom]

I have 110 gal. bare bottom tank with 8 Discus, 1 pleco and 3 rummynose. I use 1 Marineland Penguin and 1 Marineland Emperor filter, 2 bubblers. I do a 30% water change at least once a week.
Temp 86
Ammonia-0
Nitrites-0
Nitrates between 5 and 10
ph-6.8
I feed 1 1/2 pinches of Omega One pellets in the morning and 1 square of frozen blood worms at night. I also feed i algae wafer a day.

I started having trouble with green water and did several 50% water changes every 2 days, cut feeding in half and kept the lights off for a while and it cleared up. My fish acted and ate normally throughtout the whole ordeal.
Now 1 week later it is starting up again and my discus occasionally dart around the tank. Two of my Discus are sleeping at the top of the tank but they are not gasping for air or breathing hard. When I turn on the lights in the room they seem to "wake up" an swim slowing back down to the bottom.
What bothers me the most is the darting and the algae problem. Their fins all look great and I can't see any spots or marks on their bodies.
Can anyone help me?

[Skip]

darting around, from what i understand, is water quality problem..

how long as the tank been established.. ? take out carbon also..

you may need to do more Regular WC's.. that would be first thing..

also, this may sound stupid.. but is the tank getting SUNLIGHT from window? i had algae problem in a little tank, when i used the flouresent light.. but not reg. light bulb...

pss.. i had some darting around too.. but i had just moved them in a tank twice as big as they were in.. also, just as precaution, since i mixed fish.. i treated for 24 hrs. with prazipro.. just in case.. i haven't noticed the little guy do his speed boat routine anymore.. ; )

[copmom]

I have had the tank for 1 1/2 years and have not added any new fish in 6 or 8 months. It is not near a window and gets no sunlight at all. I also use a flouresent light. I was doing a wc every 2 days for several weeks while I was having an algae problem.

[deepflyball]

What size are these discus??? Man thats not much food. What size cube are you feeding?? Turn on the room lights before the tank. Sounds like your not feeding to prevent cleaning and water changes. If they are 8 mos or adults there water cant be clean with a 30 5 once a week.

Jerry

[copmom]

I was feeding more than that and was told by a breeder that I was feeding too much. That they should only be fed what they can eat in 2 minutes. The recommended amount from the breeder was 1 cube only. I don't mind doing water changes at all, that is not the reason for the amount of food. For the last couple of months I have been doing water changes every 2 days. I do turn the lights on except when I was trying to clear up the algae problem as per the advise of previous post here.

[Moon]

Are your discus scratching on anything? Check the gill covers. Are they both moving?
I would increase your WC routine and keep an eye on them.

[copmom]

I haven't noticed them rubbing against any of the decorations at all. Both gills seem to be moving on all 8 discus. I'll go back to doing a wc every 2 days again for a while and watch them. Any suggestions on why I'm having trouble with algae all of a sudden? What do you think about the amount of food I am feeding? Does that seem like enough to you?

[moik]

Are they doing short little darting actions?? Fins being jerked or shimming? If so use Formalin/Malachite green,,(sold as Quick Cure already combined ingredients)1 drop per gallon with a high percentage water chasnge daily until it stops...Keep treating a minimum of 3 days longer after symptoms stop..Keep temperature 82/84 max..Keep in mind that your Bio in your filters will be knocked back from this treatmernt,,plus other fish like catfish and plecos do not handle Formalin/malachite green very well. ..

[copmom]

It seems to be very quick fast dashes. It's hard to tell which one is doing it or if more than one is doing it because of course, they don't do it while I'm watching them and they don't do it very often. I just hear the water swish and I can tell by the water disturbance the it has happened. Sometimes I hear one hitting the glass. It has only happened once today.

[moik]

Just a thought if your water params looks good..Any stray electrical current from when the heater turns on??? I did not know I had 2 bad heaters until I did water changes in my bare feet with water on the floor grounding myself as I put my hand in the those tanks..Just trying to think outside the norm...

[copmom]

That's something I will check right now. thanks

[boxters]

first thing i would do is check your phosphate levels both of your tank water and your tap water. Phosphates is one of the biggest causes of algae. Also what you may think is algae could be a bacterial bloom. I would imagine that these fish have also grown over the past months. What sort of filtration are you running? How many times per hour is your water turning over. Bigger fish equals bigger load which requires more filtration. The darting around can be caused by a bacterial problem. Velvet disease and chilodonella can cause fish to dart around.