Dumping water directly into tank scaring fish

[mighties]

i was wondering what you guys do when you do water change. i find my discuses change a lot when i dump water straight into the tank (even if i dump it slowly)

what do you guys do? unless you have a sump or use python i am not so sure what to do here.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Your discus will be fine. Whether you pour it from a bucket or fill it with a hose they will get jittery. Most of my discus are use to it.

[trungnguyen]

they will be fine when they settle down. My discus was so scared and swam around like crazy before when I did water change. Now they are annoying as hell by keep picking my hands and the hoses when I do water change. :D

[blueluv]

they will be fine when they settle down. My discus was so scared and swam around like crazy before when I did water change. Now they are annoying as hell by keep picking my hands and the hoses when I do water change. :D

Lol! !!! Same thing happens to me.. they confuse the hair on my arm and fingers for fdbw's. As already mentioned.. your discus will be fine once they get used to your routine with wc's

[White Worm]

Mine are still young and they just hang out in one corner until I'm done.

[Trubble]

Mine used to freak. Now they sit under the driftwood until I finish, then they come out like nothing happened.

[Tazalanche]

Unless I'm behind the tank installing a UV filter, then they all freak out & get scratched up. :mad:

[Trubble]

In all fairness, they aren't used to seeing people back there, so you took them by surprise.

[Etek]

First few water changes they got a lil freaked out but nothing major. Now they either just wait on one side when I'm on 1 side then move back when I do the other. Other times they just annoy me and in the way. They don't nibble at me but give the hose the stare down.

[Trubble]

First few water changes they got a lil freaked out but nothing major. Now they either just wait on one side when I'm on 1 side then move back when I do the other. Other times they just annoy me and in the way. They don't nibble at me but give the hose the stare down.

I definitely know this situation. It's amazing how good they are at getting in the way. This afternoon, all mine "hid" under a drift wood in the corner. Because I couldn't "see" them, they decided they weren't going to move no matter how much gentle nudging I did with the vacuum.

[Elliots]

How many Discus of what size do you have and how big is your tank? You could be over worrying or have too few Discus in too small of a tank. I do not dump water into my tank but it is probably OK to do it. You could use a Python or a pump and tubing but I do not know if they make a difference. I do not like the idea of dumping a lot of water into my tank in case the water parameters are different in the change water and tank water. I use tap water and I check the pH before each change in the tank and the tap. I stop the change every 4-5-6 minutes and use a digital thermometer to check the temperature of the tap water. It does vary! If there is a larger pH difference I change much less water. I vary my changes between 20-50% depending on pH. This works for me! I believe I caused problems at first when I changed 70-80% but that was probably due to pH differences that I did not monitor at that time.

[8ftbed]

I have two tanks. The critters huddle up in the corner and I (as already mentioned) nudge them around with the python tube. I don't baby it when refilling with python ( or bucket if it was just a quick 5 gal poop purge), I blast it in or dump it although I do it on the opposite end from the fish. By the time I put hoses up and wipe drips, they're already milling about smartly in the front again.

I think they acclimate to the normal routine. Have you ever went to someone's house and had to whisper and tiptoe because baby was sleeping? The parents caused that. All 5 of mine, they'd get put on blankets or their carrier right in the middle of whatever room we were hanging out in. They slept like a proverbial baby. :) we didn't have to worry about them startling awake from doors closing, horns honking, phones ringing and such. Shoot, I'd have the stereo jamming and set the carrier in front of a speaker. It was a good thing. :)

[Trier20]

When I use my python I let it rest against the glass top push against the back of the tank. This allows the water the spread out as it enter the tank creating a smoother current instead of a strong current. When I was using buckets they would be pissed off the first couple dumps but after that they would be fine. It just takes time for them to used to how you do your thing.

[dragon1974]

I get attacked by my discus. They try to eat me/hose/eachother. I use a fire hose to fill my tanks and the pressure that comes out of that thing is scary, sometimes I think I'll blow the back glass out so I have to put my hand over the end of the hose to make sure the pressure is broken up LOL. It takes me probably 30 mins to change around 110 gals (50 gal out of my 125, 100% out of my 3 20gals), 20 mins to clean the tank and 10 mins to refill. The fish sometimes play in the current as if they're egging eachother on to see which one gets slammed up against the glass. Sometimes I even play with them by spreading my fingers and they usually swim between my fingers. They are like kids...Maybe one day I'll setup my camera and take a couple videos of them playing.

[GrayLadyPat]

Mine are usually hanging out where the siphon is sucking up the crud...it's as if they think I'm bringing up food, and they nip at the hose. Then they tend to hang out and run through the incoming water like my grandkids do with a sprinkler out in the yard.

When I first got them, they would hide, but given 20 minutes or so, they're acting like nothing happened.

[Kev29]

Mine are usually hanging out where the siphon is sucking up the crud...it's as if they think I'm bringing up food, and they nip at the hose. Then they tend to hang out and run through the incoming water like my grandkids do with a sprinkler out in the yard.

When I first got them, they would hide, but given 20 minutes or so, they're acting like nothing happened.

I just got some discus and they do the same thing during the water changes!! at first they reacted horribly with heavy breathing gills and scared, now they think the crap being sucked up is food! and pouring fresh water for them gets them going.

[JERRYKEVIN]

If there are a lot of micro bubbles on/In tank during w/c you need to degas. I put a micron sock at the end of python and problem was solved. I also found that turning off my aqua clear 110 filters helped them a lot during changes. When they were left on fish would huddle in corner. Once I started turning them off they loved it.

[sandy]

For me it's different I turn on my eheim when I fill the tank and my discus love it but if I turn off their tank light at the time of wc they get scary


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[blueluv]

If there are a lot of micro bubbles on/In tank during w/c you need to degas. I put a micron sock at the end of python and problem was solved. I also found that turning off my aqua clear 110 filters helped them a lot during changes. When they were left on fish would huddle in corner. Once I started turning them off they loved it.

I like your idea of using a micron sock. I'm going to steal that idea. ;)

[alexsano]

i have driftwood in my tank and i dump the water directly in it to minimize the pressure or water movement.

[mastermamo]

They settle down eventually once u have done a dozen or so WC's. Remember to have the new water at roughly the same temp as tank water or u will have severe swim bladder issues

[pastry]

mine do a rain dance... they haven't figured out that it's just me

[strawberryblonde]

mine do a rain dance... they haven't figured out that it's just me

+!

[John_Nicholson]

They settle down eventually once u have done a dozen or so WC's. Remember to have the new water at roughly the same temp as tank water or u will have severe swim bladder issues

Sorry but this is BS. One of the oldest tricks to get pairs to spawn is to hit them with a 50% WC with water significantly colder than the tank water. I realize that you are giving advice all over the forum so at some point your going to have to be right about something but is there any chance of getting you to ease up a little until you have some real discus experience?

-john

[yim11]

Sorry but this is BS. One of the oldest tricks to get pairs to spawn is to hit them with a 50% WC with water significantly colder than the tank water. I realize that you are giving advice all over the forum so at some point your going to have to be right about something but is there any chance of getting you to ease up a little until you have some real discus experience?

-john

+1

post less, read more.

[bleublaze55]

My new babies love to swim around the water coming in. That might be because i drain it almost dry, fill it with the exact water that came out. (Aged, temp, Primed). I've never had this happen in the past but i think its because i'm doing it more correct now! I can't even see my hand now when i'm vacuuming.

[Magoo40]

These Python no spill clean and fill systems look like the go, anyone used them?

http://www.pythonproducts.com/products.html