Just lost a Juvi and have no idea why.... :'(

[Zaporah]

Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them?

Since I bought this little guy (about a month and a half ago with one of his siblings) he was always the shy one. He (or maybe she) would hang back and hide a lot and wouldn't come out to eat until the other had eaten, and even then never seamed to eat a lot. I was buying from a local breeder, so after two weeks of the one eating well and this one at least looking healthy other than being shy, I got two more from the same brood. Today I woke up and and this one was dead. Very suddenly.

I found him inside one of my plants that had come uprooted since last night (which is very very odd, I do not know how that happened). So I don't know if his death was accidental or something was truly wrong. I would say it was accidental, but I am confused as to his coloration and light patches (described below).


2. Symptoms (i.e. turning dark, excess slime, not eating, clamped fins, flashing, darting, clamped gills, white/yellow/green poop, hiding, headstanding or tailstanding, white on tips of fins, rotting or fungus, blisters/white zits on fish, bloated, cloudy eyes, wounds).

I saw no symptoms prior to death other than the shyness. After death though, he was very dark and had a light patch under his fins on both sides. I don't know if that is normal for discus in death (I am a new discus keeper). He didn't look particularly bloated and eyes were clear. Also no "fuzzy-ness".

(Pictures to follow)


3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.

I had done no meds or treatments.

I am wondering, should I treat the tank for anything now? Should I add some salt?



Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.

30 gal tank. up until last night, 4 discus juvis (2 to 2 1/2 inches). Some corry cats and otos.

5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).

50% changes every other day, including siphoning the gravel. (I know I should be doing this every day. I have good filtration on the tank and keep it very clean. I am going to feel super super bad if he died b/c of this. After this event I'm defiantly going to up my WC's)

6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?

The tank was previously a community tank. It has been running for 5 months. Fully planted (about 8 plants). Gravel substrate, about 2-2/12 inches deep.

(All of the community fish that were previously in the tank are all alive and well still.)


7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.

I do not age my water. It comes out of the tap at about 7 and the driftwood in the tank brings it down right quick to 6.6 (I don't use a buffer or anything to do this, just the driftwood). I also do a full water shortly after every change....occasionally if I'm tight on time I just do ph.


8. Parameters and water source;

Note: Water Parameters are important in diagnosing problems within a tank. If you don't own test kits for the following information, you can purchase them, test your parameters and post this info as soon as possible.


- temp ___83__

- ph ___6.6__

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __0__

What type of water or combinations of water sources do you use? If it is an RO/tap/well water mix, please list percentages in the mix.

- well water ____

- municipal water __X__

- RO water ____


9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.

All plants were already in the tank and had been for a while before I added the discus.

10. Include any pictures or videos you have which shows the symptoms. If you can't add them to this post, please provide a link to them.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0bPLg8yxt5MY0I4UGpzV2o4TUJaTjRKYkxJTFhZTXZhcDRZ/edit

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0bPLg8yxt5MQlRYdDhrSlg0WFk/edit

A Pic of one of the healthy ones: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0bPLg8yxt5MQUcxc1huY2JBRXM/edit

Please help! I am so upset right now :'(

Edit: To add a pic

[pcsb23]

To be honest there is very little I can offer to say why it died. Sometimes they do. There is nothing obvious from the pic, the only comment would be that it does look a little behind on growth, hopefully the others are better. The colouration after death that you see is normal.

There are countless possibilities as to the cause but for now I'd suggest keeping on top of maintenance and keep watching the others.

Also, you will now have only 3 discus, this is not a good number to have (and nor was 4 btw). These fish do much better in larger groups, most recommend a minimum of 5 but I prefer to go for more than that. I'd get at least another three and maybe more, but see my comment below re tank etc ...

You are running a small tank for discus, with or without the plants and other fish. Whilst it will be ok for small discus to grow in, it won't do for their permanent home, you will need bigger! Growing out discus is the trickiest part of the hobby imo, as more discus are ruined during this period than any other, you are not putting the odds in your favour by choosing to grow them out in a planted tank, it may be worth considering a bare tank for this.

[Zaporah]

Oh! I should have mentioned this is only temporary! I am currently building a 125 gal setup! This is by no means permanent. I am also currently looking to buy ~another 6 discus. I just loved the parents to these guys. But I wanted a mixed discus tank, so I was planning on buying a few of several varieties. I was going to keep them in small tanks just for a little, until they hit about 3 inches, which would give me time to finish building my other setup (I am currently building a sump for it). I am currently letting it run with just a canister and hob filter and a couple of large sponges; dropping a bit of fish food in there to get the cycle going. (Nothing will actually go in it until I finish building the sump). I'll probably get some rams, tetras and some corries to put in there until the discus are big enough, then I have the option of leaving them all together.

After today though, I am going to put them in a barebottomed tank and run a sponge filter on it (I don't currently have one seeded). They just seamed to really enjoy swimming through the plants :-\ I have been told growing them out in the large tank will be difficult too and its better to keep them in the 30 for now.

Edit: Spelling and I added a pic of one of my healthy ones in the top post.