Skiddish Discus

[Maura_Paz]

I Upgraded to a 75gl about a month and a half. My discus freak out when I approach the tank or anyone passes by - something they never did in the 55gl. Today one spassed out so bad he nearly jumped out the tank. I don't know what to do. The water is good - I vacuum the gravel and do 20% water change every 2-3 days but the behavior doesn't change. Before they would swim in front of the tank loving the attention - and now they act like they have a phobia of anything that approaches. What can I do? I'm afraid they are going to hurt themselves...


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[John_Nicholson]

I don't think your water is as good as you do. When discus are exposed to poor conditions for an extended period of time they tend to act this way. Healthy discus do not.

-john

[Maura_Paz]

What do you suggest? I changed 25gls yesterday... The only difference is that before I had sand and now I have gravel. I am finding gravel to be dirty and hard to clean even w the vacuum.


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[Quintin]

You will have to up it to 50% daily for now and id dump the gravel all together.But thats just me.Are your discus adult or juvies?

[John_Nicholson]

I run bare bottom tanks and I do at least 50% water change on each tank daily. On juvi tanks that are over loaded I do more than that. How big/old are your discus?

-john

[Maura_Paz]

I have juvies and I'm not feeling the gravel. Each time I clean it I feel like I'm don't clean it 100%


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[John_Nicholson]

The best and easiest way to raise young fish is in a tank that does not have gravel or sand. Once they are grown you can put them in that environment. Most people start your way and learn the very same lesson. The best thing to do is to siphon out the gravel. If the fish can see through the bottom just tape some paper under the tank. If you do that and take care of your WC's they should act better after a couple of weeks.

-john

[Maura_Paz]

Awesome!!! I will do it as soon as I get home. I am beyond frustrated w them gravel and their behavior. I didn't want to attribute one w the other but it's the only difference aside from the size in tank


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[OC Discus]

Maura,

If you can get a pump or python set up it will make water changes much easier. By removing the gravel you can wipe down the sides and bottom every week. I like to do 80-90% wc after wiping down the tank. Large wc really makes a difference in fish health. Waste doesn't just get in the gravel, it gets stuck to the gravel and becomes a breeding ground for bad stuff. With bare bottom you can get nearly 100% of the waste out.

[DISCUS STU]

As John stated, when I started (25+ years ago) I used gravel, the very large yellow gray pebble type, but quickly came to the conclusion that I wanted to give my fish every opportunity to be healthy without having gravel and the diseases that come with it. I found undergravel filters not to be very good either.

Healthy Discus are generally happy Discus, and less nervous/skittish. Give it a shot w/o gravel, you'll get used to it quickly due to the benefits of better, healthier fish.

[Tankster]

ADMIN EDIT: Smart Alec comments removed.


Is this really necessary? I'm not sure what your adding to the conversation here other than an "I told you so"....

[Maura_Paz]

Thank you all for your responses. I appreciate all of your goodwill feedback. Fish are doing really good after the 50% water change and this weekend I will look into making further adjustments to the bottom. I am still learning but I am always looking for ways to mitigate damages from occurring. I just want to say, in light of one of the responses, I hope I can keep counting on simply discus for unbiased advise and not disgruntled criticism after all I am still an amateur hobbyist learning and making my own mistakes.

Best,

M


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[pcsb23]

Is this really necessary? I'm not sure what your adding to the conversation here other than an "I told you so"....Greg, better to report offensive posts by using the little ! symbol, see here for a how to ... http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?98339-Help-us-to-help-you

[Tankster]

Thanks Paul. I will use that in the future. I think that is the first post that has really gotten under my skin.


Greg, better to report offensive posts by using the little ! symbol, see here for a how to ... http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?98339-Help-us-to-help-you