Discus Hiding Problem (Need Help)

[Luke S.]

My discus are not new to my tank and the water perameters aren't the problem. Though I have an arrowana in the tank he is about 10 inches and doesn't seem to pick on the discus but is constantly swimming. The discus occasionally come out when they are Hungary and see me but aren't wanting to go to the surface. Though this is happening they spawned eggs yesterday due to me moving the drift wood in my tank,(my guess) and were eaten by plecos and Corydoras. What is my problem??? Please Help!!!!!😞😢😥

[Phillydubs]

The arowana is your problem for sure. Especially if all else is true regarding water. any fast paced dish will scare them

[Solid]

I would start by filling out this questionaire.http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?38545-Disease-Questionnaire-please-complete

It's hard to guess what else it could be without a complete idea of what is going on in your tank. I am no expert but from what you said, I think a 10 inch, semi-aggressive, active swimming fish could cause them to hide, but it could be many other things.

[Luke S.]

Thx if any other ideas please help but I will try removing the discus for now and see the discuses reaction.

[DISCUS STU]

This seems to be behavioral more than disease related though answering question #8 on the Disease questionnaire would be helpful. Arrowana's aren't good tank mates for Discus. The tank needs to be oriented to the needs of the Discus because it doesn't work the other way around. Discus tend to be shy and sometimes a little on the nervous side. I've found that too many hiding places can also seem to make them more reclusive.

Also what size is the tank, gravel or bb, decorations, plants, what is being fed, etc.? A picture would help also.

[Luke S.]

It's a 90 gallon tank with four discus and one arrowana. It a bare bottom with a lot of drift wood and a couple plants anchored to the drift wood. BTW i forgot to mention that I've been in the hobby for many years but got into discus a year ago. The water temp is 84 degrees. The discus seem to swim with the arrowana but aren't comfortable. They seem skinny and dull/ dark in coloration. Pls help.

[Luke S.]

How do I post a picure of my tank that I have of it.

[Solid]

You can upload it to a hosting sight like flickr.com, http://photobucket.com/ or imgur.com/ and then post the link. Or you can upload directly to this sight using the picture button shown here: 86309

[DISCUS STU]

How do I post a picure of my tank that I have of it.
86311

You can also hit the "Go Advanced" button when you open a message box and click on the paperclip icon on the top row, 8th place to the right.

This will open another dialog box where you can download the image directly from your computer.

This also saves a library of your uploaded images for the future.

[Luke S.]

86316

[DiscusRob]

Lose the arrowana, they don't belong in a discus tank, and JMHO, don't really belong in the hobby, they get huge fast, and should never have been brought in, just like the red tailed catfish from the amazon basin, just a couple fish that should have been left where they where. Again, JMHO.

[Luke S.]

thx for the advice I have decided to put him in another tank which I may add stingrays to thx for the help once again.

[DISCUS STU]

This isn't really a bare bottom tank. BB is just that. No gravel. Always recommended, especially for growouts. BTW if you provide hiding places they will generally use them. More pictures would help.

[Luke S.]

Well my tank is mostly bare bottom just the picture shows a close up where a plant is , but 95 % of the tank is bare bottom. And the other thing is that I feed them straight bloodworms(live) is that ok?86363

[Luke S.]

Sorry about the picture quality it doesn't do justice. Plus u can't see the discus in this picture.

[Luke S.]

BTW i have heard from a breeder that if u lower your ph to 5.8 it can allow the discus to be able to be fed a lot of blood worms and not get parasites due to the lower ph where they can't live is this tru? Because I only feed my discus bloodworms, and if not what other things do I need to feed them so they maintain a healthy diet. I now truly feel that the arrowana isn't the problem at all because it doesn't seem to scare the discus at all though I though he was. And what other things may be the problem?

[Luke S.]

M
BTW i have heard from a breeder that if u lower your ph to 5.8 it can allow the discus to be able to be fed a lot of blood worms and not get parasites due to the lower ph where they can't live is this tru? Because I only feed my discus bloodworms, and if not what other things do I need to feed them so they maintain a healthy diet. I now truly feel that the arrowana isn't the problem at all because it doesn't seem to scare the discus at all though I though he was. And what other things may be the problem?

[Solid]

Another possibility could be that you only have 4 discus, they are a social fish and feel more comfortable in groups of 5+. Another possibility is a disease. As far as food goes i try to feed a varied diet, including freeze dried blackworms, a few types of different flakes, and frozen bloodworms. Most here reccomend a good beef heart mix. Live and frozen foods can introduce diseases and parasites.

How often and what quantity do you do water changes? What are your nitrate levels? Would help if you filled out the questionare.

[DiscusRob]

In addition to what you've been told already, and I'm sure it's part of the questionnaire, but what size tank is that?

[rickztahone]

BTW i have heard from a breeder that if u lower your ph to 5.8 it can allow the discus to be able to be fed a lot of blood worms and not get parasites due to the lower ph where they can't live is this tru? Because I only feed my discus bloodworms, and if not what other things do I need to feed them so they maintain a healthy diet. I now truly feel that the arrowana isn't the problem at all because it doesn't seem to scare the discus at all though I though he was. And what other things may be the problem?

I would start introducing other foods as well. Freeze dried black worms are a good staple food as well as a good flake or good pellet.