Suddenly Timid

[finevine]

Hi, I'm new to the forum but not to keeping Discus. I have a 135 gallon Discus set up with 12 Discus 6 of which are 6-8 inches, the remainder 4-5 inches all raised by me from 2 inch size.
Recently( last few weeks) my fish "panic " when I approach the tank. This is a new behavior . I don't know what has brought this on, since the tank location, lighting and traffic in the room remain unchanged. I have maintained the tank the same way for the last 6 years. Recently I started to feed them freeze dried black worms which I would press on the glass. The fish would nibble my fingers to get to the food. Point is they were not afraid of me that recently. A breeder I contacted thinks it's the water quality. That has not changed, so I'm not sure. He also says my PH is too low at 6.0, but this is recommended in the Discus books I have read and also online. Anyway here are my water parameters. I would appreciated the community look this over and give me any advice. Thanks in advance, Pete
PH6.0, temp84.5, No2 1ppm, No3 0 - 20 ppm, I change 60% of the water 1x week, usually at that point, I add Discus buffer, Black water extract, trace elements and stress coat plus. I'm in Hawaii the water here is clean and mainly untreated.

[Phillydubs]

I would definitely up your changes and see if that helps... Can you do daily or every other day changes?

[Phillydubs]

I also don't know if you need to add all of those products with your changes... Most people here do some prime and that is about it... Do you age water or go straight from the tap?

[100fuegos]

NO2 - 1.0???Are you sure about that??? If so that would be the cause. Up your WC schedule and toss all that you're adding to the tank. Clean, stable water is all they need and lots of it.

[finevine]

Straight from the tap, but remember , I'm in Hawaii where the water is not treated. And I'm doing the same things I have for years.What PH do you maintain?

[finevine]

If I can believe the test kit it is 1ppm. I understood that was acceptable, No?

[Rudustin]

Ph shouldn't be that much of a factor and 6.0 is, with all the stuff you're putting into the tank to keep the PH at that level plus the higher temperature and not enough water changes could all be the cause. It sounds like something in the water quality changed. I agree I would up your water changes and stop putting chemicals in the tank and see if they calm dow some. Good luck. Rufus

[afriend]

Nitrite (No2) should be 0. Don't know what you are using for a biological filter (canister, sponge, gravel or ?), but if it is functioning properly it should maintain the the nitrite at zero. If it is 1 ppm, this could well be the problem.

Hope this helps.

Paul

[lksdrinker]

I'll agree that the nitrite should be 0. How often are you testing your tank water and how long have you been getting a 1ppm reading of the nitrite?

Do you ever test your tap water? If as you say the water is not treated in Hawaii, it could be that your source water has somehow changed.

Are you using the discus buffer and aiming for a ph of 6.0? If you've kept that steady for the whole time you've kept the discus then I really doubt the ph is an issue.

[Lilly]

I found when I started to feed the FDBW the fish could not get all of them before the worms were sucked into the overflow. The worms rot fast and fowl the water. If you are going to feed the black worms then you need to do more water changes and clean your filters frequently.

I had the exact same thing happen in my tank....good luck:)

[MendoMan]

I feed FDBW but put my filters on standby for 10 minutes while feeding. No worries about fouling the water, their gone well before the filters start back up.

[afriend]

I found when I started to feed the FDBW the fish could not get all of them before the worms were sucked into the overflow. The worms rot fast and fowl the water. If you are going to feed the black worms then you need to do more water changes and clean your filters frequently.

I had the exact same thing happen in my tank....good luck:)

Assuming that the ammonia in the tank is zero (the OP did not give us this parameter), it's curious to me as to how the tank and biological filter could maintain 0 ammonia, 1 ppm nitrite, and 0 - 20 ppm nitrate on a continuous basis.

I feed my fish FDBW daily without putting the filter on standby and some of them are trapped in the mechanical filter. The mechanical filter is changed and cleaned monthly and my water parameters are ammonia 0, and nitrite 0.

With my understanding as to how the biological filter functions, I'm wondering as how this can result. When the FDBW rot they should first produce ammonia, then nitrite, then nitrate. The amount of beneficial bacteria in a well established biological filter should increase until they produce 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. Would appreciate any and all comments on this.

Paul

[Kyla]

do u do warm water changes directly from ur tap (at the same temp as the tank)? if so, how long has it been since u flushed ur hot water tank? contaminants can build up in a hot water tank over time, and this could affect the fish if they are pumped into the tank during a refill.

[Rudustin]

I have one tank that is with a sump filter and overflow. The way I feed the FDBW's is to use a feeding cone upside down and the worms are eaten over a period of time without being released into the tank or overflow. Rufus

[DISCUS STU]

It may be the water quality and specifically the ph. Are you sure it's 6.0 and not much lower? The books used to recommend lower ph to match Amazon conditions but at 6.0 you may be prone to ph crashes. I find the fihs to be more skittish at extremely low ph. Low ph really isn't necessary and actually may be dangerous in regard to ph crashes.

Try more water changes. Baking soda is also good in a pinch to raise the ph.