1 of 4 discus seems to be a loner?

[scruffy89801]

Ok hopefully this is nothing to worry about. In my 38gal tank I have 4 discus(about the size of a silver dollar). 2-pigeon blood 1-royal red and 1-red turquoise. The all seem the eat ok. My 2 pigeon blood are pigs. My concern is my royal red is darker than the rest, stays on the bottom of the tank. He does eat but doesn't come to the top like the others do, None of them pick on him he seems to always be by himself. Is there mybe something wrong with him or is he just a loner? Any suggestions?

[Second Hand Pat]

I would suggest keeping an eye on this one. Maybe consider upping your WCs to daily or larger for a week and see if this helps.
Pat

[DISCUS STU]

It's something to be concerned about and you're right to post on the forum. As above, up the water changes and post more in the future. If I had to guess I, only if I had to, it might be an internal infection.

[Rudustin]

I agree with Pat and Stu, that is usually the first sign that a fish is not feeling up to par. It bares watching carefully. Rufus

[scruffy89801]

I am going to up my water changes. How long should I wait for improvement and if it is an internal parasite what med should I use? I do have metrozol. Would that work or is there something better?

[Rudustin]

I am going to up my water changes. How long should I wait for improvement and if it is an internal parasite what med should I use? I do have metrozol. Would that work or is there something better? Let's see how the water changes go first for about a week. What has been your water change schedule and do you have a bare bottom tank or a planted and what kind of substrate and how much of it. What kind of water are you using, tap or well? Lets deal with that before we discus meds. Rufus

[scruffy89801]

My water changes have been 30% very 3rd day. I am going to up to 40% every other? My tank had a small amount of pool filter sand. I am using R/O DI water that I was just using R/O right but I am now using pH stable and proper pH 7.0 along with my R/O right.

[Rudustin]

Why are you using only R/O water? Young discus need the minerals in regular water. Is your water not stable in Ph? Young discus at that age don't need to be in R/O water unless you're planning to breed and the ones you have sound too young to do that at the moment. I have eight tanks. They get 100 percent water changes every other day. I'm not saying you need to do that but considering it is only 38 gallons it would seem you could do a fifty percent water change every day or every other day. Do you have a bare bottom tank or substrate? Just need a bit more information about your tank which could be beneficial to assess the situation. Take care. Rufus

[scruffy89801]

My substrate is about 1/4 inch of pool filter sand. My pH here is not stable that is why the R/O water.

[Rudustin]

My substrate is about 1/4 inch of pool filter sand. My pH here is not stable that is why the R/O water. Okay then just up the water changes and you should be fine. Rufus

[scruffy89801]

Ok I did 15gal water change yesterday and just did another 15 tonight.

[Rudustin]

Good. Just keep doing the water changes.

[strawberryblonde]

Hi there,

I'm going to make a suggestion on the water changes. I personally feel this is important for not just the discus you are having a problem with, but for all of them while you are growing them out. Ready? =)

Change more each night! Here's why:

You can read my thread on "bad stuff" in the water here - How much bad stuff do you actually remove during water changes (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?109715-How-much-quot-bad-stuff-quot-do-you-actually-remove-during-water-changes) I did a lot of experimenting with different percentages of water changes and tested the water before and after the water changes. It was a pretty lively discussion and I learned a lot from both the experiments and from the various thoughts of people who posted on that thread.

In a nutshell:

The amount of water you are removing just isn't enough for the size of the tank. Juvenile discus are very sensitive to pathogens in the water column. That's why the experts in the hobby recommend huge (up to 100%) water changes daily for discus who are less than 4".

Pathogens are present in every tank we own. They are a fact of life and you can never get rid of them all. The problem is that doing small water changes only removes a small portion of them and they slowly multiply into larger and larger amounts over time. The only way to reduce the population is by doing large water changes.

To get a proper head start on reducing pathogens (molds, fungi, harmful bacteria, parasites, etc) you can simply net out your discus into a smallish container. Run an airstone in the container. They'll only be in there for less than an hour so you shouldn't need a heater.

Once the discus are out of the tank, empty it! Scrub it well and also scrub any equipment in the tank. Rinse well and refill. You now have a shiny clean tank with super clean water and your discus are getting a fresh start.

Now use a net or your hands to remove the discus from their container and then place them back into the tank.

Once the tank is cleaned this way, make a commitment to do a LARGE water change every single night. When I say LARGE I mean at least 80%.

The next thing to talk about is your filter.

If you are using sponge filters, be sure to rinse them gently in used tank water once a week. No squeezing, just swishing!

If you are using a canister or HOB filter, be sure that you have pre-filters on the intake tubes and check the filter media to see if you have rotting food trapped in them. Rinse them in used tank water once a week to remove any crud on the outside of the filter media.

And the last thing is the RO water you're using. I read your thread on pH and TDS from your tap water. It sounds like you have very hard water, but that it's fairly stable.

That's perfect for raising discus! Yes, it's hard, but juvenile discus need more minerals and calcium than adult discus so it isn't really a problem for them.

Make your new LARGE daily water changes easier on yourself. You can switch from straight RO to tap by doing the following:

1) For the 100% water change that you are going to do tonight, use the 20 gallons of RO water that you have and top it off with tap water to fill the tank. Don't use the any of your buffer and additives, just add prime to dechlorinate the tap water. Use enough prime to treat the full 38 gallons. Add the prime after you fill the tank, wait 5 minutes and then transfer the discus to the tank.

2) When you do your 90% water change tomorrow, use the 20 gallons of RO and top off with tap water. Add the prime (for 38 gallons of water) to the tank, then add the tap water.

3) Each day after this, add 5 gallons fewer of the RO water and top off with tap water in the same way. So only 15 gallons of RO on the 3rd day, 10 on the 4th day, 5 on the 5th day.

If you see the fish looking stressed on one of those days, take note of it and don't reduce the RO amounts any further. Just keep adding a small amount of RO and topping off with tap.

You might end up still needing a small bit of RO each day, but probably not more than 5-10 gallons for a 90% water change.

All those 90% water changes are going to perk up all of your discus! Don't be surprised if they start begging for more food after the first week!

Oh and just a quick word on fluctuating pH. I've never found that to be a problem in my tanks and here's why: I change a HUGE amount of water every day. The pH never has a chance to fluctuate a whole lot because it never sits in the tank for more than 24 hours. So don't worry too much about it.

Don't think about the "I want to breed my discus" for now. It will be a long time before they are ready to breed. In another year or more, if you have a breeding pair, you can then move them to a breeding tank and start using more RO water for them while they are sitting on eggs.

For now, RO really isn't important for these juvies - but large daily water changes are!

I know this is a lot of info to read and take in. I hope it helps with the discus who is hiding and also helps grow out all of your discus to nice healthy adults.