three discus

[siru]

i did have four but the little fish didnt eat and dieed. im new to this

99842

[Phillydubs]

What size tank is that...? How are you cleaning and what are you feeding.

If you want to succeed with these fish that tank needs to be stripped down and we can help you if you want the help.

Are you ready to do all that's needed ?

[siru]

im feeding them shrimp and blood worms, im making the blood worms small ans chopped up for the small fish. ive got a 120 gallon tank, lightly planted with a new filter, one of the top kind. i put good gravel in there, but mixed it with the painted gravel that came with the tank.

the person i got the tank from had a filter that was made for a smaller tank and he only fed the fish blood worms. the small blue fish is new, i cleaned the gravel a week ago. a lot of food was getting left in the bottom, the fish that died wouldnt eat the food , i got the blue fish to be the buddy a couple weeks ago. the fish that died didnt eat for a month.

i put 50% new water in once a month. is that not enough? the heat is at 83

oh ya the guy i got the tank from had fancy gold fish in there. i took them out and put them in a small tank. he said the orange fish didnt grow much and he had it for two years. the biggest discus he had too

[Ryan925]

If you are new I'd say ditch the gravel all together. Water change once a month is def not enough.

Did you add any old media to the new filter to seed it?

Are you testing your water?

I'll let the seasoned vets chime in but those are the obvious things.

Prob some high quality food as well

[Phillydubs]

Where are you from?

Those discus are 2 years old ??

Honestly you are best to start from scratch if you want to go about this right. Those fish are singer and most likey ill anything you add will probably get sick as well. Your water change routine is ummm a tad off. For small fish like Jose you want to be doing daily water changes not monthly.

If you want to do discus I suggest selling dd the tank get rid of that gravel for sure scrub the tank clean and start fresh and with good stock and be ready to make changing water your part time job

[Ryan925]

I'd suggest reading the beginner section in this forum. There is a lot of good info in there to help you understand what it truly takes to keep discus. Take it from someone that learned the hard way.

Can't see the fish too well but they don't look to be in the greatest of shape. Philly may be right with a start over if you truly want to keep discus.

Better pics of fish would help. If they are that small after a couple years I'm sure they are stunted but doesn't necessarily mean they aren't healthy, but guessing by water change regiment it's a really good chance they are not.

The best thing you can do is read, read, read and take the advice of the most experienced members here. There help is invaluable. I see too many ask for help yet ignore the suggestions and end in failure.

[siru]

I'm not sure how old the adult fish are, they've been more active since when I first had them.

I live in Portland Oregon and theres a nice fish store here. I could have them check my water

[Ryan925]

I'm not sure how old the adult fish are, they've been more active since when I first had them.

I live in Portland Oregon and theres a nice fish store here. I could have them check my water

I'd highly recommend getting an api master kit. Not very expensive and you should get used to testing water.

Reason I ask is if you got a new filter did you cycle it? Your fish could be in water full of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate etc especially with lack of water changes

Also blood worms have very little nutritional value to the fish

[siru]

they say not to clean the filter for two months because its new, its been a month. ive just put new water in it, then cleaned the gravel around the plants so some of the rocks have good bacteria. i thought that would get rid of all the food at the bottom. the little blue fish i just got eats a lot so thats good.

ive herd that about blood worms so i tryed giving them shrimp, im not sure whet else they eat. im not sure if there eating it.

the tank is much cleaner then what it used to be with goldfish and a crappy filter. i think the plants make the tank cleaner too

[Dhavalsp]

Hi Siru, welcome to the forum. you will have to do major changes in order to make this work otherwise those discus are not going to survive for too long. plus they will not look anything like the ones you see on the poster...

1. Get those fish out in a bucket.
2. Remove all the gravel, it is not useful and also IMO it looks ugly.
3. if you want to keep those plants just get small terracotta pots from Michael's or some other art shop (literally for 79 cents or so)
4.do 90 percent water changes for next 2 weeks every day...
5. if time and resources do not permit, do 90% water change every 2nd day after that.
6. If you are able to keep up with water changes for 6 weeks and your fishes are doing well(partially better) and you are enjoying the whole experience, then ditch these fish, get a nice fresh lot of say 3 inch plus discus and enjoy them for the rest of your life( or till something comes up and you have to take a hiatus (I think I go through it every 2-3 years).)

[siru]

do you clean the tank with hot water? ive herd if you put discus in brand new tap water it could kill them, how long do you wait?

[Phillydubs]

Have you read any of the beginner sections?

I strongly suggest you read all you can then come back with questions...

Not trying to be rude, but a lot of this stuff is so basic, to fish keeping in general not just discus...

[siru]

ive read some of it. im taking of for a month in a couple days and my roomate will be taking care of the fish so i want to do this as soon as possible

[Phillydubs]

Give the fish away then... bring them to the LFS or sell them or donate them locally...go away
start fresh when you get back..

[Dhavalsp]

do you clean the tank with hot water? ive herd if you put discus in brand new tap water it could kill them, how long do you wait?

If you are emptying the tank, then sure use hot water(not boiling hot, not sure what it would do to the silicon) to clean it.

Tap water treated with conditioner should be fine, make sure you adjust your tap so that the water is coming out as close to 83F(your tank temp as mentioned above) as possible.

P.S. read Phil's comment above...:P

[MD.David]

Poor discus are doomed at this rate.
I would like to be polite but this just both be too much.
Sad.
Gravel is probably building a nitrite bomb, everything wrong that could be.
Do as Phil says, get rid of them, your going to kill them, and do a different fish that fits your lifestyle.

[siru]

I don't have that much gravel, it's kinda piled where the plants are. I cleaned the tank a little, I found some snails.

http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq347/booglue33/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpswjejqsis.jpg
http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq347/booglue33/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsw9qc1yps.jpg

There probably not for me. I hope they live, there cool fish

[Ryan925]

they say not to clean the filter for two months because its new, its been a month. ive just put new water in it, then cleaned the gravel around the plants so some of the rocks have good bacteria. i thought that would get rid of all the food at the bottom. the little blue fish i just got eats a lot so thats good.

ive herd that about blood worms so i tryed giving them shrimp, im not sure whet else they eat. im not sure if there eating it.

the tank is much cleaner then what it used to be with goldfish and a crappy filter. i think the plants make the tank cleaner too

Right so when you put this new filter in a month ago did you add any of your old media to the new filter??

If not your fish may be in a very toxic environment.

I would agree with the others especially if you are leaving. I'd get rid of the fish you have. Start fresh when you return after well educating yourself

[siru]

I didn't have any old. I've only had the tank about three months. They look and act good. Hope they live

http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq347/booglue33/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsw9qc1yps.jpg

[siru]

It's not letting me post. I guess i might not be back if these fish die. I'm not going to clean it all the time

[Ryan925]

It's not letting me post. I guess i might not be back if these fish die. I'm not going to clean it all the time

If you aren't willing to maintain your tank then it's not a matter of if they will die it's simply a matter of when.

[siru]

i think they will be fine. maybe a little wack but fine

http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq347/booglue33/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsw9qc1yps.jpg

i put a frog in there jk i found it on one of the rocks a while ago

got to edit that pic out it shows up double

theres a bunch of snails now

[cedar]

you are killing the fish slowly, please do the right thing and give the discus away to someone who can care for them properly. please.....

[Phillydubs]

I don't know what else to say than what I already have... Choice is yours in the end they are your fish. If you decide to keep them I'd get a nice long look at hem before your month long journey because they will be gone or emaciated by the time you return.

If you care at all I'd do as I said and give them away tomorrow and learn and try again. If not maybe this hobby is just not for you...

[MD.David]

Who's taking care of them when you are gone?
Maybe that person is capable of helping.

[siru]

It just takes a long time for some posts to show up. I could get him to change the water one or two times a week maybe. No way would he do it everyday

[Ryan925]

It just takes a long time for some posts to show up. I could get him to change the water one or two times a week maybe. No way would he do it everyday

Couple times a week might be ok if they are large WCs since its a large tank with few fish. I'd say the focus of those LARGE water changes would be THOROUGHLY vac,'ng all that gravel

[cedar]

not going to work,,,:(

[siru]

It I had a 300 gallon tank, it would work. My tank woud be perfect for goldfish

[EJ_B]

It I had a 300 gallon tank, it would work. My tank woud be perfect for goldfish
A bigger tank is not your answer. 120 gallons is already too much for 3 juvenile
Discus.

[siru]

I cleaned the tank and the filter. Now there's nothing in the tank. That was a good idea because they leave a lot of food on the ground and it didn't look good. Now they can't hide now though. Clean water is more important

[cedar]

yes, clean water is the most important. :)

[siru]

I put the plants in the goldfish tank and put some of the rocks in a bamboo plant.

I didn't have another filter pad but I cleaned it a bunch in the tank water, I wasn't sure if it matterd to use that watter just in case. I put stuff in the tank to get rid of some clorene. I don't have the air stones in, I'm not sure if I need them for a few fish

[monilovesdiscus]

Do you travel a lot? Are you a student? Can you do water changes every other day? If you said yes to the first two and no to the last one, you're going to have problems raising Discus fish. They require a lot of work and maintenance. I was surprised as heck when I learned about it but I was willing to do the work and I have the time.

If you're leaving town, you may need to have your roommate also go on the site and read up on Discus so that you both know what to expect [or prepare notes and teach them]. They'll need to do water changes. If they can't do this, you'll most likely have issues in the long run. I would definitely start doing 25% to 30% water changes every day before you leave to try and reduce nitrates. Also, do not have your roommate go crazy on feedings when you're going away. If your tank is super new, you'll end up killing them all. I think there's a thread on going on vacation that you can read.

You need to go read the beginner section!

[siru]

well my roomate didnt clean it once and now i cant clean it because i crashed on my bike and im scraped up and have a broken hand. i cleaned it yesterday and every day for a few days wen i got back. kinda sucks

[farebox]

Say dude get some gold fish and forget about discus for now...This hobby requires time and proper care of your tank, seems right now you can't do it. Just my two cents.

[MD.David]

Say dude get some gold fish and forget about discus for now...This hobby requires time and proper care of your tank, seems right now you can't do it. Just my two cents.
Farebox is correct, donate the discus to someone that has time.
I'm starting to believe people should pass a testing license to own discus.
Thick uncleaned substrate, some planets and no water changes for a month, except for 50% once a month??? 0.o
Are you kidding me mate????
Maybe you should consider studying alittle more about fish and what it requires to house aquatic creatures, because doing this type of housing did nothing but send them to the ammonia & nitrite gas chamber.
If you cant commit to changing water at least twice a week and housing the appropriate fish for that WC regiment (which is not discus), then venture to another hobby.
My two cents mate and best wishes in your future.

[siru]

I don't know who wants them

ive cleaned the tank three times all the way and I haven't had the tank that long

ive had it three months I think or four months

[Akili]

I don't know who wants them

ive cleaned the tank three times all the way and I haven't had the tank that long

ive had it three months I think or four months Use the Forum's The Marketplace Buy, Sell, and Trade section or advertise on craigslist

[guggas]

This is funny. He has to be trolling.