Tirelessly feeding and changing water, now confused.

[Discushuns]

Hello folks,

New to the forum, seeking some advice!

I bought 1 (blue diamond) + 1 (Marlboro) + 6 mixed discus and cared for them in a bare bottom 15g tank for a month...

...shifted them to a 45g community tank with..
8 Discuss
3 Denison Barbs
5 Congo Tetras
6 Threadfin Rainbows
4 Bloodfin Tetras
2 Serpae Tetras
2 Electric Blue Rams

They all get along fine... however I recently got very anxious as only the first two discuss seem to be growing and the rest are growing very slowly or not at all.

I read through a lot of forums and YouTube vids but am still unsure what im doing wrong ...or is it simply poor quality/stunted discus fish in the first place!

Attaching pics of the tank and some close ups of the discus, please enlighten!

Thank you in advance!

[brewmaster15]

Discushuns, Welcome to SimplyDiscus!

Unfortunately without seeing the Discus when you got them or knowing more about what you feed and how you maintain them Its hard to say if they were poor quality when bought. Your main issues here though are the way you are keeping them. They Tank mates are not good for growing Discus. Your Discus just can't compete with them. You have only the strongest ones doing well. The others are stunted, and probably never will grow much or as well as they could have. The others just can't deal with it. The Substrate isn't helping either. Its just not easy to raise Discus in a tank as you have there. Best to raise them separate in a bare tank no tank mates as juveniles then you can put them in a substrate tank as adults. But honestly even then, The tank mates here are not good choices.. Too active.

al

[Paul Sabucchi]

Hi, welcome to this forum.
In my opinion your discus indeed apear to be heading for a stunted growth. There could be a multidude if issues in play here. The initial quality of at least some of the discus apears questionable but you have put them in a very nicely scaped tank but unfortunately not ideal for discus growth and together with other fish that, besides possibly carrying unhealthy bacteria or parasites, are competing for food and also can be a bit too energetic (barbs) or nippy. The experience of generations of discus keepers has told us that unfortnately the requirements for optimal discus growth are seldom compatible with a scaped, planted comunity tank. Maybe by upping further the quality and quantity of the feeding, and in parallel upping even more the water changes, you may be able to keep these discus but it is unlikely they will grow to a respectable size

[Discushuns]

Wow, an honour to get a reply from the alpha firsthand! Thank you...I appreciate the prompt reply Al )

For the the first couple of days there were also..
8 guppies
6 Danios
3 Rasboras
4 skirt tetras
1 Albino Pristella...in the same tank which I moved to the 15g :embarassed:

Now, the current 45g tank is regularly fed with Hikari discus bio gold, tetra bits, Hikari Micro pellets, Aquafin micro pellets, Today's frezze dried bloodworms and Australian black worms. (30% water change every 3 days)

I agree with you about the very active tankmates, however I would like to say that besides that fact they all get a good meal!

The biggest question haunting me right now after all the research is are these Discus of poor quality in terms of eye to body ratio, shape, eye color and/or body color...

PS: I am not arguing with the solitary BB tank advice

[Discushuns]

Thank you Paul, the picture of the tank is a bit dated, I shall post a fresh one at the earliest!

As you have have rightly pointed out, some of the discus quality seems questionable..that's exactly what I wanted to know, which ones?

I am definitely with you guys on swapping them back to a BB as I would probably have take this up as a profession if I am to up feeding or water changes!

...what I want most as any discus hobbyist is for them to grow healthy and to a respectable size

[brewmaster15]

The biggest question haunting me right now after all the research is are these Discus of poor quality in terms of eye to body ratio, shape, eye color and/or body color...



Ok, I will try and answer this, Please do not be offended.


These are stunted badly and poor colors,
119964

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salvageable...maybe

119967

119968

shape is poor, pointy and poor eye size to body ratio. May grow to be an okay fish but not great shape.

119969

NIce... best fish in the tank..

119970

[Discushuns]

Big thanks, not offended at all...infact it's what I suspected as well after applying principles from your YouTube video.

Now, if I were to return the initial three..is it advisable to keep the salvageable two? Should I hold on to the blue diamond or just keep the marlboro red and get some healthy adults as tank mates for him?

[brewmaster15]

How long have you had them? and how big when you got them?

al

[Discushuns]

Had them all for about two months now...
red has grown almost 1.5 inches - was about 2 inches
Blue almost an inch - was about 2 inches
The rest under an inch of growth - were less than 2 inches

[brewmaster15]

Do you have any other tanks besides the 15 and 45?
al

[Discushuns]

Unfortunately not...

[brewmaster15]

ok.. my suggestion then is cull the the 3 runts... Keep the remaining 4 ..in the 45. Assuming you want this tank as a display.. use your 15 gal tank to set keep the

3 Denison Barbs
5 Congo Tetras
6 Threadfin Rainbows
2 Serpae Tetras

You can keep the blood fins and rams with the 4 discus. Thats decent load for the tank. Do as much water changes as you can and feed several times a day. Your tank will just not accomodate everything and a 45 is just borderline big enough for 4 average adults.

If you can ever upsize the tank, It would be better for both you an your fish.

This the best compromise I think you can make.

also, to be clear. The Fish that are culls may not have been poor quality to start.. Inappropriate care can take a good fish and turn it bad in short order, Hard to tell without day 1 shots. After 2 months most sellers will not want anything to do with the fish.

al

[Discushuns]

Forgot this fellow...was hiding/sleeping

[Paul Sabucchi]

It might be another salvageable one, the absence of any peppering may hopefully be sign of better quality breeding and the delayed growth may be to some extent reversible following Al's advice. Best of luck!

[Discushuns]

Thanks Paul and Al!

I have already made amends...

Another question, I saw this Red Turquoise at a local pet shop but wasn't too sure of the condition, it has a white spot on the top area of the tail as well as one of the feelers look slightly damaged

Would it make a good addition to the tank?

[Paul Sabucchi]

It is even uglier than the ones you already have, stunted, horrible shape and with lots of peppering. Have you watched Al's videos about how to recognise a decent discus?
If not please do
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?122038-Are-you-new-to-discus-WATCH-THIS-VIDEO!
For the time being if I were you I would put all the effort in doing the best for the fish you already have, at least the salvageable ones. If you start introducing fish from a different origin, even if good looking, you will be setting yourself up for another set of problems - there is the very definite potential of the fish from one origin to pass bacteria or parasites to which they have no immunity - generally called a bacterial cross

[pitdogg2]

With the amount of fish and food fed that 30% water change every 3 days is not nearly enough. Most keepers i know change 50% to 75% everyday. Small Discus need good clean water or bad things tend to happen quick like. I certainly would not add anymore fish at this point.
My .02

[thomaswal]

Hey!
If I were you, I'd wait before adding any new fish to the tank.
Concerning the fish you just saw at your fish store, it does not look healthy.

Have a look at the video posted in a previous post and you can also read this: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?33300-Selecting-Discus

[smsimcik]

It is even uglier than the ones you already have, stunted, horrible shape and with lots of peppering. Have you watched Al's videos about how to recognise a decent fiscus?
If not please do
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?122038-Are-you-new-to-discus-WATCH-THIS-VIDEO!
For the time bein if I were you I would put all the effort in doing the best for the fish you already have, at least the savageable ones. If you start introducing fish from a different origin, even if good looking, you will be setting yourself up for another set of problems - there is the very definite potential of the fish from one origin to pass bacteria or parasites to which they have no immunity - generally called a bacterial cross

Agree with Paul 100%. Also, that's not a red turquoise, it's a silver pigeon of some sort.

[fljones3]

I would focus on getting what you have healthy and recovered. Personally, I would look at the breeders here on this site and not purchase any from this supplier.