Please help

[Lewjo11]

Ok I was given 18 fry 4 days ago.. quarter size. I'm down to 12. They don't eat .temp was at 84 to 85..I am raising it to 89. They are in a 29g tank. Using a top and a sponge filter... Tried frozen Brine shrimp. A powder shrimp. Boodworms and Hans flake. Only 2 look dark others look heathy but zero interest in food. Any ideas??? I've posted before but hopefully some can help or at least tell me something useful.....thank you in advance

They are all about 2 month old and where in a tank of about 400 fry.

[Filip]

Lewjo , could it be water quallity related issue ?
Were your filters cycled , is there a possibility for No2 or Nh3 presence ?
How much water do you change and do you age the water and add dechlor ?

Dont saying to you don't know your routines , but just throwing out ideas that are worth double-checking .

[tonytheboss1]

:book: Filip is spot on. Raising the temp won't help if your other parameters are deficient. IF!! ALL!! your parameters are in order, try a 75% w/c & add a few drops of garlic guard with some black worms. "T"

[Lewjo11]

I used a cycled sponge fiter and have done water changes since ...One 40% and another 75%.

[Lewjo11]

Not sure where to get black worms.. these fish are quarter size or less. Are worms too big?

[Filip]

Only 4 th day in your tank , 18 juvies , 30 gallons , only 2 moderate WCs ....I still believe that problem lies in the uncycled sponge and Amonia and No2 presence .
Do 100% daily and feed moderately untill sponge catch up with the newly introduced huge bioload .

Owner of this forum Al sales FDWB worms and they are small enough for your fish size and very nutritious for discus growth .Here is a link of Als foods :
https://aquaticfoods.com

[Mando]

Not sure where to get black worms.. these fish are quarter size or less. Are worms too big?

After you manage with what Filip said, check out the growout challenges. So many food options. I think some, at quarter size, still hatched and fed brine shrimp and started introducing to new foods such as d-150, Al's worms, Flakes, etc.

[Lewjo11]

I have a 90g tank with 2 sponge filters and a larger hung over one. I used one of them. It's been in there for 5 months

[Lewjo11]

Thanks for the black worm info...

[tonytheboss1]

I used a cycled sponge fiter and have done water changes since ...One 40% and another 75%


:bandana: I'm almost certain that sponge is overwhelmed by the huge bio load introduced. Daily W/C's will be necessary till ammonia & nitrites are gone & nitrates stabilize. 75/90% oughta be sufficient. It's gonna take a minute or two for the filtration to catch up w/ the load. "T"

[Johney Blaze]

Are you replicating where these fish came from. I'd like to know the parameters of the last tank and then try to smooth the transition. They are stressed for sure . Are these fish already dewormed ? Try live black worms from a good source .they are small . Good luck friend...

[Johney Blaze]

As the tank cycles , watch the ammonia levels if your pH is at 7.....at 6.5 the ammonia turns to ammonium that is safe from toxicity. If your pH is 7 then you need water changes to rid of it . If you read ammonia levels when your water is acidic 6.5 or below , it's the safe non toxic kind ammonium....get seachem stability for bacteria growth. Hang in there.

[brewmaster15]

Ok I was given 18 fry 4 days ago.. quarter size. I'm down to 12. They don't eat .temp was at 84 to 85..I am raising it to 89. They are in a 29g tank. Using a top and a sponge filter... Tried frozen Brine shrimp. A powder shrimp. Boodworms and Hans flake. Only 2 look dark others look heathy but zero interest in food. Any ideas??? I've posted before but hopefully some can help or at least tell me something useful.....thank you in advance

They are all about 2 month old and where in a tank of about 400 fry.

I would hatch and feed live Baby brine shrimp. At the size your fry are they will probably still take BBS and if so they will not pass it by unless they are sick or the waters not good.

hth,
al

[glus76]

I would hatch and feed live Baby brine shrimp. At the size your fry are they will probably still take BBS and if so they will not pass it by unless they are sick or the waters not good.

hth,
al

Hello,
I would think that 2-month old they would eat as horses and anything that would come in front of them. So I guess the best would be if the user ensured water parameters are in check. I was successful in breading a few times and all my fry ate like crazy.

[brewmaster15]

"2 month old" really means very little. Alot depends
on the care they got during that 2 months at the breeders and what they were fed.

The op says they came from a tank of 400 fry and about quarter size and 2 months old. That would have to be a very huge tank or the breeder was changing tons of water daily and feeding much to raise them well.

In this thread...http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?134398-2-month-fry&p=1311446&highlight=#post1311446


I finally opened my bottle of instant live brine shimp I was saving for new fry. They seem to be eating it. Everything else they ignored. These are the runt out of his 500 or so fry so maybe that's what happened.

Hence my suggestion on the hatching baby brine shrimp.

Honestly though if these were the runts of huge tank of fry and are 2 months old they probably never had much of any appetite and should have been culled by the breeder.

These fry have alot of baggage from before op got them.

hth,
Al

[Lewjo11]

I am having luck with live instant brine. At least 1/2 scape the bottom of the tank on the sides.. fun to watch. I have been doing 60 to 70% water changes. Once a day as I'm busy with work. Yesterday and day before 90%.. I paid $250 for the 2, 6 inch discus and I asked for these. It's my challenge. I'm down to 10 now. Dont think they would have had any chance if I didn't take them. Tank is now at 32c so about 89f..does anyone think I should try higher? Also have the new larger discus at same temp. I use aged water. At least 24 hours.

[brewmaster15]

I am having luck with live instant brine. At least 1/2 scape the bottom of the tank on the sides.. fun to watch. I have been doing 60 to 70% water changes. Once a day as I'm busy with work. Yesterday and day before 90%.. I paid $250 for the 2, 6 inch discus and I asked for these. It's my challenge. I'm down to 10 now. Dont think they would have had any chance if I didn't take them. Tank is now at 32c so about 89f..does anyone think I should try higher? Also have the new larger discus at same temp. I use aged water. At least 24 hours.

I understand. The problem is though that when you take a breeders runts/stunts and put your time into trying to raise them, it usually doesn't go well. If the fish were good stock for growing out they would have not been the Runts/stunts.. If you do succeed in growing some out and they turn out ok, thats great, but imagine what you could do with the fry that were not runts given the same amount of care you are giving them? Theres a reason why conscientious breeders cull their sick, weakly, and runted /stunted fry rather than pass them on to others. They almost never will grow well, and if they do grow they usually will have deformities, or have bad shape.. I'm not telling you this to make you give up on these fry....just so that you and others reading this know the odds are not good in this situation,

Good luck though, I hope they do turn out well for you. If you can you should start a journal thread on it to document their development.

hth,
al

[LizStreithorst]

You nailed it, Al.

[Lewjo11]

I also agree. I have a couple of proven pair as well. If anything I will gain experience. It's fun for now. It's an experiment. Look like I'll soon be down to 9 or 8. Will try a small increase of 90.5 degrees. Maybe this will help. Worth a shot. I know that one degree made the difference couple times before with my adults..

[warblad79]

Some breeder don't cull their fish to make more profit. There's no way out of 400 without any cull/runt.