Discus floating upside down

[Irfan Shaikh]

I have set up my new aquarium of 120L ( i understand its small tank will have big one soon) a week before and i bought all 10 discus from one the aquarium from one of the house pet (not from market) as all fishes were in good health and vibrant color and form good community. I have used same tank water almost 70% in my new aquarium to keep all beneficial bacteria and recycle my tank at earliest.

Out of 10, 8 fishes are around 4-5 inches (fin to fin) two are small babies about 2 inches.

After a week i have observed two issues as mentioned below.

1. One of the good fish was floating upside down in mid of the tank from yesterday and stop eating.
2. One of the mature fish is most of the time going away from community and prefer to stay alone most of the time and i guess she was having issue in proper floating/swimming as well.And she stops eating from last two days.

I am providing same food what the earlier pet owner used to have but he used to provide once a day i am giving them food twice a day. from last couple of day i am giving frozen beef heart/frozen worms in addition to that discus granule.

As this is my first experience of keeping discus so m bit nervous now as i love all my fishes and dont wanna loose them.

Yesterday i have replaced first time (after 5 days) 40% water and added fresh tap water after storing it for 48 hours and added anti chlorine and added bacteria stability solution. I did not check my water parameters yet.

I would really appreciate the detail answer

[unicast]

Looks like swim bladder disorder. Low probability to heal.

[Iminit]

Sorry but 120l is about 30g. So if you’ve got 10 discus at those sizes in a 30 gal. Your going to have problems. You will need to change probably 90% of the water daily for a good chance of keeping them alive. Next you should be looking for at least a 90g or bigger tank. That’s 360l or bigger.

[bluelagoon]

70% of old dirty tank water in your new tank; is that correct? Five days in dirty water is a long time for young discus. There are no BB in the water column; it would be on the surfaces of the objects in the tank and filter. If the dirty water came from another cycled tank with fish you may have cross contaminated the discus.

[Theioz]

This sounds like new tank syndrome to me. Beneficial bacteria doesn't grow in the water column -- It usually grows on surfaces like bluelagoon has said. Using old filter media, substrate, or decorations is a good way of cycling a new tank. Ideally, you should give your new tank an opportunity to cycle and test the waters daily.

Let us know how the water parameters are when you have the chance. Sorry to hear this happening to your discus. Also -- having 10 discus in such a small tank would require daily water changes. There was probably an ammonia spike in your tank that's affecting your fish. The best bet now is to change your water daily, test your waters, and go from there.

[Afgp87]

Try to store the for 24hrs and do 80 to 90% every day make sure you have a heater and keep age water in same temp of the tank do that until you have everything stable you should not have problems in a 120 litres with 10 discus if you do daily water change with age water at the same temp i know a breeder that doesn't believe in beneficial bacteria and he have great results i don't tell you to do that but for the time being until you have everything stable, like this you don't have to rush the new tank do a proper cycle to the nee tank before you put the fishs.

[bhay]

your aquarium , according expert here is to small.. the rule is 10 g for one discus.. But if you don't have big aquarium. You must change your water daily about 90 %.
i saw jack wetley discus channel.

check below video for you reference..


https://youtu.be/zYUxDlpFiJ4

[OrangeG]

Irfan please provide the water parameters and other informations. It will help everyone give you a better solution to your problem.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?38545-Disease-Questionnaire-please-complete

[dspeers]

Given that your tank is about 25-33% of what would be a good volume, I would think that even 90% daily is probably insufficient. Until you can either get a bigger tank, or a second tank and split your discus up I would check parameters twice daily and let that be your guide for how much volume to change. Please get back with your numbers for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Also test your tap water at least once to see what you are putting in. Also what filtration, substrate, aeration do you have in your tank? Also what dechlorinator are you using, might consider switching to Seachem to protect against nitrites and ammonia till tank cycled.

Also review this thread, pretty good discussion regarding water changing issues. http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?136642-Aging-Aerating-water&highlight=aging+water

[tonytheboss1]

:book: Agree w/ dspeers above.
I would check parameters twice daily and let that be your guide for how much volume to change Excellent advice!! Prepare to be a 'slave' to your situation until you can either upgrade your tank or downsize, split, rehome your group. "T"