Just got my first pair of Discus!

[Fishaholic]

I am so excited ;D

They are a pair of 2.5" Turqoise. I checked out a few LFS' in town and ended up at the one I trust the most of course. I could not believe the quality of them. I am by no means a Discus expert, but these were by far the most round (no footballs) fish I had looked at and had the nice small red eye.

They're currently in the bag being acclimated to my pH level, which is about 1.5 points higher than the LFS (5.6 to 7.2) :o so I am taking my time.

They are going into my 48g with some Rainbows and an Angel of the same size. They should be fine together, but if not, the Discus will certainly not be the fish that have to leave.

They are so cool :D

[slicksta]

Go Fishaholic......it's your birthday!!!

[Carol_Roberts]

I hope you have them in the tank by now. Discus do OK going into higher pH and they hate being in bags :o

[Fishaholic]

I hope you have them in the tank by now. Discus do OK going into higher pH and they hate being in bags :o


Yes, I released them after about 3 hours in the bag. It was longer than I wanted to keep them in there, but I did manage to get the pH within half a point. Whether or not that 3 hours will make up for the other point, I don't know.

They seem a little disorientated and are just kind of checking things out, but I'm sure they'll be fine.

[DarkDiscus]

Fishaholic,

Congratulations on your first discus!

John

[mench]

Congrats on the new fish,just a word of advice...lose the angel...discus +angels= trouble....maybe not right away but you WILL have problems down the road.I am speaking from experence.
Also don't be so concerned about ph,discus are tough guys when it comes to ph,just don't let it get either way too high..upper 8 or 9 or too low 4's...you will do fine...good luck

Mench

[Fishaholic]

One question. About how long do you figure it will take them to get comforatable. They seem to be doing fine, but they still have the vertical black bars showing... I was told this is a sign of stress. Just curious if I should be worried about them if they don't go away soon. They have been in the tank about 18 - 20 hours.

[hunterbeav]

Fish sometimes it takes as little as a couple of days. And sometimes it takes a week or more. It depends if there in a high traffic area or if shadows are present alot. I always add salt ( No-iodized) 1 tablespoon per 10 gal of water. And raise temp to 88 deg. for 4 to 5 days. This will help them settle in. Good luck and Congrats to you :)

[April]

Congratulations on your new discus. by a pair do you mean you bought two discus? as you said their 2. 5 inches. they are not a pair in breeding pair are they? as small..young fish?
keep us posted on how they are doing.

[Fishaholic]

Congratulations on your new discus. by a pair do you mean you bought two discus? as you said their 2. 5 inches. they are not a pair in breeding pair are they? as small..young fish?
keep us posted on how they are doing.


No, they are two different fish, each about 2.5". They aren't a breeding pair as I'm sure they can't be more than a few months old, and I'm not sure what sex they are either.

They still seem to be doing fine. When the tank light goes out at night they lose the bars for the most part, so they must feel more comfortable. I don't want to leave it off all the time and screw up the day/night cycle though. They stick together for the most part which is great, they seem to get along.

We'll see how they are doing in a few days, they haven't really been interested in food up to this point... but I expected that.

[hunterbeav]

Whats the temp in the tank??

[Very Fishy]

Fishoholic,

Congrats on the new fish and good luck! I just got my first 4 discus (3" Tangerines) 2 weeks ago. It took them 9 days before they started eating :oand they are only now starting to feel more comfortable in the tank. They still do not swim towards me as I approach the tank but I am trying to be patient with them. :)I found that once they started to peck at each other, this is a sign they are getting settled and they should start to eat soon after that. Previously I had an Angelfish but I traded him away with others in preparation for setting up the Discus tank. I also removed my substate and rocks and now have a bare bottomed tank. It is so much easier and faster to clean now.

[liz]

Good luck with them.

[Fishaholic]

Whats the temp in the tank??


The tank is constant at 83 - 84 degrees.

They seem do be doing well. They have started to eat a little bit, even coming to the top of the tank when I put my hand up there. They still have the bars, but I'm hoping that will pass.

Very fishy, good luck with the new fish as well. Post some pics if you can :). I would, but I can't seem to find my camera :-\ lol.