Be honest about this

[jdr3366]

Hi all,

This might be a question for a poll on Simply, but I will just ask for comments from the group.

After you buy a group of 4 or 8 or 10 discus from your LFS or breeder, what percentage of them will be alive after one year? Perhaps we should separate mortality among juveniles and adults.

I think there is a tendency to underestimate discus mortality. As with other things in life, I think we underestimate our 'failures.'

Your replies are appreciated.

John R

[jdr3366]

In addition, please indicate whether you are a breeder or a casual discus hobbiest. Also, if your discus live in a bare or planted tank.

John R

[rickk]

Hi John

I'm brand new to the hobby, started in January this year. I have purchased 45 Discus so far. Up untill 3 weeks ago I had a 100% sucess rate. Then I purchased 25 discus which were imported, within a week I had lost 7 from the 25 and also 1 which I already had (slim) and I just lost 1 a week ago from an injury .

Being so new to the hobby this may not help you

Regards

Rick

[TnMark]

I bought my first 8 discus about 4 months ago. One died in a heater accident (my fault) and a second died mysteriously (unknown cause). The other 6 are doing well.
Mark

[Tristanyyz]

When I first got discus years ago, I killed them all. This was based upon bad advice from a LFS Manager, who told me fish like old tank water...etc.

Then I took a 5 year vacation from them, now I am back full force. I have 25 fish, and lost one, one inch blue snakeskin. He overate ::)

[bmrin1]

John
I think that all depends on you. With proper care they should all be alive. Accidents do happen like heaters sticking, fish jumping out etc. If none of these happen then if you bought from a reputable breeder then they should be healthy to start. Remember to always Qt new fish from your others.
The key is buying good stock. I am sure that I will make someone mad but stay away from lfs discus. You can get much better from a breeder.
I have made mistakes just like everyone else. Learning from them is important. I have killed more fish than had die due to disease. Proper husbandry is what makes or breaks your success.
We should never just expect that out of 10 fish 1 or 2 or so will die. We should expect that we will give the best care possible and they will all live.
Brian

[rickk]

Well said Brain

Rick

[jdr3366]

Hi Brian,

I agree with you in part. But you say "We should never just expect that out of 10 fish 1 or 2 or so will die." I disagree for the very reason you state: a certain number will die due to disease, or deficiencies in our husbandry — which is a pretty broad category.

The fact is that fish die. We don't want it to happen and we do the best we can to prevent early death. But we take fish and force them to live in unnatural conditions (IMO). It is certainly better than it was 20 years ago, and discus hobbiest appear to do more than most to keep their fish healthy under these unnatural conditions, I am just trying to get a feel for the mortality rate during the first year after introducing discus into a new setting.

Here is the reason I raise the queston. I have about 9 discus in a 180 gallon planted tank. I change about half the water each day, I have a UV filter, pH is 7 to 7.2. I have an algae overgrowth that causes me to vacuum the tank several times a week. I'm sure it is disruptive, but from what I hear, many discus hobbiests clean their tanks at least that often. So, I don't thnk this disruption is too terrible.

My problem is that I have discus who are doing well and then suddenly appear to be intimidated, hide, stop eating, and over the next month go down hill and eventually die. Is this due to a deficiency in animal husbandry (probably), or a natural event among fish?

Am I the only person experiencing this?

John R