Question, question, question

[dred]

Hey folks,

No I'm not dead. And, I haven't lost any discus yet.

If you were wondering where I dissapeared to, well, I had a worlwind engagement and I picked up a new wife since I last posted here. Good news is: she loves the Discus, and I have more tanks now than before we met <smile>. Problem is: only a few are setup at our new house.

So, I have a QUESTION. In the last few days my discus have become seriously stressed ... possibly sick. I skipped a quarantine on three bristlenose plecos that I'd watched at the LFS for a month. Yeah, I know ... I was warned. It also happens that a Golden Threesome has become quite dominant (one male, 2 females) and they lay regularly. The females lay a couple days apart (they also respect each others nesting sites ... i.e., they don't try to attack or eat each others eggs) and the male moves between both ... they often swim together as a threesome when not laying.

I'm concerned that this arrangement has gone to the male's head. We heard him clicking quite regularly and very, very obviously late last night. The rest of the tank inhabitants were showing marked improvement ... then he started the clicking and everybody besides his females got very dark and very timid almost immediately. The clicking followed a feeding by a few minutes. The threesome appear unnafected by whatever is messing with the other fish.

So ... do I move the threesome out to relieve the stressor. Or is the clicking behavior harmless? All of these fish besides the plecos (all are Discus except the Plecos) were happy, colorful and laying eggs too until last week. Last week is also when the female golden's appeared to finally accept half ownership in their golden male.

So, this sounds like a soap opera, but ...

Thanks,
Dred

[brewmaster15]

Hi Dred,
Congrats on the marriage! and lucking out on also getting a spouse that likes discus.!! :)

Not sure what you mean by "Clicking?" Is he hitting the breeding cones..heaters etc?

If these lovebirds are stressing out the other fish...and you have more tanks ..I would set them up in their own tank..odds are one of the 2 females will get ostracized by a real pair forming... Then you can move her back the main tank... so she can find another mate.

hth,
al

[dred]

Thanks Brew,

Well, the clicking is an audible clicking noise (less than a clap, and a little louder than a snap) that we hear. We see the male discus doing something that we know is making the sound (can't describe his motions, but we can tell with certainty). He is free swimming (not touching anything in the tank) when he makes this noise. It is associated with a shake sort of behavior from him.

And, we can see/hear the clicking from the other side of the living room. This sound CARRIES. If he starts it again, I will try to get an MPEG.

Funny thing is ... 2/3 of this threesome was just returned to the community tank about three weeks ago since it is the only tank on my auto water change system right now. That's when the lonely female moved in and joined the pair. Alone, the pair attempts to lay weekly. I'm still not producing water that their eggs have any chance of survival in yet, so ... In the community tank, I have eggs every other day ... usually from part of this threesome. But, there is a fishroom waiting to happen in the garage <smile>.

I'm thinking it was the bristlenose, and a quarantine fubar ... hope I was entitled at least one, and I hope my Discus recover. Guess 7 months in isn't bad for finally experiencing a scare. Least it didn't happen till I got lazy <smile>. And I'm guessing external parasite since there is fin clamping and they are becoming lazy breathers (read: one sided behaviors). I wonder though ... because they are not flashing or scraping on anything. It also happens that only the goldens are out and about in the tank ... the rest are taking cover anywhere they can find it.

Wish I could give good WC info here, but ... new test kits are on my shopping list too. For now ... pH 7.4; 420-40 ms/210 ppm TDS; 86 degree target temp, but dropped to 80 overnight (I added another heater this morning).

Dred

[dred]

Nevermind folks.

Update: the breeding triplet was the hardiest triplet in the tank. They too are now suffering.

So ... wrong board for my questions.

Thanks though,

Dred