I need help

[Lola]

Hi everyone, I have a 300L tank with 6 discus, the majority are still very small, around 1.5 inches. Actually I recently changed them to this tank (3 weeks ago). Before the change everyone was fine but since the change there are two pigeon bloods that have eaten almost nothing and the practically hide all day long. The ph is 6.5, Temp 29 degrees C, zero ammonia, hardness 18 (I know it's hard , I'm working on getting RO). There are two cannister filters being used one that was from the old tank so the bacterial colony should be fine and one that was installed 3 weeks ago when I set up the tank. Does anyone have any suggestions to get those two guys eating again?

[Howie_W]

Hi Lola and welcome to Simply! http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/happy/042.gif

First off, higher GH is not a problem and is actually perferable for growing out juveniles...you only need to consider RO for mature adults if you plan on breeding.

You don't mention how often you are performing water changes, or what the nitrate reading is...it should be zero as well.

To stimulate appetite you can raise the temp. up to 31 C. Once the appetites return slowy drop the temp. back down. Make sure all glass is wiped down, and equipment and filters stay clean.


Howie

[separatelife]

Because u have installed the tank for about 3 weeks, the BB should be well grown which leads to an established balance.

they are still under stress due to the moving. Discus sometimes can go without food for quite some time. Try to decrease the frequency of people walking pass the tank or any shadow. dont let other people approach to the tank to play with your fishes in order not to stress them further.

Dont worry too much if their only problem is not eating. Maybe they eat when you are not around. how is their stomach shape just by looking?
Make sure your water parameters dont change too much and you maintain good water quality too. Sometimes when no one is around in the house, try to leave some flakes in the tank, most probably they will come out to eat when they are starving. As long as now they dont show any other abnormal behavior, they should be able to get the not-eating period over.

it's based my own experience only.see how experts answer you.
Enjoy discus rearing! ;)

caca

[jeep]

What is your water changing routine? Do you age it before doing water changes? Do you do water changes? Do you treat for chlorine or chloramines?

First thing I would do is raise the temp to 31c (88F) and add regular table salt at around 2 TBS per 10 gallons...

Keep an eye on the rest. If they start the same thing then I would suspect your filter...

Keep us updated on their progress. At that size you don't want this to continue for long...

Good luck!!

[jeep]

Oops, Howie and caca posted while I was typing, LOL...

[Lola]

Thanks for all the advice. I do water changes twice a week, I don't know what my nitrates are. I also rememembered that i've seen these two flicking against the plants once in a while, the other 4 don't behave that way. Could they have flukes and would that stop them from eating? Also when the lights are off i do see them come out more, could it be that there is too much light for them?

[Lola]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I also treat for chlorines and chloramines and i make sure that my temp and pH are the same. I don't age the water though.

[funkyfish]

i'm not a exrert but i moved 5 discus to a new tank the other day with the lights out they will come out and eat with the lights on they will hide. they mit not be use to the new tank yet. a few more water changes mit help per week i do w\c's every day.try leaving the lights out for a few days if u can mit get them back to eating .not sure if flukes will keep them from eating or not i'm sure someone will tell u bout that

[Carol_Roberts]

Lola, your water numbers do not make sense . . . . how do you have a pH of 6.5 and a GH of 18?

Have you measured the pH from the tap and the pH in the tank? Are both 6.5? Are you adding acid to lower pH? With a GH of 18 I would think your pH would be 8+ in the tank. If your tap water is full of disolved CO2 the tap pH could easily be 6.5. If you are adding 50% 6.5 water to 50% 8.5 tank water you have instantly lowered the tank pH to 7.5. You will have very unhappy, acid burned discus who do not want to eat . . .

[Lola]

My tank pH is 6.5 because i lower it with discus buffer, out of the tap it's like 8.5 or so. The dH out of the tap is 25 and I lower it in the tank with peat. And I always test the tap water for ph and temp with each water change and match the new water to that.

[Lola]

I meant to say I always test the tank water...not the tap water

[Carol_Roberts]

With water as hard as yours I 'm amazed you can stabilize the pH and lower GH with peat and discus buffer. Just for peace of mind I would test the tank prior to water change, after water change and ever 4 hours this weekend to see what the pH actually does. If you pH does not raise naturally in the tank after 24 hours, either you have a very, very large peat bomb or softer water than you think.


When I was trying to lower my GH 12 water with muriatic acid my pH would bounce back to 7.8 within 24 hours.

[Lola]

maybe it's something in the discus buffer because when i first started almost 6 months ago to lower the ph it would do that, bounce back up to 7.8-8 but when i started using the discus buffer it has remained stable now for months. And i am somewhat confused about the dH because out of the tap it tested to be 25 but at the same time the kH tested to be 6, I thought it would be higher but I don't know enough about water chemistry to know whats going on. i'll test the tap water again to see what the results are.