I need any and all advice to save my fish

[TamSam]

Ok from the beginning.
First discus my boyfriend decided to buy on a whim...I asked him not to...he has been breeding african cichlids for years and thinks he's a pro at all fish. TI asked the pet store manager what to do to get the water prepared and he said " nothing you're buying a dead fish" so no help there...so he insists on getting the fish no tank ready or anything...and i start scrambling for information at another store...i got ph adjust and water buffer and prime and you name it as well as the test strips. so i managed to add boiling water to our 10 gallon that we keep ready for babies while i prepared the 30 gallon for the discus. thankfully "trooper" our turquoise Discus thrived...and i do mean thrived ...he is one healthy looking fish!

So now my boyfriend thinks i am some fish god/guru or something and bought another (again without my consent)...he's doing ok as well but may end up being the runt.

oh by the way i moved them to the bigger tank...then of course he wants a third one...all from different stores btw. i talked with the fish guys for a long while and he tested my water...said the nitrates would kill them and to do a 90% change...which scares the hell out of me...but i was willing to do a 50 4 days in a row...my boyfriend on the other hand is convinced i will kill them if i do the change...so i got away with 2 X 25% so far. Notartes are still of the charts....filter is clean...tank is spotless...i don't know what to do!!
water is 84 right now too. first and second fish look great...third looks tired.

Oh i am also getting the 55 gallon ready for them...have to move the cichlids to the two 30 gallon tanks i still have the baby tank and another 10 i can set up for quarantine...this is getting expensive!!!

I will go check for stringy white poop...but i have algae eaters in there too!
nope no white poo that i can see just some bloodworm debris and blackish poo

did i miss anything?
oh and yes I AM AN IDIOT FOR GETTING INTO THIS
i think they are beautiful...and i also think that Sam would kill them in 2 days
so now they are my babies

[Dissident]

I would do as much reading here about setting up discus tanks. IME store-clerks really do not know all that much, and if they do it is a little here and there and what they know is out-of-date.

read read read read read read read read read Quarintiene!

putting new fish in with healthy ones will lead to nothing but a tank of sick/dieing/dead fish, espically if you get them at your (multiple) LFS (and probably paying way to much for them).

If nitrates are as high as you say they are you have to get clean water in there ASAP. If the 90% change scares you the go a head and do a week worth's of 50% (read how to do waterchanges for discus first). Make sure the new water is subtiable for the new tank.

Use the search feature here, it is the best friend you will ever have. And will get you answers the fastest.

Talk to your BF about getting discus from a better source if you really want more. I would make sure you have the current situation under control first then look to get new fish after you set up a quarintiene tank.

Hang in there and learn all you can. There is a lot that goes with this particular end of the fish-keeping hobby. A lot more than goes with keeping African/whatever Cichlids.

Again, plz don't get any more fish untill you are ready to provide proper care and subtiable homes for them.

[Alight]

OK, a bit of warning about the water changes. If your nitrates are off the charts, it's a good bet that your Dissolved Organic Compounds and other dissolved solids are, too.

What this means is that if you do a 90% water change, you may indeed kill your fish. Your fish have become accustomed to water that, if you continue to keep them in it, will indeed also kill your fish. So, what to do?

You do need to get your nitrates down to 10ppm or at least 20 ppm. But you will need to do it slowly. I'd stick with 25% per day for three or four days, then go to 50% each day, until you get the nitrates down to 40 ppm or less. Once you get the nitrates down to 40 ppm or less, you can change as much water as you like, as long as it is aged water, or you are sure that your tap water is OK for a large change. Some tap water has large amounts of CO2 or very little O2, and will kill your fish if you don't age it for 6 - 24 hours first.

Once you get your nitrates down to 10-20 ppm, monitor how long it takes to go higher, and do a 50 -70% water change when it does. You'll eventually find out how often you need to change your water to keep it that way. For 3 adult Discus in a 55 gallon tank, this averages about every 4-6 days. For 3 in a 30 gallon tank every other day.