extremely skittish Discus....

[paps]

I have 3- 3 1/2" discus, along with 12 neons and 3 small rams in a 55 gallon bare bottom. The discus eat very well, their feces is normal consistancy, colors are great and their fins are always erect. As soon as I enter the room, or make any movement the discus bolt to the corner of the tank to cower behind my sponge filter. a minute or 2 after I add food to the tank they slowly make their way out and eat voraciously.... but if I stand up or move they dart back to the corner! The other fish are fine. I'm wondering if high nitrite readings could cause this? They are great fish except for this.

[Squiggy]

paps....high nitrites would kill them...High nitrates can make fish skittish. ;)

There are many, many factors that can contribute to skittishness. The more common are vibrations, backlighting, shadows....

Joe

[Darren's Discus]

Paps,
I'm with Joe on this check all levels and it sounds like you have some very bad shadows being cast over your tank scaring the fish check those things and let us know how you go !


cheers

[GrillMaster]

I imagine you havent had them to long. They will get use to you in time.

There are alot of things that could make them skiddish. You never mentioned how high the N03 readings were.

Lots of things will make em skiddish...Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, new tank, Joe mentioned vibrations, shadows, backlighting etc...

If the water paramaters are satisfactory, It is just a matter of an adjustment period.

Make sure the ph an temp are stable when ya do a WC, an the water is dechlored, decloramined.

Mark

[RedneckDaveAb]

We put a background on the back of our tank and this seemed to help quite a bit. I suggest you give it a try. They seem to feel much safer and are now much more comfortable

Dave:D

[Upper Canada]

Paps,

would it be possible to show an overall picture of the tank?

-how high is it from the floor?

-a group of 6 would be better than 3, in my opinion.

-the risk in having to wait a long time for them to become accustommed to an enviroment that they are not relaxed in is that the stress can allow them to become sick before they become relaxed.

Bob