My first Discus

[shuggi]

Hi all,

Just purchased my first two Discus today and everything seems fine. After carefully floating them in their bag and adding tank water for an hour I released them to their new home. I put a small amount of food in the tank at the same time to distract my Rams and Tetras and let the new fish settle but was shocked to see my Discus eating just after entering the tank. Is this normal as i thought it more likely they would hide for a few days?

Anyway seven hours later I have fed them twice more and each time they feed as if they have been in the tank for months. It is two Marlbro Reds and they stay in veiw all the time and dont appear to have darkened at all. Have I got lucky or is this the norm?

I plan to add four more Discus in the next few weeks. Would I be ok adding different breeds or should I stick to the Malbros?

Thanks for any advice.

Shuggi

[Apistomaster]

Hi shuggi,
It just sounds like you bought healthy juvenile Discus and they like your aquarium water conditions. It is normal for them to behave the way yours are if all is well. Sounds like you are off to a good start.
Just do the water change mantra and feed the young ones a little food very frequently and they will soon be quite large.

[Darren's Discus]

Shuggi,
sounds like they settled in well , just remember to qt any new arrivals.


all the best


cheers

[AADiscus]

Glad they did so well for you in the first hours. You can always go with different strains in a tank. Make sure you QT your new ones from the ones already in your tank though. Also, I would not do the drip in the bag the fish are in. Just do a drop and plop so that you lower the risk of ammonia burns to the fins.

[Tropical Haven]

Congrats on the new arrivals, sounds like they settled in immediately. Post us some pics of those healthy fish. :D

[shuggi]

Thanks all.

Two days later and all still good. They are still feeding well and all water tests coming up good. The colours are still excellent and they are allways on show.

My plan is to keep six Discus with my Rams , Tetras and Apistos(Cokatoos). Has anyone any opinions on what strain or is that just a personal preforance? Do they interact with each other as well with different strains as they do with one single strain?

Thanks again.

I will post a few pics when i get the chance.

Shuggi

[wolfbane]

A rainbow of discus works as well as a one variety tank, it all depends on your taste in color. The fish should be the same size, or close to it, and yes, pls QT the new ones so as to keep any nasties from one set getting to the other.

[lshin037]

Are they still doing good? I'm really curious because I got a fully cycled tank ready for stocking, however, only thing keeping me from getting any discus right now is the strong recommendation by the majority of getting 6 discus to start.

[AmberC]

Hi there.. Congrats on your new fish! Sounds like they are doing awesome!! That is fabulous :D

[BC Mosaic]

Just do a drop and plop.......

Can you please elaborate. I don't think I quite understand this.
Thanks

[April]

open the bag..drain over a net over a bucket..and into the tank. no acclimation. i do it all the time...best to get them out of the bag water..and into clean water. when you open the bag..and add new water..the ammonia bcomes toxic and htey can get burns and gills fried. as long as your going up in ph not down..and up in temperature. or even its all good. if the ph was a huge jump..like from 7 to 8..youd fry the gills.

[Kindredspirit]

Drop and Plop!:)

[White Worm]

Grab it out of the bag by hand and put it in the tank.

[Clyde]

Do you let the bag sit in the tank to equalize temperature before the plop?

[Ed13]

open the bag..drain over a net over a bucket..and into the tank. no acclimation. i do it all the time...best to get them out of the bag water..and into clean water. when you open the bag..and add new water..the ammonia bcomes toxic and htey can get burns and gills fried. as long as your going up in ph not down..and up in temperature. or even its all good. if the ph was a huge jump..like from 7 to 8..youd fry the gills.
I have done this on thousands of fish(many bags with hundreds of tetras:p) and hundreds of times on saltwater fish, many rare(read $$$) with no problem. Getting them into clean water fast is much important and then there is the issue of the raise in pH making the ammonia in the water more poisonous after the bag is open and the CO2 is rapidly released(learn this from Graham:)).

Drip acclimatation is reserved for when the water in the bags is clean enough to allow for the time it takes to acclimate them, this I learn on Simply:)

[AADiscus]

You can float the bag to bring the temp up if needed. I normally don't though. If they have been sitting in that bag for almost 24 hrs, they are ready to get out into fresh clean water and spread there fins. ;)

[shuggi]

My two are still doing great.
The only problem is one is bullying the other which i think is down to only two Discus in the tank.
Would you suggest by passing the QT to stop the bullying or just go-ahead with the QT and accept it?

[AADiscus]

I would continue with the QT. You really don't want to take a risk getting anything into your other tank. Do you have any plants in your QT tank? I would keep it (QT tank) as simply as possible and watch them. If you have anything in there this gives them hiding places and then they will tend to just stay in that one place. You might also try putting one of your other discus from your active tank (one that you least like) and put it in your QT tank. This will also let you know how your QT is going. It will also help some or alot with the bullying issue.

[YSS]

With regards to quarantine, I don't recall that you quarantined your first two. It's only been a few days, right? If you are getting the other discus from the same source, I would say you don't really have to Quarantine the fish. But that's just me. I get all my discus from one source, and I never quarantine mine. But if I didnt' know what I was getting, then I would not risk it.