discus fry problem

[prashi110]

Hey,
I shall explain my tank setup first.
I have a bare bottom 30 gallon tank with 3 rocks and a few artificial plants. It has a sponge filter and a heater. I previously owned an arowana with a different setup and now I removed the arowana and have got 12 Disucs fries. They are around 1 cm right now. The LFS guy said they are 15 days old when I bought them 2 days back. He said they shall eat the mix that he gave me to feed them. He said he fed them that so I bought that. They were very active the first day. I also do vacumming and WC every alternate day. So now today is my third day with the discus. I notice that they go into the plants and hide in them for hours and hide underneath rocks or behind the filter. When I throw in food the tetras eat and leave the rest but the discus dont come out to eat. I have seen a few of them eat but not all. They keep hiding. Is this because of strong lighting or because the tank should not have decorations. I know 3-4 LFS people so all give me different advice. Today one of them handed me a Oxycure pack from aqumedi and said this would make them active again. I have just added as prescribed and now waiting. If you have any suggestions let me know. I have a 2 ft tubelight on top of the tank which is quite bright. Please help. I really want all 12 of them to grow fast and even live long. P.S. I think the mix given to me is a beefheart mix thingy.

[Tropical Haven]

I see a few problems with this.

1. At the age that you got them they need large amounts of water changes twice a day to keep them healthy. Can not believe that a pet store would sell them at that age to begin with.

2. The biggest no no is that you put them in with other fish which is an ideal scenerio for diseases.

3. At that size you need to have them in their own tank and bare bottom so there are no uneaten food left behind.

[Peachtree Discus]

3. At that size you need to have them in their own tank and bare bottom so there are no uneaten food left behind.

i totally agree with Scott. is this your first experience with discus? keeping discus can be a challenge in itself...let alone 15 day old fry.

don't worry about the light. if you want growth....you are going to need to feed them 4-8 times daily...preferably with no other fish in the tank. they are going to need large daily water changes.

this is a vital part of their life and will set the foundation for them reaching their potential. planted (non bb) is, IMO, not good for this stage.

[kenhappen2u]

sounds like they are just needing to adjust to the new tank ...sometimes it can take up to a week or longer for them to start eating and being more social . them hiding is normal at this stage of the game ... you could take the rocks out untill they become more adjusted then return them to the tank . the beefheart mix you got from the LFS is prolly not what you should be feeding them at this age... they need ground up flake and tiny peices of pellet food not beefheart . IMO 15 days old is rather young for a pet store to be selling them .

Ken

[AADiscus]

I totally agree that they should have not sold anyone discus that young unless you are experienced with fry that age. You do need them in there own tank with no decorations or anything in there with them. You need to do as many feedings a day you possibly can. Do not over feed at the feeding though. Try to do at least a 50% wc everyday. You can start feeding them any type of food at this age. Shaved bh (only when you are going to be doing a wc after) FBW (shaved or cut up small) flakes. You will conflicting information from LFS. They want you to by there products so they will try to sell you all kinds of stuff that you really do not need. All you need is good water and food and you TLC!

[MostlyDiscus]

Prashi110,


All good info there. I used to get fish from Jack years ago and the fish were small as compared to what you get today. I agree with the info you have recieved though. They were most likely feed Live Baby Brine Shrimp untill they were sold. Even if they have been on BH etc.. a few days the best way to get them eating(attacking) food is to feed live BBS. Trust me it will work. There should be some info on how to raise live BBS on this site. Good Luck, Ed

[prashi110]

Hey,
I did not reply in the last few days because tried out the recommendations.
As per recommendation all the plants and decorations and gravel is gone. Now it is just a bare bottom tank. As per recommendation separated the tetra fishes too. All I have in there right now are 12 baby discus who are fed atleast 3-4 times a day. They are 22 days old now and a progress in size is noticable. I do a 25% water change everyday and also add oxycure as recommended by the LFS. The guy did not force me to buy the beef heart mixture instead I was the one who asked him about it and then purchased it from him. My babies are eating it very well now after the addition of oxycure from aquamedi which has really worked and also a complete bare bottom tank. I hope they grow well. There are 2 of them which I think have a swim bladder problem and may need to be culled but rest are awesome. Here in India Baby Brine Shrimp is available only in packaged food. You can hatch here. Even getting beef heart is a big deal that is why told the LFS to make it because that is what they feed their discus so just thought that it would not be bad if they feed it themselves. Also I know the LFS guy through family so I am sure he wont recommend wrong. To make sales I agree he has sold discus and goldfish to a person and told him to keep them together without issues but he would not do anything as such to me. I have also gone through alot of videos and discus articles and forums and gained knowledge before purchasing discus and as I did not have a handsome budget he got me babies. As per the forum pictures of fry growth and videos of fry growth 10 of my fries are on the right path. I just hope i suceed in keeping them with the 30% water change a day. Will keep you updated. Thanks alot for all you help.

[prashi110]

Some of them have now grown and I can see a few stripes on them. I yet dont know what kind of discus they really are.

[Roxanne]

You said you know he sells discus to people and tells them it's ok to keep them with GoldFish????Are your for real??? He might do favours for you, but what about the other people - that is us - AND the poor damned discus? He's a scumbag, why don't you do us a favour a name him?:mad:

[prashi110]

Yes I do know its not right and he also keeps discus with goldfish and without any heater or chiller in all seasons. Its here in India man. Over here they done exactly understand how fish are actually to be kept. He would advice you upto his knowledge. Trust me the advice on forums and various sites totally variate from the advice he gives me.

[Roxanne]

Sorry, Didn't mean to bite your head off mate, but I have kept goldfish and they are stinky and they foul the water so bad, the last thing I would ever keep with a goldfish is a discus because they really need unpolluted water. IMO It just seems really cruel to me, though I am not having a go at you personally. If the guy is just misinformed and not cruel, then I shouldn't have used the word scumbag, I'll change that if you don't mind to ignoramous! How's that? Maybe you can educate HIM with the great stuff you'll learn off this site. LOL

[Tropical Haven]

I agree, never keep goldfish with discus.

[prashi110]

I tried telling him but that dude has been running the shop since 30 years so I dont think he would take my advice. Next time I go to his shop and if that goldfish and discus tank together one is there then I shall click a pic and upload it !

[prashi110]

Hi,
Just an update. 9 out of 12 of the fry have survived and are growing fairly well. touch wood. Today I spotted some white web like thing growing on the floor of the glass of my tank as its a bare bottom. I had a major water change and tried scratching it off. It is gone for now. I hope these discus grow well.

[Moon]

I agree, never keep goldfish with discus.

This is interesting. I've heard of very experienced discus keepers having gold fish with their growing discus. The theory is that gold fish will eat all of the left over food and keep the tank clean. As mentioned this is hear say and I have not seen it.

[Roxanne]

...ok...and what happens when after they've eaten all that stinky old food....stinky poo and stinky wee yeah? I'm no bio scientist but they appear to give out way more ammonia than discus do...and with the amount of water changes a baby discus needs, IME I can't see it being a good thing, but thats just me..prashi says that guy has gotten away with it for 30 years, so I don't know...get the brewmaster or Larry or John to weigh in...:confused:

[prashi110]

talking about various fish being mixed i found this video on youtube. check it out
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=cm6R6me9AyM

[Roxanne]

he could put more discus in there if he didn't have all those stinky goldfish...:p:D


Here's something to think about..(Scratch a cynic and underneath you will find a disillusioned idealist) ....How do you know the person wasn't given those fish like yesterday and he's thrown them all in a tank together and turned on a video camera? Let's see how those discus are looking in a few weeks...i'm not saying I'm a discus expert Prashi baby, but I do know goldfish and they can survive in filth, but a discus can't cos they are a way more sensitive fish than a goldfish....he hasn't got that many in there, who knows, maybe they're fine??? But, I wouldn't want to put my $200 fish in with a $5 goldfish! The more I learn, the more I realise how little I know...but I do know one thing, if the water ain't right, the discus won't be either. It's almost like ASKING for problems. I think it's Larry's quote about looking after the water and the fish looking after themselves.;)

[prashi110]

lol....roxy all i can say right now is that the lfs guy i know is yet keeping them together. i have actually been going to check on them almost daily. he has been keeping them with no issues. i guess he must be doing huge water changes to maintain that. because he has a way tooo crowded tank and that too with not compatible fishes ie discus and goldfish. crowded in the sense it is just a usual 20 gallon tank and it consists of 14 discus as of todays count which are between 2.5-3" each and he has kept goldfishes of the same size 15 of them. so it clearly shows it is way tooo much to be held in one tank even individually and believe it or no he had more yesterday....must have sold some.....i forgot my cellphone in my car today so could not get a video of it today....will try to get one by tomorrow or atleast a picture.....btw....my fry are doing very well...finally i got baby brine shrimp eggs today and have put them up to hatch....i was searching for them since I got my fry....made them have finely grinded beefheart mix uptil then so growth rate was damn slow. today i got these so i hope the growth rate jumps sooon.....!