Still having tank problem.

[TJT]

Ive been going threw problems, first it was all my fist in my 90g were at the surface of the water looking like they were trying to eat/breath off the surface. After lowering the temp to 84 they seemed to be ok.

about 2 months later i had a crazy blood pigon take over the tank and torture/attack the other 5 discus i had in the tank(got really bad when i added the last 2). so after rerranging the tank(removing 100$ pcs of drift wood) he still wouldnt let the other fish swim, so i set up my 25g and moved him.

so a couple weeks went buy one of my blue discus started to hide a lot. one day i couldnt find him he wedged himself between the back glass and a rock. i moved the rock and he found another hiding spot for 3 days. wouldnt eat never moved. So i got the great idea to move him to the QT tank with the blood pigon with a divider. well later that night he was swimming sideways and really not looking good at all. so i moved him BACK to my main tank because my qt tank can only get to about 86 so i moved my main tank up to 88 too see if i could get his appitite up and maybe get over whatever was going on. Within a hour he was dead.

THEN the last 2 days my fish have all been at the surface of the water again "gasping" for air or doing whatever they are doing. i lowered them temp back to 84 because this seems to be a problem whenever i raise it past 84, but as i understand it discus dont mind warmer water(86-88)

im really stressing out and after 2 years i dont expect to know everything but these constant problems make me want to tear it down and get rid of it all.

i just tested all my water and it seems to all be in check. Im starting to question my water source as a problem(i use tap water) i dont have a chlorine/chloromine(sp?) testing kit but does this sound like it could be one of these 2? i add the water conditioners every wc.

Some advice would be helpful.

[hakka_deimos]

well when water temps get raised, the water cant hold as much oxygen as it did .. look it up its pretty dramatic .. anyways i tell people anything above 85 its good to have a bubbler in the tank to help oxygen transfer in to the water

on another note ... if you live in the city you prolly have chlorine/chloramites in your water so you should check on that

and if you could post a detailed description of your tank/setup,fish and there behavior/excrement, water quality and the #s,i know the people here are more than willing to help ya out ... and dont get discouraged

[Roxanne]

...how much aeration do you have going on? hot temps deprive the water of oxygen so you'll need more, but I don't think that's your main problem...what's your tap & tank PH, and nitrite levels at? If you're using water conditioner, it will break up the chlorine....how often do you do water changes, and are they worse after it or better?

[TJT]

0 nitrate
0 ammonia
ph 7.4
kh 80 mg/l
gh is 180 so the chart says moderatly hard.

I live in calgary alberta i know my water is hard. last time i checked the city water site they were not adding chloromine too it, but i do live in an appartment and wonder if theres any filtering the building can do.

My last place i never had these problems with the fish all at the surface of the water.

BAislcy everyting in my tank is at the surface breathing normaly with the exception that they are all about 45 degrees with there mouth at the surface. When i approach the tank and feed them they all move all over the tank for about 10 minutes. After they eat they all go back to the surface. I do have a aquaclear powerjet putting air into the tank so i would be really surprised if oxegen in the water is the problem.

I do at least 1 50%wc a week, the last 3 weeks ive done 2 a week because i noticed the blue turq discus was hiding lots so i was trying too keep the water really clean for him.

My last water change was sunday morning. Also i have a QT tank now with my red blood pigeon. use the same water to WC him and he looks compleatly healthy. i have no bubbles going into that tank at all either... im so confused.

[TJT]

I just found out my flow rate from my filter is absolutly horrible. the water is barely moving threw the filter.

My spray bar is usualy submerged so i didnt notice it until now(sorta been looking over everything i can in the tank)

I just cleaned all my hoses on my ehiem 2217 2 weeks ago and it was circulating really well even before i cleared them out. I did a rinse of the filter media with aquarium water and removed the carbon filter so i dont know why the flow rate has basicly stopped. im going to take out of from behind my tank, but my ammonia and nitrite/nitrate lvls are still all fine. :confused:

I have 2 smaler power heads in this tank as well so i have good water movement.

[Roxanne]

try this first....test your ph at 6 hour intervals to see if there is a swing going on.....second add venturi hoses to your powerheads and let the sray bar sit above the water surface, add an airstone.....see how they are in a few hours...check the impellers of the eheim too.

You said it's only in one tank...sounds like your biggest tank needs more movement but monitor PH just in case...is there plants in your tank? Check there's nothing funky stuck under a rock ot something cos it can poison the water and if you don't do water changes often the poison stays in the tank...

Just Suggestions before you go medicating

Rox

[TJT]

Tested ph 3 times today, hasnt changed from 7.4. I also changed the 2 foam filter midia and cleaned the hoses, and the flow rate is probably 50 times better.

Before i did anything to the filter the fish seemed to go back to normal. They arent at the surface anymore. The 2 blue turq discus i have are really dark though now, probably from being stressed.

I guess half the problem too this is i dont know what the problem is and how i really corrected it. I always had a air line in one of my power heads so i cant really think its O2 problem. my smaller qt tank never bothered the discus i had in there so i doubt it was the WC, or anything thats in my tap water. My nitrites and ammonia was never a problem. I guess i should just be happy things are relativly ok, but im going to keep an eye on my discus they are pretty stressed out

Any suggestions to get them to relax a bit? i assume just keeping my tank clean and feeding them often. things i always try to do anyways :angel:

[Roxanne]

I'm going to assume that the filter foam you speak of is not from old furniture/mattresses or anything like that.....and assuming they aren't 'sick'...

If you have been doing 50% waterchanges/week for a long time, without pumps working properly, or enough circulation, the oxygen in the water is slowly being depleted in that tank over time, I don't believe simply lowering the temp is going to replenish oxygen already spent...you've got circulation, but not aeration..a bunch of airstones & up that aeration until it's got waves like Waikiki, and get that surface moving..do at least one, 50% water change a day for a couple of days...if you do all that and there's still a problem, then at least you can eliminate that scenario

You said you were doing them at least once per week, try to simplify/organise your waterchange regime so you can fit in at least 2/week of 60-70%(after they improve) at the minimum, without it encroaching on your lifestyle....your discus will thank me for it:D

If you consider these things, and you have tested your PH over at least a 24 hour period and it is not moving around, then you can look at other things...what do their poops look like BTW?



Rox

[Kristin]

The same thing happend to me. All of my fish in the tank were gasping for air. We did not know what to do so we called our pet shop. They told us to do a water change now!!! We changed the water and they all stoped gasping for air. Why it worked i am not sure. We did not add anything new to the tank. But it worked thank god or we would have lost all of our fish not just the discus. Next time it happens just change your water and see what happens.

[TJT]

been a couple days since the filter has been running really well, all my fish look much better. I guess it had to do with the water flow. i do have 2 powerheads but the filter wasnt moving much water at all.

the colors in my blue turqs are really comming out and they are all eating again. One of my discus isnt eating as much as i would like is there any ideas into getting them eat more other then playing with the water temp? I usualy feed with dried discus food im thinking of going to pick up some frozen blood worms.

[DiscusKeeper403]

0 nitrate
0 ammonia
ph 7.4
kh 80 mg/l
gh is 180 so the chart says moderatly hard.

I live in calgary alberta i know my water is hard. last time i checked the city water site they were not adding chloromine too it, but i do live in an appartment and wonder if theres any filtering the building can do.

My last place i never had these problems with the fish all at the surface of the water.

BAislcy everyting in my tank is at the surface breathing normaly with the exception that they are all about 45 degrees with there mouth at the surface. When i approach the tank and feed them they all move all over the tado have a aquaclear pownk for about 10 minutes. After they eat they all go back to the surface. I erjet putting air into the tank so i would be really surprised if oxegen in the water is the problem.

I do at least 1 50%wc a week, the last 3 weeks ive done 2 a week because i noticed the blue turq discus was hiding lots so i was trying too keep the water really clean for him.

My last water change was sunday morning. Also i have a QT tank now with my red blood pigeon. use the same water to WC him and he looks compleatly healthy. i have no bubbles going into that tank at all either... im so confused.

Check how quickly the fish are breathing, if they are gasping quickly that is also an indicator. Oxygen could very well be the problem, as I talked to a Discus keeper who was having problems with his tank and fish gasping at the top. He had more then what was recommended for his tank (can't remember the exact amount) and it still wasn't enough oxygen. If I where you I would run to your closest pet store and just grab a air pump rated for around 90 gallons.

I thought I have heard that gasping can sometimes be a sign of parasites? Don't quote me on that one though.


In one of my tanks occasionally every 5 months or so, for no reason a fish would go off feed, stray from the group normally up in a corner, loose color and after a month or so without eating he would die. I still have no idea what was wrong with them! I had three left they seemed healthy and I sold them to a guy who says they are doing great in his tank. My other tank I've had for a while now and had no problems. Just upgraded from a 30 grow out to a 90 gallon all fish have been fine for a good 7-8 months. Who knows, it could be the water.

Good to see another Discus keeper from Calgary. :)

Hope the fish get better.

All the best,

Connor

[Eddie]

been a couple days since the filter has been running really well, all my fish look much better. I guess it had to do with the water flow. i do have 2 powerheads but the filter wasnt moving much water at all.

the colors in my blue turqs are really comming out and they are all eating again. One of my discus isnt eating as much as i would like is there any ideas into getting them eat more other then playing with the water temp? I usualy feed with dried discus food im thinking of going to pick up some frozen blood worms.

Hey TJ, glad to hear your fish are doing well. Might try to use some flake ON Prime Reef gets'em almost every time. Blood worms will be taken very easily but I find if a fish is a picky eater already and you give him FBWs, he will get even pickier. He'll start to only eat FBWs. FBWs are not a good source of nutrients for Discus. They are like potato chips for adults, kind of like junk food.


Here is a link for reference

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=67913&highlight=bloodworms


HTH
Eddie