Help!!! One of my discus died!!!

[FishCraz]

Help! I'm new to discus, just bought 6 fry from Chicago and its been 3 weeks now since I had them. They are about 2"-3". I do 2 - 20% regularly water changes every week. I'm feeding them tetra cichlid flakes and blood-worms. ONE GUY JUST DIP OUT ON ME YESTERDAY!!! :confused: The other guys seems to be doing fine and healthy. They are eating like crazy. I feed them 3-4 times a day. My tank is bare bottom and water ranges at 85-87 degree. Anyone know why it died? And what should I do differently to help prevent them from dying in the future? :(

Also, I want to put them in a lighted tank, but they seem to get really paranoid when the light is turned on. :confused: I know that they don't really like lights, and rather be in a dim lighted tank, but how can I introduce them to light??? :confused:

[thebigone]

IMO I would start changing more water.I would do a minimum of at least 50% 3-5 times a week. You have to remember as juvies they need more attention then adults. The biggest thing about discus is they need clean clean water to grow properly. The water changing temp. should be fine. If you are on city water you will need to use a dechlorinater. I would suggest Prime. Also IMO I think that they will just need time to get use to the light. I'm no expert but there are others one here that will know more about this then I. This is just what I would do for starters.

[mmorris]

Sorry about the fish. It's a real bummer, I know. What size tank are they in? You need to get four test kits if you don't have them already: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph, and you need them TODAY! Do the tests, post the results and we can help you further on that. Did you cycle your tank before you put the fish in? Juvies need to be fed 5-8 times a day and, depending on the size of the tank, I would consider 50% three times a week the absolute minimum.

[Ardan]

Great advice given here.:):):)

When in doubt change water and use a dechlor or prime if you have chloramines in the tap water or just use prime to be safe.

Changing water will take care of pollutants and ammonia/nitrite problems.

50% per day will not hurt until you can make sure the filter is cycled.... (no ammonia, no nitrite)

hth
Ardan

[FishCraz]

Thank you all so much for the help! I will start doing that immediately and I will get my water tested. I use city tap water, but I fill them up in a 1 gallon containers and sit them down for couple of days before I use them. Is that ok or do I need to do something else? They are in a 10 gallon right now. Should I move them to a 15 instead? There's only five left. :(

[mmorris]

They're going to need a tank closer to 55 gallons. I wouldn't bother with the 15 and you need to get them out of the ten immediately. In the meantime, plan on doing 80% wc daily. I have a 45 gal. barrel I heat and have an airstone in to age my water. Was the tank cycled?

[poconogal]

They're going to need a tank closer to 55 gallons. I wouldn't bother with the 15 and you need to get them out of the ten immediately. In the meantime, plan on doing 80% wc daily. I have a 45 gal. barrel I heat and have an airstone in to age my water. Was the tank cycled?
Ditto.

5 Discus in a 10 gal. tank?! :shocked2: Get yourself a 55, in which you can keep 5-6 Discus.

[Ardan]

Definately need a larger tank, at least 50 gal.

Do daily wc's also

hth
Ardan

[DiscusKeeper403]

He said they were fry though. If they are under 3 inches then a 29 gallon is recommended to grow them out.

[discusjoe27]

um where they QT before you bought them. also make sure you get them from a good place. my discus are in my 135, here is a quick story about not getting discus from good places, or from good breeders.I went with my friend, to a whole seller fish shop.because he knew I wanted wild green discus. so I got me a wild green for 48.00,because I wanted to save money.I did what was right and QT in the 55G he/she/it end up having a infection,I didn't notice at first.but I've learned a lot here and to QT every discus.so I QT in the 55G I have, then a few days later I notice the infection.(how can you not notice a 5.5 discus with a 2-3 inch infection on it's right side?) I bought the discus medication but it didn't make it RIP! I bet this happened because I wanted to save some money and try a wild caught. when I could of gone down the road to a reliable discus place/breeder that has wild greens for 99.99. I learn now to pay the extra money, it's not worth it to try to save a few bucks,and not look up the places on the net and ask about the place on here. now I'm only hoping I can call the place, and say you sold me a sick fish and get my 48.00 dollars back(I have a feeling the guy will say touch luck)

make sure to QT all discus for 6 weeks, and always have dechlorinator,medication,and test kits ready 24/7.

[Eddie]

He said they were fry though. If they are under 3 inches then a 29 gallon is recommended to grow them out.

A 29 would be minimum and for only a short time, if that. A 55 would be advised and your best option. ;)

Eddie

[FishCraz]

Thank you so much for the help everyone! :) OK OK, I'll put them back into the 40 gal then. I first put them there when I bought them, but they wouldn't eat. So that's why I moved them to a 10 gal and they started eating like crazy. But I will move them back to the 40 then. :D