Need some advice

[discusmurderer]

hi everyone , i just bought six juvies last night, they are half an inch big. I made shure temp. was good and poured one cup every 10 min. for the ph to be ok before i let them go. they are only swimming up and down over and over the whole night and even this morning up until now they are still swimming the same way. I just put in a heater so i can get them to eat , but the water is 30c and they are not even slowing down to eat they are only up and down all over, nitri, nitra, and amo is 0, so i have no idea whats wrong! How high can i go with the tem. with juvies? Thanks anyone bye for now!

[nc0gnet0]

They are just not used to there new surroundings, I would relax and let them acclimate. If it is really stressing you out, cover three sides of the tank with some white towels.

[rbrooker]

Discusmurderer, where do you buy your discus in Trinidad? Most of the local pet stores I have checked don't have much quality stock and the few private breeders I know of don't want to sell their stock locally

(I'm in Trini too)

Randall

[rbrooker]

Also, what part of Trinidad do you live? That may affect the quality of your water from source. When I lived in the Chaguanas area, the tap water was heavily chlorinated, and needed proper conditioning before entering the tank. Where I live now in south, the water is a little better and I do not have to condtition the tap water, just overnight aging with aeration suffices.

If you live in an area that gets water from the desalination plant, you will get soft, very acidic water, so you will have to monitor the water quality closely and possibly buffer the water since you may get some wild pH swings.

Randall

[discusmurderer]

Also, what part of Trinidad do you live? That may affect the quality of your water from source. When I lived in the Chaguanas area, the tap water was heavily chlorinated, and needed proper conditioning before entering the tank. Where I live now in south, the water is a little better and I do not have to condtition the tap water, just overnight aging with aeration suffices.

If you live in an area that gets water from the desalination plant, you will get soft, very acidic water, so you will have to monitor the water quality closely and possibly buffer the water since you may get some wild pH swings.

Randall

Hi Randall, I am in chaguanas, Charlieville to be exact. I have no idea where the water lines are comming from. I think ncogneto was spot on because they stop swimming sometimes and eat and then start back swimming , so it looks like they are acclimatizing. but the ph is jumping up and down also seing how the rains have started. Yesterday it was 7.0 and after the rain that flooded out the place it is 6.0 today. I got my fish from someone in canupia and the reds from Z's pet shop freeport. My ph. no# 1868-221-8211. if u want u can call we will chat or if u have any to sell i'll be glad to buy good stock. bye for now!!

[discusmurderer]

They are just not used to there new surroundings, I would relax and let them acclimate. If it is really stressing you out, cover three sides of the tank with some white towels.

Hi nco, I think u are right they are cooling down and eating and then starting to swim all over again, the place i bought it from was in a room where it was dark and no one goes in there , but i have them in a walkway and the sun shines in on mornings and i have five kids jumping up and down so they are really stressed out, I was about to treat them with formaldehyde cause i saw one of them darting around but i remember Eddie told me not to rush treating chemicals. I am going to block them with black plastic bags because i dont have any white towels and even if i did i dont have the guts to use my wife's towels! :whip:ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME KILLED!!! lol:laugh:

[rbrooker]

I work in Charlieville...small world

I lived in Orchard Gardens a few years ago and i was killing fish with water changes. The water, like I said, was heavily chlorinated. I now live in Gasparillo and I can practically do water changes from the tap, but with past experience with WASA, I do water changes from 2 400G tanks in a common loop system..that ensures that if they over-chlorinate, at least it is gone by the time I pull water from the tanks.

Right now, I don't have any discus and hav been looking around for some time for good quality stock. Haven't found any so far. The guy in Freeport had some nice ones recently, but what you typically find are "mongrels" that you really can't identify as being of a particular strain.

I am toying with the idea of getting an import licence and buying some fish from Discus Hans and shipping them down myself.

[mmorris]

How did you cycle the tank?

[discusmurderer]

How did you cycle the tank?

HEY! mmorris, I did not cycle the tank. I put in straight tank water on sat. and let the chlorine dissipate until Monday. I have a sponge filter that was working for years but i know the bac. died from the chlorine. Does the tank have to be cycled 6 weeks before i introduce fish? I am checking nitrites and amm. every day and they all read 0. As soon as it goes up I'll start making 50% wc's every day.thanks for your interest in this thread. Can i treat these juveniles with formalin? they are half inch size, i am seeing them twitching and scratching. I don't want to panic but if they were infected from the suppliers tank i would like to treat them as soon as possible before they get worse. bye for now!

Daryl

[mmorris]

How big a tank are they in and how often and how much water do you change? You need the bacteria on the filter and since your tank is not cycled, it may be responsible for the symptoms you are seeing. I recommend 50% wc daily now. The new water needs to be the same temperature (within one degree) and ph as the tank water. What is your nitrate reading? Is the ph the same in the tanks as it is in the aquarium? They are a half-inch? Tail included? That's pretty tiny.

[nc0gnet0]

but i have them in a walkway and the sun shines in on mornings and i have five kids jumping up and down so they are really stressed out,


I am going to block them with black plastic bags because i dont have any white towels

Yikes, not a good combo..........carefull of your temps, the black and the sun might elevate temps dangerously.


You really need to step back and stop trying to rush the process, you need a cycled tank before you add the fish. But, too late for that now, I would invest in some zeolite and be prepared to do plenty of water changes with stabil water.

[discusmurderer]

How big a tank are they in and how often and how much water do you change? You need the bacteria on the filter and since your tank is not cycled, it may be responsible for the symptoms you are seeing. I recommend 50% wc daily now. The new water needs to be the same temperature (within one degree) and ph as the tank water. What is your nitrate reading? Is the ph the same in the tanks as it is in the aquarium? They are a half-inch? Tail included? That's pretty tiny.

They are in a 24x 18x18 , Nitrites and amm. are 0 right now.This is the 6th day that water is in the tank and the 4th day since the fish has been added. and the last check which was last night all readings was 0. I plan to make 50% wc's as soon as i see any step up in readings. Half inch tail included ! real small! they are stopping that frantic swimming and eating all the food i put in .so it looks like they just needed to settle down. The readings of ph in the barrel (overnight water) is 7.0 and the aq. 6.2 so i pour in water very slowly when doing wc's, i am very afraid when i would have to do 50% as for temp. i heat water on the stove and try to get it the same. Is the size of the tank too big? i have a 24x12x12 empty that i can use. thanks for repling to my thread!

[discusmurderer]

Yikes, not a good combo..........carefull of your temps, the black and the sun might elevate temps dangerously.


You really need to step back and stop trying to rush the process, you need a cycled tank before you add the fish. But, too late for that now, I would invest in some zeolite and be prepared to do plenty of water changes with stabil water.

Hey! nc0gnet, I have a heater in with them so the temp is stable and the sun is not directly on the tank. We don't have zeolite down here but someone did tell me to use nutrafin clear fast by Hagen to add bac. but i don't see any where on the bottle saying that . So i put it in and left them alone and i find that they are eating more and more every day and they have stopped swimming up and down all over . what temp. should i keep them at to make them eat more? I'm just worried about changing 50% water i herd that's where the problem is with discus this small. thanks nc0, bye! Daryl

[DerekFF]

Im sure they are just adjusting, however ive seen and heard of people keeping juvie fish to 90f....or i think like 32c. I dunno the exact conversion for celsius.

[mmorris]

They are in a 24x 18x18 , Nitrites and amm. are 0 right now.This is the 6th day that water is in the tank and the 4th day since the fish has been added. and the last check which was last night all readings was 0. I plan to make 50% wc's as soon as i see any step up in readings. Half inch tail included ! real small! they are stopping that frantic swimming and eating all the food i put in .so it looks like they just needed to settle down. The readings of ph in the barrel (overnight water) is 7.0 and the aq. 6.2 so i pour in water very slowly when doing wc's, i am very afraid when i would have to do 50% as for temp. i heat water on the stove and try to get it the same. Is the size of the tank too big? i have a 24x12x12 empty that i can use. thanks for repling to my thread!

If they seem to be settling down the tank size should be fine. All readings are "0"? Including nitrates? I have purchased one inch fry in the past and I started them on bbs. You are getting quite a ph drop from barrel to aquarium, which can cause issues. I recommend you get a kh test kit. Your ph may be dropping because you have no or little buffer in your water. You should get a kh of 5 or more, measuring by the drops. I have essentially no buffer in my water so I have to add more than 1/2 teaspoon sodium bicarbinate (baking soda) per 10 gallons to my barrel, or my ph will drop.

[kaceyo]

86F is good for juvies but you don't want to go above if you can help it, try to keep it stable, which is more important than the specific temp.
WC's don't cause problems unless the incoming water is different than the tank water.
The tank sizes are so close to the same to make any difference, but you can mix the water in the empty tank, get it to the right temp and then do the wc. Or better yet use the tank to age the water with a heater and an airstone in it.
I suggest that you start doing wc's now and don't wait for the ammonia to show.

[discusmurderer]

If they seem to be settling down the tank size should be fine. All readings are "0"? Including nitrates? I have purchased one inch fry in the past and I started them on bbs. You are getting quite a ph drop from barrel to aquarium, which can cause issues. I recommend you get a kh test kit. Your ph may be dropping because you have no or little buffer in your water. You should get a kh of 5 or more, measuring by the drops. I have essentially no buffer in my water so I have to add more than 1/2 teaspoon sodium bicarbinate (baking soda) per 10 gallons to my barrel, or my ph will drop.

hey! mmorris;The readings are Strange isnt it! The nitrites, amm. and nitrates are all reading 0. Maybe the fish are too small to cause any change. they are really eating now, as soon as i put in food all i see after is poop. they are still a little jumpy( up,down ). is there a thread about buffers? ill get some baking soda tomm. and put some in. Before i wc tonite i checked ph and it was the same as aq. (aq. 7 and barrel 7) . how fast does the soda work? cause only when i check the barrel each nite,only then i'll know the differenceand tell if i should add soda. i'm putting pics in my album cause i am 'old school' and i can't get them on my thread. bye!

[mmorris]

hey! mmorris;The readings are Strange isnt it! The nitrites, amm. and nitrates are all reading 0. Maybe the fish are too small to cause any change. they are really eating now, as soon as i put in food all i see after is poop. they are still a little jumpy( up,down ). is there a thread about buffers? ill get some baking soda tomm. and put some in. Before i wc tonite i checked ph and it was the same as aq. (aq. 7 and barrel 7) . how fast does the soda work? cause only when i check the barrel each nite,only then i'll know the differenceand tell if i should add soda. i'm putting pics in my album cause i am 'old school' and i can't get them on my thread. bye!

Hold off on the baking soda. You said your aquarium was 6.2 the other day but now you say 7, the same as the barrel. I would track the ph for a week or so in both the tank and the aquarium before a wc and see what your ph is doing. I still recommend getting a kh kit to see if your water is buffered. It might be, in which case you don't need to add baking soda. Do your test kits use strips or drops? Drops tend to be more accurate.

[nc0gnet0]

What test kit are you using to test your water?

[discusmurderer]

What test kit are you using to test your water?


it is an API test kit. nitrate, nitrite, high and low range ph and ammonia.

[discusmurderer]

Hold off on the baking soda. You said your aquarium was 6.2 the other day but now you say 7, the same as the barrel. I would track the ph for a week or so in both the tank and the aquarium before a wc and see what your ph is doing. I still recommend getting a kh kit to see if your water is buffered. It might be, in which case you don't need to add baking soda. Do your test kits use strips or drops? Drops tend to be more accurate.

My test kits use drops. It's an API as on the other thread. it does not have kh testing in it.