lost first discus since back in hobby

[lane mechtel]

OK started a discus tank again 2 years ago. the other morning I had a dead discus in the tank and all others 11 discus are doing great. The only thing I changed was adding a peice of wood, So I removed the dead fish and the wood just in case. However I noticed the water seemed a little cool. I have a 210 Gallon with 2 300 W heaters, it turns out one was not working, the tank was at 82 when I keep it at 86, I had a 250 W on hand so everything is OK. Does anyone know if a heater breaking could have killed a discus? or just the wrong species of wood. the wood was aged in water 8 hrs bleach and 24 hours in prime.

It pains me to say it but the heater was a 1 year old Ehiem Jager, I still love these heaters. first time I ever had a problem with one and I have used them for 15 years in the past.

It's to late to do anything, Just wondering If anyone has dealt with anything like this?

[Melissa]

Aww sorry for the loss. It sucks when the reason is not clear why it happened. Wish I could help you figure it out :/ good luck getting to the bottom of it.

[moon_knight1971]

I've been trying to get a straight answer on how long domestic discus actually live for a while now. From the threads I've read my guess is about 6 - 7 years. You say you've had it for 2 years but how old was it when you got it?


Joey!

[lane mechtel]

I have been back at the hobby for 2 years. I got this one from hans 8 months ago

[Skip]

No telling..
When and what water change do u do?

[ZX10R]

Who knows I had a Albino Golden die on me a month back. It was swimming around that night woke up the next morning and it was laying on the bottom dead. Just like you all the other fish are fine. Sometimes they just die for unknown reasons.

[Melissa]

Maybe cardiac arrest eh? :P

[lane mechtel]

Thanks for the posts, makes me feel better about it. My water changes are 80% every other day

[Jerry1]

I would not think it was the heater. With one still working, that 4 degree drop likely took some time and 82 is still okay. One of my Hans discus showed no signs of stress. Not ever. Had it for a couple months. It was swimming around fine one night. 20 minutes later it was floating and looked like it was dead for days. Water was fine and hadn't changed it since the night prior. All others were fine. I will never know why. It has been my only death. I miss my SS Flachen.

[chiligum]

Fish can get so many things wrong with them just like humans can and without a scalpel and a perfect understanding of the inside of a fish, i think it will always be a mystery (unless you have any more that go as well.)

[Skip]

How old/large are fish.. How,long have u had them. What other fish were in tank before discus went in

[lane mechtel]

all other fish are still doing great. the only fish i ever had in the tank are 12 discus 6-7" and rummy nose all form hans. I do not know the age of all the discus but only one seems to be older, Just going by tail fin is a little droopy at the end. I guess I was just wondering if the wrong peice of wood could kill one fish overnight or if a heater malfunction could have zaped him? Other than that I have no Idea.

[Skip]

ok.. so they were not juvies..

[lane mechtel]

Thanks anyway, Just one of those things I guess.

[Mannie Bothans]

Maybe you could try a few more Prime dials before reintroducing the wood?

[afriend]

A few months ago I suddenly lost a fish for no apparent reason. The fish was doing just fine the day before and the next day it was dead at the bottom of the tank. So I took the fish out to examine it carefully. There was a vertical line just behind gills on the left side of the fish. The mark was't very pronounced. I thought that maybe the fish got trapped between the glass and the heater. So I tried placing the body of the fish between the glass and the heater, and sure enough it fit right where the mark was. So I moved the heater close to the corner of the tank and placed a lift tube on the other side of it, so it would't happen again. No other problems since.

Perhaps a similar event in your case? Has anyone else had an experience like this?

[lane mechtel]

I examined this fish also, and my wife asked what I was doing. I told her I was trying to see if there was anything wrong with it, She didn't Know what to say. She probably thought yeah its dead. LOL