Tips on making new Discus comfortable?

[scarhbar]

I will be ordering some Discus from Discus Hans sometime very soon, and I need some pointers on what to do when I recieve the box.

When I first recieve them, I heard it is best to dimly light the room they are going in, since they have been in the dark for a long time. As soon as I open the box, I plan on floating the bags for 20 minutes. After that, I'll probably empty some water from the bags they came in, and slowly add a teaspoon of tank water to the bag they came in, until it is about 50/50. From there I will let them adjust for another 15 minutes, then scoop them into the tank.

The tank they are going in is a 29 gallon growout tank. It is barebottom, and it has a few floating plastic plants, with a couple pieces of driftwood to hide behind. I will leave the lights off on the tank, and in the room, but I will leave the fishtank light on across the room so it is fairly dim. From there I don't know what to do. Should I maybe offer a little food in case they are hungry from the trip? It probably wouldn't be great to do a water change for a couple of days either, right?

Idk, I have not ordered fish before, so please give me some pointers on how to acclimate them, and make them most comfortable in a shorter amount of time. Thanks, Tyler

[strawberryblonde]

Hans is great about giving tips on how to acclimate his fish. When I bought from him he told me to go ahead and empty the bags right into a bucket, then to scoop the fish out and put them directly into the tank.

He packs them so well that the temp of the bag should be fine. For more pointers, you might want to ask him when you order them. He's AWESOME about answering quickly. =)

I don't know how other people acclimate, but for mine I didn't lower the lights in the room. I did leave the tank light off for the first 2 hours and just let the room light suffice. After that I turned the lights on in the tank because Hans called me up to check on the arrival of the fish and told me not to wait. LOL

They did fine! I didn't feed them until much later that night and only gave them a little flake food. They actually ate a bit of it that night and then I did a 60% water change, turned out the lights and went to bed.

The next day they ate a bit more. I offered foods 4 times that day, but no beefheart since they were still skittish and not ready to eat from my hand. Did another water change that night.

The third day they were eager to eat and weren't afraid of my hand, though they were still cautious. It can take up to a week for them to get fully comfortable with the tank and with you feeding them.
That day I also started doing my twice a day water changes since they were eating more and I saw the nitrites rise a bit when I tested the water. A mini-cycle is normal when you add that many new fish, so be sure to test often and change water twice a day till the nitrites read zero again.

Other than that, enjoy them, they are amazing fish and Hans discus are always super healthy and beautiful.

[D/I/S/C/U/S]

acclimate no matter what.

[Orange Crush]

Ask Hans what the pH of the water in the bag is, if it is not very diff from what is in your tank it is best to float them (bag closed) to get the temp in the bag to match the temp in your tank then drop them strait into the tank. The reason you should not slowly put tank water into the bags is that once you open the bags the ammonia level increases significantly in the bags and can burn the gills of the discus. This is because they were in the bags for awhile. If you bought fish from a store and drove them home right after tehn you can safely drip acclimate them.

Keep the tank lights off for a couple of days. Do not feed until the day after you get them to prevent bloat; their digestive system is "shut down" because the stress of shipping has kicked in their sympathetic nervous system leaving only vital organs functioning.



I would not give them driftwood to hide behind, you want them to get used to you and their new enviroment and it will make it more difficult to clean since it will trap food and poop. Same with the fake plants, it will be a mess if you feed FDBW or flakes etc.

[JenTN]

Hans will send you an email saying plop em right in. Mine acted like nothing had happened lol.

[Cabe]

Open bags, drain water, plop fish in tank.

[Second Hand Pat]

and don't put the bag water in the tank.

[Chicago Discus]

Oh lord just plop and drop and don't add the water from the bag and try to make sure your PH is close to neutral and the Temp. is around 82 thats it.....then lots of water changes and abracadabra Nice Discus :) and if all fails call Hans LOL LOL LOL..........Josie

[Larry Bugg]

Plop and drop is the only way to go.