Need some help with new discus

[darklord34]

Ordered 4 pairs 3-3.5 inches from a local pet shop & able to get hold of only one yesterday, seller told only two came to him & one of them didnt make it, its coming from like 500km on logistics transit from a different city here

This is a 45g tank/with canister. Followed all steps to introduce him in to the tank, first two hours he was shying away in bottom left corner. This improved dramatically once I turned off all lights he was kinda moving around exploring the floor for foods sniffing around the drift wood, tired to feed him but showed zero interest to come for food

Since morning now he is hanging around left corner doing nothing has no interest when I try to feed again. 3 more of his tank mates are coming today, I have no clue what is wrong as i checked all water parameters everything under the range.Really struck don't know what to do, I plan to add two plants in to tank once i get hold of rest of the pairs hope fully today, Is this common for a discus coming from a breeder in to a new tank?

Planning to cover backside in totally black to hide those ugly tubes & give a proper environment for them & add 1-2 plants in to tank for better hiding spots


Any help is greatly appreciated

[Second Hand Pat]

Re: Need some help with new discus

Yup, totally normal for a new fish and being by itself doesn't help. Discus are shoaling fish so hopefully once you add the others things will change. Please be aware that you are (maybe) adding discus from different sources which could be a possibility of cross contamination so I would suggest doing 50% water changes daily for a week or so. Is your tank cycled? I would also suggest not adding the plants right away as they are also another source of cross contamination. Are these your first discus? Welcome to SimplyDiscus. There is a wealth of formation here.
Pat

[danotaylor]

Re: Need some help with new discus

Howdy mate. Welcome to SD!
The discus doesn’t look particularly stressed, but being on its own, in addition to being netted bagged and transferred to your tank does take a toll. I don’t usually feed for a day or so and I leave lights off for the first few days.
Question; are the discus you are receiving to add to your tank from the same source? Not the person you are buying from, but the person your source is getting them from? If they are not it is inadvisable to add them together without a proper quarantine period.
I realize this is your welcome to simply discus. There is tons of great people and very helpful information on the site. I suggest you search the quarantine guidelines for introducing new fish. When adopted this method, though time consuming, sets a person up for the best opportunity for success with discus. Cross contamination is very common in discus keeping when introducing fish from different sources, and can be catastrophic, heart breaking and expensive.
All the best to you mate. Keep the pictures and questions coming!

Ps. I was writing my post at the same time as Pat

[darklord34]

Re: Need some help with new discus

Yup, totally normal for a new fish and being by itself doesn't help. Discus are shoaling fish so hopefully once you add the others things will change. Please be aware that you are (maybe) adding discus from different sources which could be a possibility of cross contamination so I would suggest doing 50% water changes daily for a week or so. Is your tank cycled? I would also suggest not adding the plants right away as they are also another source of cross contamination. Are these your first discus? Welcome to SimplyDiscus. There is a wealth of formation here.
Pat

Thanks for the kind words pat very glad to join the awesome community here. Yes my tank is fully cycled with clean ro water tested for all parameters everything in range. Sure I noted about the water changes will do 50% every day for 2 weeks atleast. Ok I will also drop the plan to introduce new plants in to tank for now after your advise. Not new at all to discus had them like 15 years ago but only dealt with adult ones so had less issues, this is first time dealing with juveniles. Now only I got the space/time to get back in to it again, purchased off the biggest tank I could find here at local pet store, mostly probably will upgrade this too a 100g in a month or so.

[Second Hand Pat]

Re: Need some help with new discus

Thanks for the kind words pat very glad to join the awesome community here. Yes my tank is fully cycled with clean ro water tested for all parameters everything in range. Sure I noted about the water changes will do 50% every day for 2 weeks atleast. Ok I will also drop the plan to introduce new plants in to tank for now after your advise. Not new at all to discus had them like 15 years ago but only dealt with adult ones so had less issues, this is first time dealing with juveniles. Now only I got the space/time to get back in to it again, purchased off the biggest tank I could find here at local pet store, mostly probably will upgrade this too a 100g in a month or so.

Be sure to keep the old tank as many of us here are guilty of MTS (Muli-Tank Syndrome) lol. Also RO water is not required (but useful if breedning) for discus so I would suggest a RO/tap mix. The fish do need some minerals especially if you go several days without a water change. My special mix for wilds is RO with a dash of tap for a TDS of 80.
Pat

[darklord34]

Re: Need some help with new discus

Howdy mate. Welcome to SD!
The discus doesn’t look particularly stressed, but being on its own, in addition to being netted bagged and transferred to your tank does take a toll. I don’t usually feed for a day or so and I leave lights off for the first few days.
Question; are the discus you are receiving to add to your tank from the same source? Not the person you are buying from, but the person your source is getting them from? If they are not it is inadvisable to add them together without a proper quarantine period.
I realize this is your welcome to simply discus. There is tons of great people and very helpful information on the site. I suggest you search the quarantine guidelines for introducing new fish. When adopted this method, though time consuming, sets a person up for the best opportunity for success with discus. Cross contamination is very common in discus keeping when introducing fish from different sources, and can be catastrophic, heart breaking and expensive.
All the best to you mate. Keep the pictures and questions coming!

Ps. I was writing my post at the same time as Pat

lol didnt know you were posting as same time as pat did. Thank you for the kind words danotaylor, yes local pet shop is sourcing the discus from near city so all of them coming from same breeder so not from multiple sources reconfirmed this twice, I will be more careful from now on doing a proper quarantine before releasing them in to the main tank, just finished reading the post regarding it. Yep cross contamination is really worry learnt a valuable lesson here regarding the topic

Hopefully I will get back to you guys with more pictures with many additions coming in few days, Cant wait to bug you guy with more questions in coming weeks haha

[darklord34]

Re: Need some help with new discus

Be sure to keep the old tank as many of us here are guilty of MTS (Muli-Tank Syndrome) lol. Also RO water is not required (but useful if breedning) for discus so I would suggest a RO/tap mix. The fish do need some minerals especially if you go several days without a water change. My special mix for wilds is RO with a dash of tap for a TDS of 80.
Pat

I got 2 other small tanks in my other room kids keeping gold fishes/bettas lol. Yep I got a water conditioner will mix tap water during my water change later in evening

[danotaylor]

Re: Need some help with new discus

You’re very welcome mate! Looking forward to following along on your journey DL34!

[darklord34]

Re: Need some help with new discus

Situation still same almost, a bit improvement. He kinda moved around for a while explored the tank, tried to scratch his belly even once in gravel & back to still hugging the tank on top corner showing no interest to eat. Is is normal for these guys not take food and be ok for 4-5 days which is my biggest worry as physically he looks same I don't see anything has changed

More bad news his tank buddies are coming thursday due to some delay in transit yet again which is driving me mad

[Iminit]

Re: Need some help with new discus

Are they stuck in transit or were they not shipped yet? Unfortunately it’s because its alone. You may want to turn the lights off. May feel safer with no light.

[Discus Fever]

Re: Need some help with new discus

It is not uncommon for discus to go a while without eating in a new tank, I have had discus go for 2 weeks before they would start eating.

[darklord34]

Re: Need some help with new discus

Tank mates have arrived 4 more fishes. New guys are hyper active and eating for fun this guy still shy eating very rarely here and there, hopefully now he is not alone & situation improves thanks everyone for all the kind words

[darklord34]

Re: Need some help with new discus

It is not uncommon for discus to go a while without eating in a new tank, I have had discus go for 2 weeks before they would start eating.

Two Weeks that is crazy mate

[darklord34]

Re: Need some help with new discus

Are they stuck in transit or were they not shipped yet? Unfortunately it’s because its alone. You may want to turn the lights off. May feel safer with no light.

Yes I got hold of 2 more pairs today now I have 5 in tank, Yes I have totally shut the lights apart from occasional lights coming through window

[Iminit]

Re: Need some help with new discus

Hopefully now that there are others and they are eating and more active this guy will start following there lead. Guess we’re waiting now for pictures .