1st attempt...

[Pjw]

Hi All,
My first attempt at keeping discus. I have always wanted to.
My tank is a little over 400litres (around 105 us gallons I think). 140cm length.

Tap Water: p.h. 7.6. 12dH hardness. Temp: 29 degrees.

Fish: 10x rummy nose tetra and 5 sterbai corydoras.

7 discus (I'd love help identifying the strains). Tank bred in Germany.

Almost bare bottom tank (a dusting of sand for aesthetics, but glass shows through when looking closely). A few rocks for hardscape, but easy to move around for cleaning.

There's nothing unusual so far, but one thing I have that seems a little unconventional is floating plants. I've read the long debates on planted tanks! But I haven't heard much about the pros/cons of floating plants. I've kept them from a previous setup because I hope they are good at oxygenating the water and feeding on excess nutrients in the water column...and without the problem of making the sand dirty. Anyone else had any experience with floating plants?

I'll try and add some pictures (sorry for reflection)

[danotaylor]

Welcome to SD mate! Nice set up. Be sure to clean amongst your hard scape regularly for trapped detritus. Floating plants provide some cover from the brightness of the lights as well as the other benefits you mentioned!
I see 4 pigeon blood strains; a red melon, marlboro red, but I cannot see the other 2 clearly enough. You also have blue diamond, red turquoise, and a blue turquoise
Tell about your water source & maintenance regime plans?

[Pjw]

Welcome to SD mate! Nice set up. Be sure to clean amongst your hard scape regularly for trapped detritus. Floating plants provide some cover from the brightness of the lights as well as the other benefits you mentioned!
I see 4 pigeon blood strains; a red melon, marlboro red, but I cannot see the other 2 clearly enough. You also have blue diamond, red turquoise, and a blue turquoise
Tell about your water source & maintenance regime plans?

Thanks Daniel - I'll try and get a better photo of the other two.

Water source is tap water. Stable at 7.6 ph. Relatively hard - around 12dh.

Since I got the discus around a week ago I have done 3x 50% water changes, with vacuum etc. I've read that many people on here do more than that. Realistically, due to other commitments, I think 3 a week is probably the best I can hope for. For this reason, I've gone on the lower side (I think?) for total fish in a 110 gallon.

The discus range from 4 to 5 inches, maybe slightly bigger. Do we include the tail in these measurements?

[AquaticNerd]

Welcome to SimplyDiscus!

Floating plants are a great alternative to "planted" tanks. Several of us use plants such as pothos on top of the tank and let the roots grow into the aquarium. I think your water change schedule is fine as long as you aren't overfeeding. You probably can't expect these to grow to enormous sizes, but they should do just fine since they are closer to adulthood.

Typically, we always include tail in the full length measurement of the fish.

I'm looking forward to following your progress, and thanks for sharing!

[Pjw]

Hi All - update on this. Firstly a month on from my first post and all fish are alive!

But I do have one discus (red turquoise) that i never, ever, see eat any food. After a few days (probably 3 weeks ago now) of it sniffing at the food but never eating, i noticed a fairly long white stringy poo. Both these symptoms seemed to suggest Hex, so i dosed the tank with Metronidazole for 10 days. No other fish were (or have since) shown any symptoms and eat well. I have never seen any more of the stringy poo from the red turquoise, but I've still not seen it eat. It doesn't look thin/malnourished. It it generally shy, but not to the point of hiding 24/7. I do it swim out in the open from time to time. And i have seen it grazing at the bogwood.

Is it possible that it is eating (1) tiny particles of food from the bogwood and getting enough nutrition that way, or (2) eating after dark when others are sleeping? The second option seems odd to me because i see food float passed its mouth when no other fish are near it?

Any thoughts appreciated. I don't really want to dose more Metronidazole - unless i must?

[LizStreithorst]

HOw many mg of metro per 10 gallons did you use?

[Pjw]

HOw many mg of metro per 10 gallons did you use?

5g (5000mg) per day for the tank (circa 100 gallon tank)

[LizStreithorst]

You dosed correctly. So many folks dose according to label directions. It can take time for the fish to recover. The fact that you are no longer seeing white poop is a sign the fish is recovering. It's guts still are probably not quite right. Give it another week or so and I'll bet you'll see it eating.

[danotaylor]

Agreed. I would add 1tbsp/5gal of salt as well mate and keep that concentration for 2 weeks replacing with water changes. Hex doesn’t reproduce at high temps either so I would bump your temp up to 90 for 2 weeks. This will also increase metabolism and perhaps trigger a feeding response from the red Turk

[Pjw]

You dosed correctly. So many folks dose according to label directions. It can take time for the fish to recover. The fact that you are no longer seeing white poop is a sign the fish is recovering. It's guts still are probably not quite right. Give it another week or so and I'll bet you'll see it eating.

Great. I hope so

[Pjw]

Agreed. I would add 1tbsp/5gal of salt as well mate and keep that concentration for 2 weeks replacing with water changes. Hex doesn’t reproduce at high temps either so I would bump your temp up to 90 for 2 weeks. This will also increase metabolism and perhaps trigger a feeding response from the red Turk

I had the temp up at 90 during the 10 days of dosing. I let that gradually drop back to about 86.

Should I add the salt gradually? 20 tablespoons of salt feels a lot in one go? Also, how will it affect the tetras and corys?

Thanks for your help

[danotaylor]

Glad you raised the temp during treatment. Definitely increases the effectiveness of the metro treatment.
When I dosed salt for my discus, I added it all at once. I dosed 1tbsp/1gal during a cross contamination crisis. They did fine. I have never kept cory's & tetras with my discus, but others here can vouch for their sensitivity or not to salt.

[dspeers]

Quite possibly I am pointing out the obvious but as regards the floating plants, points to ponder.
O2 levels fall at night as the plants become O2 consumer. Floating plants decrease O2 diffusion both as a physical barrier and a damper of surface agitation. As regards the temp increase, O2 saturation is inversely related to water temperature.

[Pjw]

Hi All - update on this. Firstly a month on from my first post and all fish are alive!

But I do have one discus (red turquoise) that i never, ever, see eat any food. After a few days (probably 3 weeks ago now) of it sniffing at the food but never eating, i noticed a fairly long white stringy poo. Both these symptoms seemed to suggest Hex, so i dosed the tank with Metronidazole for 10 days. No other fish were (or have since) shown any symptoms and eat well. I have never seen any more of the stringy poo from the red turquoise, but I've still not seen it eat. It doesn't look thin/malnourished. It it generally shy, but not to the point of hiding 24/7. I do it swim out in the open from time to time. And i have seen it grazing at the bogwood.

Is it possible that it is eating (1) tiny particles of food from the bogwood and getting enough nutrition that way, or (2) eating after dark when others are sleeping? The second option seems odd to me because i see food float passed its mouth when no other fish are near it?

Any thoughts appreciated. I don't really want to dose more Metronidazole - unless i must?

So, 6 weeks on from this last post...and the fish is now eating openly with the rest of them. Beefheart and pellets. I can only assume it was eating discretely overnight or when I wasn't watching. It is now the smallest discus by a considerable margin, but it is not deformed in shape, and it's not thin/malnourished either. When I purchased them, it was the smallest, but not by much. The others have added considerable size, so it's got a bit of catching up to do!