Ready for First Discus

[Very Fishy]

I have had community tanks since I was a kid. My current tank has been running for 3 years but I was getting bored with the standard community fish. I started reading about Discus and decided to give it a try. I traded in my fish except for some dwarf neon rainbows which I think should be compatible with Discus. In preparing for my first Discus, I have removed the substrate from the bottom of my tank, set up a holding tank for aging my water and done alot of reading. I am excited as I pick out my fish tonight (4 Tangerine Discus).

[Don_Lee]

Welcome to Simply! Looking forward to hearing how things progress!

Don ;D

[dm]

Good luck. I'm glad to hear you have researched it a little before jumping in. Let us know how we can help.

[jim_shedden]

send us some pics

jim

[Very Fishy]

Here is a picture of my new Discus. Just brought them home 5 days ago...

[Very Fishy]

And one more picture...

[Very Fishy]

I added the 4 Tangerine discus (3 months old, approx 3&quot to my tank 5 days ago and they are still very nervous when I approach the tank. They will dart into the back top corner. They are still ignoring any food when I feed them. How long before they start to relax and feel at home in the tank?

[DarkDiscus]

Fishy,

Mine took 3 days to start to mellow out and 7 before they were totally comfortable. I'd say it depends on the fish and the circumstances of the move. In the mean time - do you know the differences between your water and the water where you bought the fish?

John

[Very Fishy]

My tank water has a pH of 7.5 and the seller has a pH of 7.0(due to some peat filtering). The seller lives 10 minutes away from me. I siphoned some tank water and mixed the two types of water to before adding the fish to my tank. The fish seem healthy and will swim through the tank if I am not present but as soon as I approach, they frantically dart to the back. I have noticed in the evening when the room is darker, they do not seem as nervous and continue to swim around when I approach. When I feed them, they ignore the food as it floats by them. Last night, one of them finally could not resist some frozen bloodworms and ate one or two.

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi fishy:
They should settle in soon. Don't make the mistake of overfeeding. Be sure to vacuum leftovers after 30 minutes.

I pull up a chair and sit in front of the tank and stare at my new fish. I feed a few favorite foods like frozen blood worms or cbw every time I walk by the tank. when they equate you with food they will run to the front everytime you walk in the room. Just give them time and keep their tank clean.

[Mat]

;D I was quite lucky i bought 4 2.5 inch turqs(red/blues) i let them float for about 1/2 hour and slowly introduced tank water into bags over about another 40 mins. i slowly released them into the tank and hey presto no problems i even managed to feed them a little beefheart. but the next day they were a little nervous, a few days later i put in 3 more discus roughly the same size (Blue diamond& 2 more turqs) feeding was a bit hit and miss some fed others didnt for the first couple of days, now just over a week and they seem quite settled they feed from my hand and shoal most of the time, although some are a little more nervous than the others. Even they are young and still abit nervous on occasion they are getting more settled as time goes on , if i sit near the tank they will swim to the front of the tank and see whats going on. In a nutsheel providing the water etc is ok its just a matter of time till the discus calm down and do what they do best . Good luck Mat

[Very Fishy]

It took 9 days but my discus have finally started to eat. They are still abit nervous when I approach the tank but not as bad as when I first got them. I have also noticed they are starting to establish a pecking order. Patience is a virtue with these fish!!

[Mat]

yep, mine have a pecking order already the biggest is the boss but funnily the second is the smallest discus

[carman]

Very Fishy

I'm glad they're starting to eat.
what do you feed them?
did you ask the seller what they'd been eating?

carman

[Mat]

this is what i feed mine, diskusin, beefheart, cichlid diet, tetra prima , usuallly three to four times a day