# problem with discus fish



## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

hellyo
i have 53 us gallon tank planted
i have 3 adult angel fish and some tetras,
i bought yesteray a pair of red marlboro discus. they are adult i dont know about the size
but they are hiding... my water parameters are good.
and the discus are in good condition i have been eatching them in LFS since 3 week ago, they ate when he fed them.

please tell me is that normal?
how long they need to adjudt?
i applyed general tonic in case, to prevent any bacteria infection or parasites


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

any reply???


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## Gordon C. Snelling (Jun 20, 2007)

Discus can be pretty skittish under new conditions. Give them a chance to get used to their new homes. Also double check your water conditions, although fairly tolerant they do not handle high nitrates well.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

Gordon C. Snelling said:


> Discus can be pretty skittish under new conditions. Give them a chance to get used to their new homes. Also double check your water conditions, although fairly tolerant they do not handle high nitrates well.


Ok. water parameters are fine. just changed water yesterday before i installed them in.

will they take a long time??


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

ok... My discus fish started to swim...
Thanks to all


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

ok, i tested my water and the results were disappointed.

Ammonia 1.5
Nitrite 0.3
Nitrate 12
GH 13

and angel fish and my discus shows fin rot, but only one of them,
i treated with anitbiotic for bacteria since 2 days but now positive sign yet..
what should i do?


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## 21windowsamba (Nov 8, 2006)

Give them time as I had wild discus before and those were tough to keep but I had for several years. Anyway I am glad that your discus are out and about, certain captive bred discus do well adjusting and adapting. All the best.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

21windowsamba said:


> Give them time as I had wild discus before and those were tough to keep but I had for several years. Anyway I am glad that your discus are out and about, certain captive bred discus do well adjusting and adapting. All the best.


ur lucky,, i wish to keep wild discus... so what happened ? are they okay now? did u breed them ?

i bought ammonia detox from kent, i reduced ammonia and nitrite to ZERO,

now the fin rot is still, what should i do? i wait more time?

when i come to my tank discus hide, when i go the come out!


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## Karebear (Oct 6, 2008)

Hi kamel 007,

I see you got bit by the discus bug like the rest of us  With where you are now I would start doing daily water changes of 30-50% until you are able to get these issues under control. When discus get stressed from water conditions the best thing you can do is water changes. Normal discus maintinance is a 30-50% water change once a week. Poor water quality is a big cause of fin rot and your parameters can do it. If there is signs of bacterial infection then go ahead and treat with antibiotics and with daily water changes. Also make sure you are not over feeding, discus are very slow eaters but all the food needs to be consumed. If they don't eat the food it will spoil and give you water issues. I have found that when I cannot do my weekly water change my discus will hide until I give them the water change. 

I hope that this helps


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## flwrbed (Jul 3, 2009)

i would agree with all who say water changes.
angels and discus love water changes. i think you could never do to many or to large if your water you put in has the same parameters as you take out.

i only like to use chemicals as a last resort!!

good luck!


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## NeonFlux (May 15, 2008)

+1 With the water changes. You have to get those Ammonias and Nitrite to 0. Keeping nitrates nice and low is recommended as well.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

ok i tested the mmonia yesterday it was near 0.25mg and nitrite under 0.3mg, so i put another dose of ammo detox, discus shows a positive sigh to swim but still hid a lot, i noticed they starts to not affraid from me like before, today i will do water changes and test the water, i have overfeed my fish thats why i got ammonia and nitrite, many flaxes wasted on gravel, anyways, im looking to let my discus eat and feel more free..
it will be one week for them in my tank,
the fin rot i think it starts ti diminish.


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## NeonFlux (May 15, 2008)

If I were you, I would ask for a filter squeezing from a local fish shop. That brown stuff is what you need. Make sure the beneficial bacteria from the filter in the shop is healthy and free of parasites. Just look at the fish's health inside the tanks, then you'll know. If the fish is sick and has ich or something, don't even ask for the filter's gunk.. Once you get it, just pour that stuff into the tank, check a few hours later; you should have a better test kit reading


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## jetajockey (Nov 11, 2010)

discus definitely need a well established tank. Fish in general need to be in a cycled tank. This means that the bacteria is converting all of the waste to nitrates. I would avoid adding any more fish until you can get that sorted out, and keep up with the daily water changes.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

my tank has been establesh from 5 years, the problem that i threw the filter media, it was so dirty, i bought the discus after a few week from changing filter media, it seems that nitification bacteria didnt grew yet, i made 20% water change, ammonia still under 1.5 and nitrite .3, after that i bought bactozym from tetra, it allows ready nitification system within 24 hours, so i hope it works, and i fed the fishes today, one of the discus ate but she was vary shy, but the other one who has a little bit fin rot didnt, he saw the bits but didnt eat, the fin rot started to cure, i put another dose of general tonic now..

Another question:
my tank is 53g with some tetras and 3adult angel fish and the pair of discus..
Are they shy and affraid because they are only the pair in my tank?
Will they do well later?
Or should i get another pair?
My pair is red marlboro 4inch almost,
here's my tank video


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## jetajockey (Nov 11, 2010)

I don't know about the angel/discus combo, I *might* eventually intermingle my angels and discus in my 125, but probably not. Either way, it's hard to judge their behavior right now when you have obvious factors like water quality that are definitely stressing them. Get that sorted and things stable and go from there.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

hello, after 24hours from adding nitrifying bacteria capsuls, ammonia seems lower but around 1 and nitrite still at .3
the bacteria didnt take action yet? They say after 24 hours u can add fish!
My discus seems to have more courageous and not to affraid like before, she swimming better, the fin rot started to disappear, and yes they started to eat, after i teased them, hehe
they ate a few bits,


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## jetajockey (Nov 11, 2010)

don't trust bacteria supplement products, most are total snakeoil, and others take a lot longer than a day to work. The ones that do work take at least a week or two to get established.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

so i need to keep up with water changes? Or kent ammonia detox can do the job? I wonder if there a negative effects?


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## jetajockey (Nov 11, 2010)

kamel_007 said:


> so i need to keep up with water changes? Or kent ammonia detox can do the job? I wonder if there a negative effects?


If you look around at posts from most discus keepers on all the discus forums you'll see a trend that they tend to do very frequent water changes, many do daily water changes, and that is for an established tank.  If you are battling ammonia/nitrite issues then water changes are essential in keeping the levels low.


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

i tested the water ammonia arounf 1.5 and nitrite less than .3 i dont know y ammonia still high? I fed them then made the test,, is that the reason?
But my fishes doesnt see any bad sign or ubnormal behaviour..
The discus still shy on eating, they swim and hide, but most of the time the swim, when they see someone walk near the tank they hide, but not like before, anyway my angles bit my discus, they have spawned!


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

yes my discus are eating, they r not scared from me like before, i think they need a company, my angel fish layed eggs, dont know wat to do with all of them!


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## kamel_007 (Jan 7, 2006)

my discus starts to attack agels when i feed them!!!


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