My latest discus

[jasonmomm]

Just purchased another discus today
What do you think?

[Hollowman]

It's always difficult to try to judge a small discus, but from what I see, you have a Turq. It does have a nice eye colour, but the thing that stands out for me is the deformed rays in th caudal fin (tail) Probably a problem in its development at fry stage.

Other than that, he/she looks happy enough, feed well, lots of good water and see how it develops.

I take it you have got this fish in a quarentine tank for observation/treating if necessary, for 6 weeks ???

Hollowman

[Hollowman]

I just read Andrew's section on fins, and treating. he suggests that it is caused by a bacterial infection, this being the case, it was at an early stage of its development. He says that it can be cut back, and can grow back. I do have a friend who has done this, but it's not for the faint hearted.

hth

H

[jasonmomm]

Hi Hollowman,

Bugger I didn't notice the tail when I bought it

Unfortunately I don't have a QT tank at the moment, but I only have 1 discus in my tank and decided to add 2 more today as my existing discus has been hiding all the time, very dark, not eating much and quite jittery (has injured itself twice racing around the tank in fear).

Haven't done very well with my first foray into discus, having lost my 1st one, my 2nd one is stunted and now my latest ones have deformed tails. I bought these latest 2 from a local importer too thinking they would be better quality than my LFS.

Was told today (by the importer) that doing 2 w/c a week is wrong because changing the water conditions constantly makes them sick. He said 1 small w/c every 2 weeks is enough, yet everyone on here is saying water change as much as possible. I'm confused now.

Anyway I think this may be the last discus I buy for now.

[Hollowman]

The guy you bought them from ought to get out of the fish business in my opinion, you can tell him that too!!

He knows NOTHING about discus and their requirements. Discus require the highest quality water, all the time. We do this by replacing water on a very regular basis, 2-3 or 4 times a week, sometimes daily.
Tell this guy to do some reading. People like that only make people like yourself (and please don't take this the wrong way) kill thier fish, and tell everyone else that discus are difficult to keep. This is not the case at all, it just take regular care of your water.

Please listen to the experts on here for future advice.

For your information, discus do better in groups of more than 4 fish, being shoaling fish, it just makes them happier.
Mixing new and old fish together with no QT can introduce disease and bacteria into your existing stock and kill the lot. QT is your responsibility, and not the importer's. Never rely on what they say, specially the one you have bought from.


Don't fret about the slightly deformed rays, he looks happy enough. (for now) Keep an eye on the skittish one.
Next thing you need to do is set up a water change routine. 40% every 3-4 days should help. Juves really need to be in a BB tank to grow to full potential, so maybe consider this.

H

Hi Hollowman,

Bugger I didn't notice the tail when I bought it

Unfortunately I don't have a QT tank at the moment, but I only have 1 discus in my tank and decided to add 2 more today as my existing discus has been hiding all the time, very dark, not eating much and quite jittery (has injured itself twice racing around the tank in fear).

Haven't done very well with my first foray into discus, having lost my 1st one, my 2nd one is stunted and now my latest ones have deformed tails. I bought these latest 2 from a local importer too thinking they would be better quality than my LFS.

Was told today (by the importer) that doing 2 w/c a week is wrong because changing the water conditions constantly makes them sick. He said 1 small w/c every 2 weeks is enough, yet everyone on here is saying water change as much as possible. I'm confused now.

Anyway I think this may be the last discus I buy for now.

[mcloughlin2]

I will side with the importer here - I don't really care what is said on here, but changing a discus water more then once a week, especially when its more then 20% is what causes people to fail at keeping discus. When I first kept discus i changed 20-40% up to five times a week. Guess what they all died?

Unless you have a water storage drum, which you can play with and get all the water paremeters right I would suggest water changes once per week of about 20%.

Good filtration and a good feeding schedule are more important then changing the water.

[jasonmomm]

This is exactly my point, so many varying opinions based on people's experiences. I've kept and breed Africans for over 7 years and rarely lost a fish so I understand about maintaining good water conditions etc..

The importer was highly recommended to me by some other discus people here in Melbourne.

We are on heavy water restrictions here in Melbourne so changing water more than twice a week is a bit of an issue, especially given I have 3 other African tanks which require weekly changes also.

Anyway my plan is to do 1 water per week for the next 2 weeks and see how the fish discus go. I like the idea of a water drum to prepare water for water changes though, so something I might try and look into.

Thanks for your help and advice Hollowman and McLoughlin2

[nicholas76]

Opinions will vary between us all.

My only advice is to apply the "Kiss" methodology Keep is simple !!


When i first started i was doing the big old water changes per day. I could never maintain a stable environment.

eventually i learnt a few smaller w/c per week was far more beneficial, whilts ensuring Good Filtration was a key factor.

My last discus tank had cannisters connected just for charcoal filtration let alone bio filter material.

You will work it out sooner than later ,, use what you read in books , what the professionals tell you and go with your own flow from there!

Dont give up just yet!

[jasonmomm]

Thanks Nicholas.

I'm not giving up on discus as I have 3 to look after, but I don't think I'll be buying any more until I get a happy balance going between water changes and fish health.

I certainly appreciate everyones advice and support.

[Hollowman]

Totally disagree with you mcloughlin2. You can take responsibility from here.
I try to help with the experiences that I have had and the vast experiences of some of the best in the hobby. Regular, big water changes and good food for juvenile fish encourages growth rates....fact. I have never heard of a fish breeder leave his fish in a tank for a week and then just do a 20% water change. These fish are used to (while they are very small to the size bought) 100% water changes every day, sometimes more....fact.

If you want to recommend tiny weekly water changes, then do that, it will stunt the fish....fact, this is normally done by the lfs, and I see a lot of that on here, where people buy from their lfs, who have had new discus in their tanks for a few weeks with minimal water changes, they are full of disease and now stunted....fact, but I strongly believe that the vast concensus will side on the idea of regular sizeable water changes.

Jason, if you do not want to believe my advice, just buy yourself Andrew Soh's book, 'The Naked Truth' Read as much as you can, read threads on raising discus, read threads on water chemistry, read threads on discus basics.

I only try to help with the best of my knowledge, if I don't know, I don't post. Some people learn the hard way, some take advice.

I'm out