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  1. #1
    Hi, I'm New Here!
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
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    5

    New resident discus will not eat

    Hi all, fairly new to the world of discus keeping .. reasonably up with keeping other tropical fish successfully.
    Began my 180 litre tank with 2 medium sized pidgeon bloods 6-7 weeks ago .. settled themselves & ate readily. Added a school of tetras, all doing well. Added 3 new discus (young ones) small-medium size approx 2-3 weeks ago - 2 are eating normally but 1 will refuse to eat period. I have offered pellets, flakes, bloodworm, tried soaking in garlic solution to add an odour .. all to no avail. This discus will simply remain still as food floats around it or it will move away to another part of the tank. Coincidentally it is the only 'newbie' that tends to get bothered & bulied by my original 2 pidgeon bloods. Having said that, there are periods where they all cruise around nicely together. Any suggestions please would be much appreciated! (All water parameters are fine and the rest of the discus eat readily. I am feeding twice a day. I do a 30% water change & gravel clean every 6-7 days.)

  2. #2
    Just an Egg
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    ferntreegully
    Posts
    45
    Hard to say. Has it shown any sign of white poo? If so could have worms or some other internal disease such as Hex. Could just be the bullying. Hard to say without a pic. Has it lost weight across the head? BTW, it is very hard to successfully grow on small discus. You would need to feed more than twice a day and change much more water daily and it is made even harder in tanks with gravel. Also, most of the small discus sold at LFS are normally poor quality culls. Much better to stick with bigger fish.

  3. #3
    Moderator
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    Apr 2008
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    China
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    2,283
    I agree with the above. What are your water parameters? Saying ok is not a good result.
    Why me ?

  4. #4
    Wrigglers
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    S.E Melbourne VIC
    Posts
    267
    I agree with all the above advice ,i would be looking for other indicators of any problem such as white poo in the mean time i would increase the temp to 31- 32 c to increase the appetite and try other foods like freeze dried black worms.
    good luck

  5. #5
    Hi, I'm New Here!
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    Sep 2016
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    5
    Many thanks for replying guys .. to date no sign of 'any' poo! I'm not observing anything else with regard visual signs.
    My water parmamaters are PH 6.8-7 .. KH 1-2 .. GH 3 .. ammonia & nitrite 0 .. nitrate at max would be 10-20. will try & load pic. Also, have increased temp from 27 to 28 in the last couple of days.
    Last edited by torties; Wed Sep 28, 2016 at 01:45 AM.

  6. #6
    Hi, I'm New Here!
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    Sep 2016
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    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20160928_113415.jpg 
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ID:	21226 newbie discus
    Last edited by torties; Wed Sep 28, 2016 at 01:44 AM. Reason: is upside down!

  7. #7
    Hi, I'm New Here!
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
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    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	20160928_113040.jpg 
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ID:	21229 hopefully clearer shot
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 20160928_113040.jpg  
    Last edited by torties; Wed Sep 28, 2016 at 03:35 AM. Reason: why does the site insert the pics upside down!!

  8. #8
    Wrigglers
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    S.E Melbourne VIC
    Posts
    267
    Hi Torties;
    It is not clear from the photos if he has hex or not but generally he was not in the best of shape when you bought him most probably from your LFS , their quality are not the best ,but lets be positive ,the first thing i would do if he was my fish would be a good general cleaning of the tank and more water change and 28 c is not enough increase temp to 32 c over 48 hours ,dont worry i have had 34 c for a week with no problem ,give them smaller portion of different food just enough for them to finish it in 10 min and see how you go .
    good luck

  9. #9
    Moderator
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    Apr 2008
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    China
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    If your water temperature was raised to 27-28 then it has been too cool in the first place. A general lowest temp is 28 so make sure you maintain this. It should never be lower. Secondly, growing a juvenile fish in a planted tank is not the best idea, as discus should be fed a lot and as they do produce a lot of poo, this can have effects on plants, the higher temps can also be detrimental to plants.

    For the immediate issue sayid is right, raise the temp as this increases the metabolism and will make it want to eat more. Maybe do this in a hospital tank so not to kill your plants. You can try a wormer or med for internal parasites but lots of fresh water will be the first medicine.
    Why me ?

  10. #10
    Some garlic guard might also be helpful too you can soak the food in it or just add to the tank, if his not eating well, just a thought, if you have any...
    Has anyone asked what you are feeding them? They need a good variety of foods, they love black worms(blood worms) and beefheart.. Then there is flakes, frozen foods and other Discus specific foods..
    He looks ok, i think it might be stress. Discus are prone to stress illnesses and trying to fit in with your other Discus would be very stressful for him. Some stress coat or stress guard might help in this situation as well and it wouldn't harm your other fish if used in the main tank.

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