Discus not eating

[boydie]

My adult pair of pigeons have stopped eating and I'm not sure why.
I've had them for about 3 months.
They are in a 2x18x18 tank
Temp 31
Ph 6.5
Amm 1.0
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 5.0 ppm
My ammonia level is it too high?? I measured the tap water and it measured 0.25 ppm!!!
They get a W/C of about 30% daily and were eating a beefheart mix
I've given them a treatment of kursuri last Saturday week and treated them with big L yesterday
Has anyone got any suggestions why and what I can do to get them back eating
Cheers Marty

[angel101]

hi there. Slowly increasing the temperature usually does the trick, as it increases the fishes metabolism. You could put it up to 35 easily. But do it gradually.

[giorid]

If you only have the pair in that size tank you really don't need to worry about frequent water changes but you do need to aim for stability, adult discus pairs like things stable, on the other hand juveniles need frequent water changes because they consume alot more food and they're usually in large groups. Check your filter make sure it's clean, nothing rotting inside of it, the water will smell bad if the filter is neglected, the fish won't like it at all and they'll let you know by not eating, good luck.

[boydie]

Thanks giorid. That makes sense. How often should I do water changes on the pair.

[Merrilyn]

Hi boydie, your water changing routine isn't the problem, but that ammonia reading sure is. It's way too high and will cause lots of problems. First up, get a new ammonia test kit, or have your LFS test it for you. Test kits do get past their use by date and give false readings. Check it out.

If the reading is really that high, then you need to do a coupe of things, first, do a really big water change. Up to 80% of the tank is not too much. Second, clean out your filter with old tank water, replace the filter wool and remove any charcoal if you have it in there. Third, purchase some ammonia remover from your LFS. There are several products on the market. All will work.

Your standard 2 foot tank is fine for a pair of discus, but you will need to keep up your frequent water changes.

I think you'll find that once you get the ammonia under control, the feeding problem will sort itself out. If not, try feeding some live adult brine shrimp. No healthy discus can resist those wriggling little morsels..

[boydie]

Thanks merrilyn

[Hooked]

Hi Boydie,

+1 for Merrilyn. Right on the money as usual.
Ammonia should always be zero in an established tank. I change my test kit every 12 months now. I found my Nitrate testers were giving low false readings when still in date. I thought at the time my plants that were going nuts were keeping the nitrate levels down. It was in actual fact the rising nitrate levels that were feeding the plants and the testers were giving false low readings as time went on. As far as Ammonia goes, Prime or Supachlor will detoxify your ammonia in an emergency.
Apart from the Ammonia your levels look great. Generally low nitrate levels are recommended for breeding. Under 10ppm or lower.
I'd avoid raising your temps to high without any specific symptoms of disease/infection. Temp is a personal thing, I keep mine just under 30, then this allows for an increase of a few degrees on the rare occasions if required. If kept to high it allows no where to go.
Get that ammonia down and all should be well. Live blackworms are also a tasty treat that works well.

Cheers

[boydie]

Yeah I'm using supachlor !!!

[Merrilyn]

You can buy ammonia removing 'pillows' from your LFS. They go in your external canister filter and remove ammonia from the water. There are also 'ammonia chips' which once again go in your filter, and if I remember correctly pellets that go in a net bag, once again in your filter.

If your tap water is still showing an ammonia reading, I'd be filtering it through ammonia remover before doing any water changes.