should I stay on red alert ?

[uletbulu]

I am pretty new to discus and this forum, but after a good deal of reading I find that my discus dont look like they are in tip top shape, please bear with me for writing such a long post, and any ideas or opinion are highly appreciated

currently I have 14 discus between 2-5 inchies,

tank parameters

200 gal heavily planted tank
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 40
phospate: 1
pH: 6.4
temp: 86-88

and here are my concerns:
1. my blue daimond has roundish looking patch on his body, looks like a peck mark but i am not sure, but its really cicular, what is this patchy looking marks ?

2. during morning or evening hours they are active and moving about alot (scavenging, squabling, etc), but during afternoon hours between 12noon-4ish, they like to hang out at one side of the tank under the powerhead kinda just sitting there, is this normal ?

3. 1 red snakeskin lately seems to like to hang out under the filter, he doesnt show any ill symptoms except for the hiding (bright color, no stress bar, no cloudy eyes, eating well, not emanciated), is this someting to watch out for ?

4. the other snakeskin, has been black since the day i got him home which was approx 2 months ago, eating well, clear eyes, not skinny, no fin clamp, but black, no stringy white poo, and fiesty little bugger. what is wrong here ?

5. average breathing rate for the 4 inchers are about 90-100 per min, i think that is too high, is this something to watch out for ?

6. 10 out of the 14, seems to change colors, sometimes they are dark but not dark like a discus at heavens door usually when i am not near the tank, but color up real bright when i come closer to the tank. the other 4 doesnt seem to change color these are the 2 marlboro reds and the 2 snowflake

at the moment I dont have pictures, but if any pictures are needed to make a suggestion, let me know, i will try to catch a pic

thanks in advance for reading this long post and i will appreaciate any advice i can get.

[sammigold]

Just one question from me.... do you have an airstone? maybe they hang around a bit up the top as they would like more oxygen...Maybe put an airstone in the tank...

in saying that though Discus are pretty lazy fish and do tend to hang around a bit...tending to scavenge more when recently fed (thats what I find...) Maybe 12-4 is "siesta" time.

You also mention colour change as you get closer to tank, could this just be an issue of Light placement.. Sometimes my discus look dark and I go closer and realise they are fine it was just a trick of light refraction and angle I was looking from. (it seems to be more noticable with my "blue" fish than my reds.) Just an idea :-)

In regard to your blue diamond.. can you describe the patch.. ie.. how big in diameter, does it look fuzzy and cottony or does it look more like a wound.. or maybe a scuff mark....what colour is it?

this will help someone more experienced to diagnose if it is actually disease or not...

and lastly is your snakeskin being bullied at all by any of the others... he may be hiding because of that (if that is happening)

HTH for the time being....

You are doing the right thing keeping an eye on it and I am sure that if there is a problem in your tank one of our more experienced forum members will be able to head you in the right direction..
Good luck...

[sharn]

id try get your nitrates down, 40ppm is pretty high, do some big water changes to try get it below 20 at least and see if they perk up :)

hope you manage to get things sorted and pics of the tank would be awesome 200gal is a wicked size!

[uletbulu]

The BD patch is about 3mm in diameter, there are multiple same marks, all round , 3mm in diameter, looks like a peck mark, no wierd growth, color is abit grayish

the snake skin isnt being bullied, its not the top of the pecking order but not at the bottom too

[Simone]

uletbulu the colour change is actually normal! They are happy to see you, that is why they go lighter! My red turq will have the stress bars out and i will walk in the room with the food and they go away! So dont worry about that bit! BTW you will also notice that there breathing might increase a little too when you go near the tank that is also excitment at seeing you! :P