Nervous New discus owner

[Josephine]

I just got my first Discus yesterday. Bubbles is very shy and is hiding, wouldn't eat. I am wondering if these fish take longer to acclimate to new surroundings? Is there a certain kind of substrate they like? Should there be not much decoration in the tank other than plants?

[Merrilyn]

Hi Josephine, welcome to the forum, and welcome to the wonderful world of Discus.

Discus are a very intelligent fish, and he can see outside the tank and into the room. He KNOWS things are different from his usual home, so it will take him a while to get used to the new surroundings. If you now have him in a tank on his own, he's probably convinced some huge fish ate all his mates, and will eat him too if he shows his face

Discus seem to be more confident in groups of 3 or more, but if that's not possible, then give him some tetras or other small fish as tank mates, and he will be happier.

Discus like warm soft, slightly acid and very clean water. Can you tell us a little about your tank, pH, hardness, nitrites and nitrates. Is your tank planted, or bare and how large. Driftwood in a discus tank is good, but rocks or large solid ornaments are not really suitable.

Cute name - bubbles.

[kalebjarrod]

Welcome to the forum

i have recently aquaired 6 new discus and like yours they have been really shy, hiding like yours

they will come around, just takes a little time

it can help to leave the lights off for a few days and have the temp at around 30-31 degrees c

this helps them a little

[Josephine]

Hi, thanks for fast response.

it can help to leave the lights off for a few days and have the temp at around 30-31 degrees c

I am in the US and don't know what celcius is, we use Farenheit. I have the tank at 88 degrees now. I had to put in a new heater today. The store I bought Bubbles from is a fish store and they deal in every kind of fish you can imagine. They told me to mkeep the tank very warm.

Bubbles is coming around today, eating and being more sociable.

If you now have him in a tank on his own, he's probably convinced some huge fish ate all his mates, and will eat him too if he shows his face
Discus seem to be more confident in groups of 3 or more, but if that's not possible, then give him some tetras or other small fish as tank mates, and he will be happier.

He has two zodiac loach for friends right now. We are considering a school of six small neon tetras or possibly a dwarf Discus

Can you tell us a little about your tank, pH, hardness, nitrites and nitrates. Is your tank planted, or bare and how large. Driftwood in a discus tank is good, but rocks or large solid ornaments are not really suitable.

The tank is a ten gallon. I took all the ornaments out of the tank last night, leaving only two plants, the polished stones which are fairly good size and two large laois stones in the tank. I never yse the samll pebbles in my tanks, too hard to clean. I test my water every day and it is good except that the PH is too high. This is something I need to correct.I am taking in out well water to be tested at the shop thinking this may be better water. The water is soft, spring water.

Thanks so much for the help

[DiscusMan]

I am in the US and don't know what celcius is, we use Farenheit

http://www.greenigsociety.org/tempchart.htm

Follow the link for all the coversion rates between the two temperature standards.

Wayne

[Merrilyn]

Hi Josephine, your temperature of 88 degrees will be just fine. You could even safely go down to 86 degrees if you like.

A small school of tetras will go nicely in that tank, but don't put another discus in that size tank. You may even find Bubbles eventually gets a bit too big for that tank.

Everything sounds good. Just keep up with those daily water changes. Even just one gallon per day will be ideal.

[B-rad]

Hey Josephine, I'm new to discus keeping also, I'm also from the u.s. I found that my original discus took around 4-5 days to come out of hiding and get used to you, the times you feed them, and their new enviroment.. I was real nervous getting into the discus hobby seeing as how expensive they are, but you will find that in most cases they are pretty easy to care for.... good luck with your discus

[flukes]

We are considering a school of six small neon tetras or possibly a dwarf Discus

There are dwarf discus???

[Josephine]

Yes I found them online Will try to find the link again

[Del]

Its been 11 days since I bought my two checkerboards and they come out and then hide behind the planted driftwood I have, over and over and over again.

I now try to sit in front of the tank for an hour or so every day (luckily it is where I can see the TV) and also read a book in front of the tank and they seem a bit better now - coming out for longer periods each time) so I'll guess I'll just keep that up.

Patience I guess , mmmmmmmmm....

How are yours Josephine?