# Discus help!



## graceful.04 (Oct 30, 2012)

A few days ago I posted the thread Angelfish help... now I need help with my discus. I just bought two more juveniles yesterday making a total of five discus that will hopefully pair up in the future. The issue is that they don't look like they're doing so well... I've rescued a sick discus from a bad pet store and he's healthy now so I don't think I'm doing anything wrong. Anyways, they're literally lying on their sides sometimes against the tank and sometimes just completely horizontal on the ground. I got these guys from a good pet store and they look healthy from their appearance so i dunno what's going on. Can anyone help me?

Grace


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## C. King (Dec 14, 2012)

what are your water parameters? that would be the first thing I would check, along with temp., and maybe add an airstone if you don't already have one, just to be sure they have enough oxygen. Do you have a good test kit for ammonia, ph, nitrites, nitrates? Have you done a partial water change? what kind of appetite do they have? Sorry to ask so many questions, but more information would be helpful.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i agree with c. king.....first thing to make sure of is temp and parameters....i would
take the temp to 86-88...do a water change...then test.....


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## graceful.04 (Oct 30, 2012)

Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, all zero. I have the API master test kit. Upped the temperature a bit to about 87 degrees. Did a water change. They are looking better now for the most part. I think the water might be pretty hard though so I guess I'll try to fix that.


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## C. King (Dec 14, 2012)

whats your ph? don't try to fix it with chemicals like ph up or ph down! that can lead to ph bouncing-worse off than before! Discus need soft water. If your tap water is hard, might want to use RO water in water changes.


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## C. King (Dec 14, 2012)

also, I wonder why your nitrates are zero? If the bacteria is working, it should be changing the nitrites into nitrates, which should at least register. Have you done anything lately that could have killed off the good bacteria?


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## graceful.04 (Oct 30, 2012)

Well, the Nitrate is ~0, so there is a little bit. It was just easier for me to say zero. And I would think that the ammonia would spike if the bacteria died. The man at my LFS gave me some RO water and now my other discus aren't doing too well...


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

depends how much they dump into the tank, try adding a little food they wont eat to add to the ammonia, nitrates of 0 isnt good from what im told, it should be at least 10ppm as a good average, mind you id swap as my nitrates in my smaller tank spike like a nutter no matter what i do,
wouldnt hsave though thr ro would have caused it, unless he gave you a container used for salted ro that wasnt rinsed properly or even worse gave you salted ro for marine.
maybe the one that was sick hadnt fully healed and has now passed it on,
buy yourself some Pure Cajeput Essential Oil & BAY (West Indian) Essential Oil and make your own melafix and pimafix, will save you a fortune, add 1ml to 99ml of distilled water and hey ho off you go


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## graceful.04 (Oct 30, 2012)

Huh, so where can I find these oils?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

they are all over the place...just google the names of the essential oils and they will pop up..


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

make sure you get the Pure Cajeput Essential Oil not tea tree oil, there is a difference, the cajeput is a lot better


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

What's exactly wrong with them??


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## graceful.04 (Oct 30, 2012)

Their fins are clamped, they won't stay up straight, it looks like they're dead sometimes... i don't know. I really don't know as much about discus as I should...


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

jbl site has a diagnosis system for disease and the like, dunno if that would help in any way, one of my dwarf gourami is sick, is difficult cos you cant use melafix on them, hasnt shown any real signs of whats wrong except its fins are spiked not clamped, his scales are not sticking out so rules out dropsy, sits at the top of the tank doing nothing, it is off colour, seems theres a disease called dwarf gourami disease with no cure, summing to do with breeders in asia, keeping an eye on all the other fish and they are fine, even the other gourami, is hard to diagnose sometimes


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

What are your water parameters? How long has this tank been set up? What else is in the tank? What size tank?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

weedkiller....why can't you use melafix for the gourami ?


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

summin to with labyrinth fish, its summin i read after treating with melafix, so i have already (hasnt helped with its condition) 
its in quite a few places about melafix and labyrinth fish so i guess there may be something in it,


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## graceful.04 (Oct 30, 2012)

I just moved my fish and right now my discus are in a 20 gallon. I have a 29 gallon that I was going to put them in but I didn't have the time to unpack it as my fish were in bags for hours and a 20 gallon tank was easier. They are actually doing better now despite the move. I think it's because the water here is much softer. The tank was just set up but I kept the filter and the old gravel covered in water and used them for the tank so it's newish. Right now, I'm still in the process of setting up so there are a few cories and two rams in the tank too for now.


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

good luck


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## C. King (Dec 14, 2012)

good luck, graceful! Moving with fish tanks is not easy! But, when the challenge is done, the enjoyment of the tank makes it all worthwhile...


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## Vayurules (Dec 7, 2012)

Well, at least they are feeling better, and they wont grow to adult size over night, so the 20 gallon should be fine. Good luck Graceful!


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i have found that with many species it is better to keep them in a smaller tank when they are young..it keeps them in closer proximity to the food...more water changes are needed ; but the growth rate will be faster.. I.E....a spawn of angels..eggs hatched in a 10 gallon tank and kept there for 2-3 weeks...daily 30% water changes...then directly into a 29 for a couple of weeks....then into a 55 or 75 for the next 4-6 weeks....40% water changes twice a week...more often if possible...temps at 82 F......feed 4-5 times daily...

weedkiller...melafix is contains an oil as you know...some people keep bettas in containers without aeration or filtration..consequently no surface movement...the oil floats on the surface and can cause problems with the labyrinth organ...if you provide surface agitation it breaks up the oil and gets it circulating throughout the tank...
any time i treat a tank with any kind of med i like to increase surface agitation...
some people actually believe that if there is any surface movement labyrinth fish will drown because they won't be able to breathe....that is soooooo not true..


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

not sure how it all works to be honest, only going by recomendations from those who are probably more experianced than me, bear in mind ive had a 20 year break from keeping fish and im relying on google to refesh what braincells i have left lol, i am still trying to save the life of my gourami but if sh!t happens then so biet, i am the sort that a life is a life regardless and if i can make a difference i will regardless of race creed and colour, ive got air from an airstone to agitate the surface blowing from the ouput of the filter to get the air flowing as best i can, makes the bubbles nice an small and spread into the water as best i can, seeing as the airstone and filter are totally seperate its the best i can do under the circumstances,


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## Vayurules (Dec 7, 2012)

Good luck weedkiller! If the pump can handle it, split the airline with a gang valve or a tee and add more airstones if more surface agitation is needed.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Softer water doesn't really have much to do with discus so I'd be surprised if they "feel better". Discus don't have to be kept in soft water.


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

the airstone isnt putting air through the impeller, its stuck to the front of the filter by a sucker and the air lifts into the output stream from the filter.... was on the J.D last night, should have explained better


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

you have good surface agitation weedkiller , so using melafix shouldn't pose any problems...if it isn't helping to heal the fish there is most likely something else wrong...


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

i know, thats the big question... its lost colour, it sits at the top of the tank, the other gourami pushes it about a little, no spots, ive studied various sites with pics trying to sus whats going on but have concluded nothing, except going and buying every med out there where do i start lol,


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## graceful.04 (Oct 30, 2012)

Well I really don't know... I'm away from them right now so I can't give any current updates but after relocating them they were happier. Maybe it's the bigger tank? Do they get extremely stressed when they don't have enough room?


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

There's multiple different things that could be going on. My guess is that you didn't completely heal the other one and the disease spread to the others, or someone is picking on them. What could also have happened is that where you got them from had totally different water parameters and you didn't acclimate properly. As a precaution, I ALWAYS drip acclimate for a good 30 minutes.


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## graceful.04 (Oct 30, 2012)

I absolutely acclimated them, now I'm one discus and $30 down though


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

Sorry to hear that... It does happen though. It's hard to tell what exactly happened without knowing all of your pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in the tank


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