# discus help required



## neeraj (Jun 13, 2011)

hi guys
well i have 10 discus', i feed them tetra bits but day before i realised that i was running out of tetra bits so i started feeding then once hikari chichlid pellet one time ( i feed them twice)
just noticed that some of them have stringy poo
7 of the 10 discus' in the tank are new from a friend my old discus' are not showing any signs but i believe that is because they are not eating the floating pellets (i've never seen them eat) they were always fed tetra bits since the beginning
so what do you think is it because of the change in food???


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

It would make sense that it would be.


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## neeraj (Jun 13, 2011)

so do you think i should stop feeding them that???


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## Ladayen (Jun 20, 2011)

hmm... I wouldn't be too concerned atm. Watch for other behaviour changes though. Changing anyones(or anything's) diet is going to cause some digestional issues. Should be temporary.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

It could be 1 of 2 things. Either the discus from your friend have worms, or it's just the change in diet. It's best to feed discus different kinds of foods though. What color is the poop? Also, something you can look for with discus is the pinched forehead and pinched stomach. If you look at them head on, it'll literally look like someone pinched their forehead/stomach. If it's the forehead that is pinched, that means that they're getting a pretty poor diet and need more various types of foods. If it's the stomach, that's a sign of worms and you'll have to get medication immediately. No sense taking it out into a hospital tank because if one has it, most likely all do, and it doesn't hurt to treat them all anyway.


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## neeraj (Jun 13, 2011)

well the poop is black in colour no other behaviour changes and no their stomach or frehead does not seem to pinched so i guess false alarm
and ya i know i should be feeding them variety but i always thought commercially available food is the best you can give your fish


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## neeraj (Jun 13, 2011)

i also have another question since many of my discus' are new they fight a lot i wanted to know will they harm each other in any way i know it is a noob kind of question to which the answer must be no but still i'm a bit worried and 2 of the 10 are really very small as compared to the others thanks


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

neeraj said:


> i also have another question since many of my discus' are new they fight a lot i wanted to know will they harm each other in any way i know it is a noob kind of question to which the answer must be no but still i'm a bit worried and 2 of the 10 are really very small as compared to the others thanks



U might want to swap the two larger one's for four smaller ones..........they are just sorting out their hierarchy ranks.....if the problem persistes after a few months you might want to get a larger tank. Don't listen to people who say turning down the temp a couple degrees reduces agression as I keep my oscars at 17 degrees c and they're still agressive as hell.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

hopefully they are sorting pecking order and will settle down. When a fish isn't allowed to eat, has missing scales, bloody wounds or is losing significant amounts of fin, you need to pull it out.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

neeraj said:


> i also have another question since many of my discus' are new they fight a lot i wanted to know will they harm each other in any way i know it is a noob kind of question to which the answer must be no but still i'm a bit worried and 2 of the 10 are really very small as compared to the others thanks


Yup, just as the others said. Is most likely them just sorting out who's the boss but if it continues, you'll have to get a bigger tank.


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## neeraj (Jun 13, 2011)

well 2 are small 8 are quite a good size and the small ones do not get picke on the adults are fighting around all of them the old and the new defend the small if they get caught in crossfire so i have no issues with them...
noticed one thing though it happens only when i put the feed in the tank should i increase the amount i put in??

well i stocked up again on tetra bits should last me 2-3 months now
i wanted to know so now tetra bits is staple diet
i'm going to throw blood worms in once a week as treat
was thinking about beef heart but idk heard it messes up water pretty bad
any suggestions


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Try all those things, and observe them closely.


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## chronoboy (Jan 17, 2011)

I do beef hearts, brine shrimp, flakes and blood worms everyday and it don't seem to mess the water up.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I know people who feed beef heart to discus, but they are also people who do big daily water changes. The more heavily you feed, the more water you change.


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## chronoboy (Jan 17, 2011)

I just drop one cube of each frozen food a day, and only do water changes about once to twice a month,of course the cubes are ravished before they even defrost, so theirs not much of a mess.


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## neeraj (Jun 13, 2011)

hey chrono you tried brine shrimp i was thinking of brine shrimp but heard they do not carry that much nutrition i tried beef heart today and my water was a huge mess so did water change of course i did not freeze before feeding though and my fishes did't even go near it they just waited on the top for me to put in the bits lol i got vegan's on my hand i believe


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## Hansolo (Sep 10, 2010)

chronoboy said:


> I do beef hearts, brine shrimp, flakes and blood worms everyday and it don't seem to mess the water up.


My wifes discus are on a similar diet. Frozen foods are the staple and flakes are fed only on Mornings we are running late. We only change 30% of the water about every 5 days.


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

You could try beef heart flakes  A bit less messy


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## Zane_uverworld (Jun 19, 2011)

you shouldn't switch fish to food in one day it took about 3 weeks before i weened my clown loach off of flake food and on to bottom feeder food. You could always bride with brine shrimp :3


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## neeraj (Jun 13, 2011)

aren't brine shrimp going to be way too too small???


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## snyderguy (Feb 9, 2010)

For discus? Nahh, I use freeze dried brine shrimp. They love it.


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## neeraj (Jun 13, 2011)

if i decide to hatch my own brine shrimp to feed to feed my discus will feeding eggs or eggs shells harm of course accidently


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Discus, being cichlids, will take salt well, but you can defeat your 'softwater' goal by salting the tank with unrinsed food. baby brine are small for adult discus, but you'd be surprised how tiny a food many fish will go for. shells tend to float and you skim them off the surface. Raising brine shrimp to adulthood is possible, but more difficult than just hatching them. I think you feed green water or spirulina powder.


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