First group of Discus.. some advice

[MFNRyan]

So I got my first group of Discus a week or two ago. First shot at keeping these guys. I started out with two.. pigeon blood and a light blue striped one. The pigeon blood took two days to accept the striped one and they are fine now. So yesterday I got another. research online says the more the better.. I got a blue diamond and the pigeon blood again is chasing him around. Will he later accept this fish or is there anyway to know? He wasn't this harsh to the other. Is this normal behavior for discus also? It has only been 24 hours since the fish was in the tank but he is hiding a lot and has not ate yet. I feed the same as the fish store and when I picked him out he was out front swimming around and looked great. I did read a article on picking a discus. I'm also looking to add a few more but seen to add one at a time and give them time to get use to each other. This one is a beautiful fish.. I love the look of this guy so I hope they come around. Also I notice my pigeon blood fish goes to the top of the water a lot and leans toward the top like he is looking or waiting for something... he eats good I don't think its hunger.. I have a powerhead that bubbles with a lot of circulation so oxygen should be good. tank temp is 78 degree. I have kept hard to keep fish for a long time, a lot of hard to keep piranha.. and rays.. water params are good, filtration is good. Maybe there is something to do with these fish that are diff. from any other fish. any tips you guys have will gladly be taken thanks!

 

[crashwl21]

buy more discus. the more the better, they wont chase each other around when in a bigger group. i had 18 discus all different sizes with no issues. btw raise ur temp too 84

 

[Water]

This is why you need to do research in advance.. It helps to avoid amateur mistakes like these.. Anyway, for starters, get more Discus at ONE time. Adding them them at once helps reduce aggression instead of adding a new guy in to get picked on. You will need to do daily LARGE water changes(80%-100% WC). I am assuming you got Juvi's since this is your first attempt with Discus. How big is your tank? You will need at least 5 Discus to keep a stable group. The temperature should be higher, 80-84 would be more ideal. As for the Pigeon Blood that's floating near the top, does he irregular breathing? And does it try to scratch itself? I would assume that your tank has been infected with Gill flukes.. and all the other fish have been infected. Check the water parameters just to be sure it's not a water issue.

 

[MFNRyan]

This is why you need to do research in advance.. It helps to avoid amateur mistakes like these.. Anyway, for starters, get more Discus at ONE time. Adding them them at once helps reduce aggression instead of adding a new guy in to get picked on. You will need to do daily LARGE water changes(80%-100% WC). I am assuming you got Juvi's since this is your first attempt with Discus. How big is your tank? You will need at least 5 Discus to keep a stable group. The temperature should be higher, 80-84 would be more ideal. As for the Pigeon Blood that's floating near the top, does he irregular breathing? And does it try to scratch itself? I would assume that your tank has been infected with Gill flukes.. and all the other fish have been infected. Check the water parameters just to be sure it's not a water issue.

I did a lot of research online before starting this group. I have kept piranha mostly so I wanted to try a fish I have never kept. These are very pretty fish so I chose them. Most of the stuff I read said adding to many fish at once can cause problems?? So don't add one at a time? My fish are all 2-3" so juvy is a probably right. What is gill fluke and how do you treat it? No it does not try to scratch itself either just sometimes goes to the top like that. breathing looks calm. What is the purpose of daily water changes at 80% to 100% that much new water can not be good! I treat with prime but even still that much new water would hurt your filter columb? I have never done a WC of that amount.. that would throw your entire tank off? that much new water would cause a mini cycle wouldnt it? I have a 100g tank with a lot of plants and 925 gallons worth of filtration with 11 times the gph rating. I use bio filtration and my params stay perfect with my weekly water changes like I do with my delicate piranhas, which produce extreme messes. My nitrates stay around 5 and nitrites and ammonia 0. Have been keeping fish for over 15 years. filtration and tank upkeep I'm not new too.. just these fish.

 

[arowanas lover]

first of get a group of six 5 is ok but 6 makes a whole world of difference. do daily water change. is your tank bare bottom? if not you need to make it bare bottom. bump temp up to 84-86. feed every 2-3 hours if possible

 

[MFNRyan]

Why do you guys do daily water changes? What is the purpose of that.. I have some sand for plants on the bottom. I would never keep a bare bottom tank for any fish. The few people I know that keep discus don't have bare bottoms either? lol would be pretty ugly.. I'm thinking of doing 7 or 8 total. Going to buy 4 together next chance I have time to go get them.

 

[arowanas lover]

if thats the case then buy 4"+ sub adult

 

[J.Lake]

bare bottom is easier to keep clean thats why ppl do it

 

[TNT77]

I did a lot of research online before starting this group. I have kept piranha mostly so I wanted to try a fish I have never kept. These are very pretty fish so I chose them. Most of the stuff I read said adding to many fish at once can cause problems?? So don't add one at a time? My fish are all 2-3" so juvy is a probably right. What is gill fluke and how do you treat it? No it does not try to scratch itself either just sometimes goes to the top like that. breathing looks calm. What is the purpose of daily water changes at 80% to 100% that much new water can not be good! I treat with prime but even still that much new water would hurt your filter columb? I have never done a WC of that amount.. that would throw your entire tank off? that much new water would cause a mini cycle wouldnt it? I have a 100g tank with a lot of plants and 925 gallons worth of filtration with 11 times the gph rating. I use bio filtration and my params stay perfect with my weekly water changes like I do with my delicate piranhas, which produce extreme messes. My nitrates stay around 5 and nitrites and ammonia 0. Have been keeping fish for over 15 years. filtration and tank upkeep I'm not new too.. just these fish.

If you did alot of research then you should have known that 78deg is way too low for discus. They should be kept at a minimum of 82deg to keep down health issues. The reason for the massive water changes is...juvies of that size require alot more feedings in a day..between 5-8. More feedings means more leftover food in a planted tank especially..and more feedings means more poop. Good luck trying to keep up with that in a planted tank. Thus the bb for younger discus. This allows for pristine water quality. And yes people can raise discus in a planted tank...but they will never reach their maximum potential if they live at all. And that is with an extensive amount of work to keep a balance in the tank.

 

[TNT77]

So I got my first group of Discus a week or two ago. First shot at keeping these guys. I started out with two.. pigeon blood and a light blue striped one. The pigeon blood took two days to accept the striped one and they are fine now. So yesterday I got another. research online says the more the better.. I got a blue diamond and the pigeon blood again is chasing him around. Will he later accept this fish or is there anyway to know? He wasn't this harsh to the other. Is this normal behavior for discus also? It has only been 24 hours since the fish was in the tank but he is hiding a lot and has not ate yet. I feed the same as the fish store and when I picked him out he was out front swimming around and looked great. I did read a article on picking a discus. I'm also looking to add a few more but seen to add one at a time and give them time to get use to each other. This one is a beautiful fish.. I love the look of this guy so I hope they come around. Also I notice my pigeon blood fish goes to the top of the water a lot and leans toward the top like he is looking or waiting for something... he eats good I don't think its hunger.. I have a powerhead that bubbles with a lot of circulation so oxygen should be good. tank temp is 78 degree. I have kept hard to keep fish for a long time, a lot of hard to keep piranha.. and rays.. water params are good, filtration is good. Maybe there is something to do with these fish that are diff. from any other fish. any tips you guys have will gladly be taken thanks!

What do you mean by water params are good..can you give ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings? And Water is correct you should always add discus in groups..after quarantining each group.