I have a 55 gallon tank setup bare bottom with a sponge filter, (2) Aquaclear 50s, marineland heater set at 86. top fin digital thermometer reading 85.8. PH is 6.4-6.5. I picked up (8) 2-3" Santarem Discus from a local breeder. The local breeders setup was very nice and clean 55 gallon identical to mine(even in painted bottom color. Trip was about 40-50 mins between my location and his. his PH was said to be 6.6 and his temp read about 86-87. I took a large cooler with me and placed them in some large 3 gallon ziplocs and also took some extra tank water of his to hold the temp up in the cooler. Cranked the heat in the car all the way home. Acclimated them to the temp for 10 mins, mixed some tank water into the bags for another 15 mins, then let them loose. Left the lights off for an hour to try to let them settle. Last night I fed them frozen brine shrimp by Hikari. Six of the eight of them look like they are doing well. still skiddish but they eat and aren't breathing heavy. Two of the fish look darker and breathing heavy. I expect this from one of the fish as he was getting nipped and has a sore spot on his side on his slime coat. The breeder told me he was out of town and didnt feed them one day and they started nipping him? The fish I am concerned of is another one that is darker in color and breathing hard. He also randomly flips out and swims circles in the tank / breaks to the surface and runs into stuff. He has a small sore on his side that is from him running into the filter intake (which i actually saw him do). I did a 30% WC last night after feeding them. I vacuum after feedings to clean the bottom of the tank. My ammonia readings are zero / nitrites are zero / nitrates are zero / PH is 6.4. I used an API master test kit. My water changes will be daily at least 30%. I have a water storage can with a heater / air stone to keep the water temp the same. Only additive I use in it is prime by seachem. I have another 75 gallon tank with angelfish / tetras and a 29 gallon with platys that are all healthy. Is there anything I can do for him or just stay the course? Is he just an emo / suicidal fish?
Anything Else I can do for them.
- Thread starter Jrigsbee
- Start date
give them some time. some discus can take weeks before they settle into thier new home. 8 discus in the tank at one time is a load on your filter. you should be doing more than 30% wc's. those fish need to be fed 5 or 6 times a day. I would do 3 50% wc's per week minimum. add some salt and they should heal. if all goes well, you will have to upgrade to a larger tank as 55 gal. is not enough for 8 adult discus. it's usually 10 gal. per fish. a 90 gal. would be enough.
Yep for sure on the wc. I only did 30% yesterday trying not to overly spook them. This afternoon I'll start a 50% one, then everyday after. I agree with you on the qty being more than what I can do for a 55g. My initial hope was for 6 of them. All eight of them were together before in a 55 gallon and they were a package deal. They will outgrow it but I hope for now they will be ok. I will make arrangements to get them to a larger tank as they grow more. 90 gallon is a great suggestion. I like the blueprint of my 75 gallon so having a taller version of that makes great sense. I fed them 3 times yesterday since they arrived about 4 in the afternoon. I will stay diligent with that. I have used salt on platys before and it worked well. Is the mortons salt(Non iodized) that i used before safe for discus? What qty should I use teaspoon / tablespoon wise on a 55 gallon? Thanks for the feedback.
couple things that i notice: zero nitrate? is your tank cycled? and you should not feed them after 24hrs IMO. Agree with 3dees, give them some times and 55G is too small and you'll end up upgrade your tank in few months. GL
it is cycled, it read 5ppm nitrates or so before i wcd last night. I had a blue gourami in it before hanging out with a couple of tetras. And the tank was on a common sump filter with my 75 gallon. The common sump was disconnected and heat raised about 6hrs before i got the discus in it. I dosed the tank with stability to help with he bio load change in the tank. Probably wasn't necessary but hopefully cant hurt either. Don't quite understand on the 24hr feed? Would you recommend that I don't feed them for 24hrs? Thanks!