Has anyone experienced any sudden death of their apparently very healthy discus?
I bought two very healthy discus yesterday from an offbeat petstore. My water parameters&temperature are perfect for discus, and I'm very frequent&thorough with all types of water testing and am confident in my established 3 year old heavily planted 55gal and it's stability- but for personal satisfaction I test the water daily. Both discus were healthy and eating bloodworms vigorously last night right from my hand&swimming around after a 50% water change. For the rest of the night, no problems.
The next morning, I turn on the light to find one discus recently dead, and the other hanging around at the top.
This action is not necessarily panting, but has his face and mouth trained upwards, almost boredly drifting and bobbing gently, which didn't cause me panic previously since they're new additions in an unfamiliar tank. I noticed both discus doing this last night after lights-out.
Because I bought both discus yesterday, is there a chance that it was simply too much a shock for one of them? Maybe they require an intensely long acclimation process? I figured after letting the bag warm up in the tank water for an hour, I'd introduce it little by little into the bag- but I might should have taken even longer on that, or tried a different technique. Perhaps he was older, or perhaps the same fate awaits the remaining discus.
Maybe there's something I'm missing? A parameter I need to keep the closest eye on aside pH? I'm experienced, but discus are new territory. Do they prefer temperatures even warmer than 86 moreso? Is it simply true that discus thrive best in an aquarium where there are very, very few other fish to none at all and almost 'can't' be kept in a varied-species tank? Or if this is possible, must the bioload be very small? They were in a community tank with a small group of clown loaches, 2 mollies, a few ghost catfish.
As a side note, the same day the discus were purchased, from the same store I also purchased a hillstream loach and several small clown loaches. The hillstream and a small clown loach were also found dead this morning; so obviously I feel this could perhaps have been a factor; I suppose no pet store is perfect. Deaths are a strange occurrence in this tank- I'm a crazy-obsessive fish-mommy so I haven't had a death in any of my tanks in forever- but honestly as an avid aquarist always looking to become more skilled, I'd really love some input on the discus death. Always sucks a lot to turn on your light and see 25 bucks laying dead on the substrate- no 14-day guarantee from Pet Wize.
We all realize part of the hobby is sometimes fish die without explanation, for a lot of reasons. It still doesn't stop you from wanting to know why! And how to fix it or stop it from happening again! With conditions even better than they were at the kinda poopy store I got them from, they were very happy in my tank, elated to be able to move. Discus appear to be incredibly fascinating and interactive, so any help on saving my little buddy would be appreciated. I'm a little wary that he's going to pass away simply because his buddy died- in anyone's experience are your discus happier single, or in a nice-sized group?
I probably won't attempt discus again in a community tank, unless I hear some success stories soon, haha. Or am able to fix the error I made, if I did. They're so beautiful, even if they are a lot of attentive work. And final quick questions- how do you get your discus? From a pet store, online, or a breeder? I suppose it's a good thing they're so expensive, since they're apparently their finicky reputation lives and dies with them. Going to do another wc in a bit here. I have no ideas and hope very much someone can help out. Thanks for your time guys!<3
I bought two very healthy discus yesterday from an offbeat petstore. My water parameters&temperature are perfect for discus, and I'm very frequent&thorough with all types of water testing and am confident in my established 3 year old heavily planted 55gal and it's stability- but for personal satisfaction I test the water daily. Both discus were healthy and eating bloodworms vigorously last night right from my hand&swimming around after a 50% water change. For the rest of the night, no problems.
The next morning, I turn on the light to find one discus recently dead, and the other hanging around at the top.
This action is not necessarily panting, but has his face and mouth trained upwards, almost boredly drifting and bobbing gently, which didn't cause me panic previously since they're new additions in an unfamiliar tank. I noticed both discus doing this last night after lights-out.
Because I bought both discus yesterday, is there a chance that it was simply too much a shock for one of them? Maybe they require an intensely long acclimation process? I figured after letting the bag warm up in the tank water for an hour, I'd introduce it little by little into the bag- but I might should have taken even longer on that, or tried a different technique. Perhaps he was older, or perhaps the same fate awaits the remaining discus.
Maybe there's something I'm missing? A parameter I need to keep the closest eye on aside pH? I'm experienced, but discus are new territory. Do they prefer temperatures even warmer than 86 moreso? Is it simply true that discus thrive best in an aquarium where there are very, very few other fish to none at all and almost 'can't' be kept in a varied-species tank? Or if this is possible, must the bioload be very small? They were in a community tank with a small group of clown loaches, 2 mollies, a few ghost catfish.
As a side note, the same day the discus were purchased, from the same store I also purchased a hillstream loach and several small clown loaches. The hillstream and a small clown loach were also found dead this morning; so obviously I feel this could perhaps have been a factor; I suppose no pet store is perfect. Deaths are a strange occurrence in this tank- I'm a crazy-obsessive fish-mommy so I haven't had a death in any of my tanks in forever- but honestly as an avid aquarist always looking to become more skilled, I'd really love some input on the discus death. Always sucks a lot to turn on your light and see 25 bucks laying dead on the substrate- no 14-day guarantee from Pet Wize.
We all realize part of the hobby is sometimes fish die without explanation, for a lot of reasons. It still doesn't stop you from wanting to know why! And how to fix it or stop it from happening again! With conditions even better than they were at the kinda poopy store I got them from, they were very happy in my tank, elated to be able to move. Discus appear to be incredibly fascinating and interactive, so any help on saving my little buddy would be appreciated. I'm a little wary that he's going to pass away simply because his buddy died- in anyone's experience are your discus happier single, or in a nice-sized group?
I probably won't attempt discus again in a community tank, unless I hear some success stories soon, haha. Or am able to fix the error I made, if I did. They're so beautiful, even if they are a lot of attentive work. And final quick questions- how do you get your discus? From a pet store, online, or a breeder? I suppose it's a good thing they're so expensive, since they're apparently their finicky reputation lives and dies with them. Going to do another wc in a bit here. I have no ideas and hope very much someone can help out. Thanks for your time guys!<3
