Hi from Duabi - urgent help and advice needed!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

tarapascoe

Feeder Fish
Feb 5, 2012
0
0
0
UAE
Hi I really need assistance.
1 week ago I bought a tank with the equipment, deco and fish - I got 1 orange discus - the marlboro version i believe, 2 angel fish, 8 small pale fish with a stripe of colour along their backs and 1 that mainly stays at the bottom - not a cat fish. I can't recall all their names and i'm trying to search for them online as i need to be educated! At the time both stores i visited said the discus is fine on its own, from reading websites I can see this is not ok. I did go back the next day and buy him a friend as he seemed very nervous and hid. So now theres 2 discus in my 60x30x60 tank. The stores said this is not too many fish for this tank however i'm starting to wonder if it is! After 3 days the fish started gasping and the tank went cloudy. I researched it and thought it was ammonium poisoning - so i called the pet shop expert out and he found the ammonia and nitrate levels were fine but the pH was wrong and he gave different meds to sort the tank out and get it right. The temp had been at 29 degrees however he said to bring it down to 27 degrees to help the pH balancing and make the discus better. The orange discus is not eating and hasn't for a few days now. The new discus is fine and the rest of the fish are fine. The orange discus now has what i believe is peppering. Some sites say increase the temperature of the tank in these instances. I'm really unsure of what to do for the best. the pet shops have said leave it alone for a few weeks however he's not ok and seems to be getting worse. i feed them frozen bloodworm and also pellets that the pet shop said is the best thing for them however they dont eat the pellets and these are making the tank a complete mess. I've been advised different things and I want to do whats best for the fish. Please help! :cry:
 
hi and welcome,,, i think your gona run into cycling probs, also the reason the fish wer gaspin is cos it was too hot for them ,,im supprised you went foe discus as a first fish tho

imho i think you should get some stuff that will instanty cycle,,iv never used it but i think its the right thing for u to do.[unless u have alreaddy done that]
 
Cycling probs? :(

I'll put my hands up and say i was not informed enough before i purchased everything, totally my own fault. When in the UK you could go to a proper shop and learn loads and make sure you got the right thing however I was told here that this setup would be fine and simple to work with, however it really hasn't worked out that way! I just want to make the fish happy and the poor discus better!
 
hav u brought test kits,, the thing is the tank has to cycle google cycle a fish tank, it will explane better than i can
 
Yup my guess is sounds like you bought a whole established aquarium setup, however during transport the beneficial bacteria probably died off leaving you with basically a super sensitive fish(discus) and a crashed bio system. I'd do lots of water changes, maybe 30% daily, add something to cycle the tank quicker, do lots of homework, and if you have specific questions we mint be able to help more. Cloudy water can be from a ton of stuff, but most likely from BB die off. Good luck and welcome to mfk
 
Also don't throw in pellets if nothing is eating them. Only making the prob worse. Feed what the fish will eat, worry about getting them on pellets if they can survive. Organic waste like food = ammonia spike, when left in a tank uneaten. Clean all that debris out
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com