I need a Id, on this fish, and it's possible sick.

[hillbilly]

Don't worry, you can leave sponges running in the tank during water changes. I do it every day. I only rinse them when they start looking dirty, which is about every 3rd water change for me.
To cull a discus means "to throw the fish out into the yard".
You don't need an RO. Use the water you have. Don't be messing around with the Ph either. A novice messing around with water chemistry is asking for trouble.
Don't worry about buying anymore tanks at this time. Learn how to keep Discus alive without killing them first, then you can worry about bigger tanks. Why buy all these tanks and equipment, only to damage or kill the fish by making mistakes with their care? I suggest you get the tank you have now running successful for 6 months or so with healthy fish living in it before you start complicating things with multiple or bigger tanks. Patience is a good thing to have in this hobby. Take your time and learn how to do things properly. It will save you time, money, and your fish.

 

[fishyjoe26]

Don't worry, you can leave sponges running in the tank during water changes. I do it every day. I only rinse them when they start looking dirty, which is about every 3rd water change for me.
To cull a discus means "to throw the fish out into the yard".
You don't need an RO. Use the water you have. Don't be messing around with the Ph either. A novice messing around with water chemistry is asking for trouble.
Don't worry about buying anymore tanks at this time. Learn how to keep Discus alive without killing them first, then you can worry about bigger tanks. Why buy all these tanks and equipment, only to damage or kill the fish by making mistakes with their care? I suggest you get the tank you have now running successful for 6 months or so with healthy fish living in it before you start complicating things with multiple or bigger tanks. Patience is a good thing to have in this hobby. Take your time and learn how to do things properly. It will save you time, money, and your fish.

so what should I do, what do you think my problem is? should I buy a canister or power filter? I also think that maybe my test kit doesn't work I have 3 different api test kits, and one of bottles says 2003 on it. so that means that that bottle is out dated and won't test right? right?

 

[fishyjoe26]

and I got medication for them, from the breeder down the road where I've been getting my discus at, and I got a 32 gallon trash can. now all I need to do is get a return pump for the trash can and a heater for the trash can.

 

[hillbilly]

For the third time, I'm telling you your problem is a mini cycle! The only thing you need to buy is a new test kit that includes ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. Expired test kits are useless. Don't medicate anything! Let the tank cycle until your ammonia is zero, nitrite is zero, with only nitrate showing. Then you can throw out your damaged discus, get new ones, and go from there.

 

[fishyjoe26]

For the third time, I'm telling you your problem is a mini cycle! The only thing you need to buy is a new test kit that includes ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. Expired test kits are useless. Don't medicate anything! Let the tank cycle until your ammonia is zero, nitrite is zero, with only nitrate showing. Then you can throw out your damaged discus, get new ones, and go from there.

slow down, don't have to yell! I'll get a new test kit.
I went to a LFS and here are the read out......
- temp _____84

- ph _____7.0

- ammonia reading ____.00000

- nitrite reading ____.000000

- nitrate reading ____10 test taken using a api kit at the LFS

also what color strain is this discus? this is what the discus that I have should look like right?

 

[fishyjoe26]

or maybe it's a spotted blue polka? or a ocean blue? or a blue diamond they all looks the same.

 

[hillbilly]

Tests look good for now. Your mini cycle may be over. Test it every day for a few days to see if it is going to remain stable. In the meantime, don't do anything crazy like add more fish, meds, or overfeed. Let the bacteria colonies build. They are fragile at first. It's hard to tell if you even listen or not at times, because you go off about wanting to buy tanks, fish, and equipment instead of focusing on the problem at hand people are trying to help you with. Nothing personal.

 

[fishyjoe26]

Tests look good for now. Your mini cycle may be over. Test it every day for a few days to see if it is going to remain stable. In the meantime, don't do anything crazy like add more fish, meds, or overfeed. Let the bacteria colonies build. They are fragile at first. It's hard to tell if you even listen or not at times, because you go off about wanting to buy tanks, fish, and equipment instead of focusing on the problem at hand people are trying to help you with. Nothing personal.

it's ok I understand and yeah some time I do go off and talk about other tanks. sometimes I'm just like why don't I give up on discus and go back to tinfoil barbs,silver dollars,bala sharks bla bla and get a bigger tank. I just got to stick with it, and make sure I do everything right from now on.

 

[FishManMoe]

That's the spirit