RIP Blue Tourqouis

[bleublaze55]

Well....

My blue tourqouis that had thought to have survived a survere constipation episode died this morning along with a snowball pleco and a hillstream loach late tonight.

He was the last of the original two I had bought about 4 months ago.

My discus, to me, don't seem like they are growing very fast. I feed them about 3 times a day with a variety of food. Bought from two different places. still not growing very fast. How long does it take to reach 5"?

 

[FishPimpin101]

Well....

My blue tourqouis that had thought to have survived a survere constipation episode died this morning along with a snowball pleco and a hillstream loach late tonight.

He was the last of the original two I had bought about 4 months ago.

My discus, to me, don't seem like they are growing very fast. I feed them about 3 times a day with a variety of food. Bought from two different places. still not growing very fast. How long does it take to reach 5"?

Water Quality is just as important as feeding a discus to achieve a faster growth. If you do daily water changes depending on your tank size and your bioload. Most hobbyist recommend 50% daily on a BB tank it varies. however if you have a heavily planted tank thats a whole new ball game. Daily water changes and Variety of foods will help your discus be healthy and grow fast

 

[FishPimpin101]

Well....

My blue tourqouis that had thought to have survived a survere constipation

Severe constipation(bloat) is a common problem and easily remedied through salt treatments(epsom) if treated in time before secondary problems occur

 

[bleublaze55]

I treated as soon as i was aware of it. He seemed fine the day after. That night though he started to look very bad so i knew things weren't right. His bloat was very big so im thinking that his organs were damaged in the process.

I have a heavily planted aquarium. I know water chnages aren't good for them but i try to remedy that with sups. Its a losing battle really.

I can't do daily water changes but i shoot for 3-4 times a week! I have two filters running which i thought would make up a better water quality. combined they push about 700GPH through my 70+ gallon tank. All other tank mates are small, mostly tetras, cories, and rams.

I know discus are hard to raise from the 1.5'' stage but i feel like mine just don't grow hardly at all. The one that just died was about 3.5" maybe a bit bigger and i had him for a couple months!

 

[FishPimpin101]

Its hard to raise juvies in a planted tank combined with gravel. I would have no time to upkeep a planted tank with juvies. Much easier to raise them in a barebottom tank till you reach a size your satisfied with then throw them in the planted tank. That is protocol for raising juvies. Right now my tank is half n half. Very easy to maintain plus looks decent. all the waste sits in on corner and i scoop it out in like a minute

 

[hillbilly]

The reason your discus don't grow very fast is water quality. A heavily planted aquarium has much lower water quality than a bare bottom tank. Bottom line. I've been trying to inform the rookies on this forum about water quality with planted tanks and juvie discus, but some of these folks think they can outsmart biology, proven techniques, and logic I suppose. Juvi discus DO NOT belong in a planted tank period. This has been proven for decades. Sorry that you lost your fish.

 

[bleublaze55]

Well my tank is already planted and my discus live. BUT growing is definite an issue. I think i will just let whatever plants die if they do and then mostly focus on taking care of the discus. I don't have a bare bottom tank but if i do gravel cleanings 4 times a week would that be sufficient?

 

[bleublaze55]

thanks

 

[snoopy65]

I would thin out the plants now, not let them die. Dieing plants cause ammonia spikes. My "planted" tank is lightly planted. I can get my python hose in between each plant and vacuum the gravel all around the plant. I leave a 1 1/2" circle around the base of each plant untouched. I clean my substrate every day with my daily water changes. On my 6' tank it takes between 1 and 2 hours to clean the tank - EVERY DAY. If you want the discus to grow....it has to be a discus tank first and you have to be willing to put the time in to maintain the substrate and water quality to growing discus standards. It is much easier to do in a bare bottom tank because you can see everything sitting on the bottom. In a planted tank you have to vac every inch every day so you get all that you do not see.

Sure, you could go with every couple of days to clean the substrate, just understand that your discus will not do as well with either growing and probably health.

Once a discus reaches about 14 months old they are done growing, then you can have them in a planted tank that gets 1-2 times a week water change. Until then, commit the time to them and vac daily or you will likely have more problems.

 

[estrump]

I had the same problem with discus getting to about 1.5 to 2" and stopped growing. I found the answer was to "clean" them up with metro and then dewormer followed by quick cure. Rocky Mountain Discus (see the dot com) has all the info and products you will need. ALL your discus should go through a three stage clean up, especially if you are going to breed them. With a planted tank, you almost have to have a hospital tank set up so you don't wreck your environment.