Wild Green Tefe Discus Pair

[Festae Forever]

Hi All-Today I picked up a breeding pair of Wild Green Tefe Discus. It's been 20 years since I last kept discus and that was never with the intention of breeding them. I have them set up in a bare bottom 46 gallon bow front tank. I have two possible issues. 1-The guy I got them from has acidic water (about 6.0-6.2), conversely I'm using R/O water with a PH of 7.0 I thinking I'm going to need to bring down their PH if there's any hope of them spawning again. 2-The previous owner mostly fed them live blackworms. I'm in Palm Springs where for the next 3 months or so the temperature is going to be 100 degrees or more ,so mail order is probably a problem and neither of my two independent stores carry blackworms. Any thoughts on either of these issues is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Hidan]

Try frozen worm amongst other foods and see what they accept. Give them plenty of water changes.

As for the PH. Be careful when messing with PH as fish, especially Discus prefer consistent PH, rather than ideal PH.
If that PH keeps moving up and down while your trying to achieve the 6 PH, it may negatively affect the fish.

Discus do spawn at 7 PH, though I am not sure about the breeding habits of the wild varieties. Maybe someone with experience with wilds can confirm

My suggestion is try to see if they breed at 7 PH. If they refuse to spawn, only then attempt to bring down the PH.

 

[Lilyann]

Hi All-Today I picked up a breeding pair of Wild Green Tefe Discus. It's been 20 years since I last kept discus and that was never with the intention of breeding them. I have them set up in a bare bottom 46 gallon bow front tank. I have two possible issues. 1-The guy I got them from has acidic water (about 6.0-6.2), conversely I'm using R/O water with a PH of 7.0 I thinking I'm going to need to bring down their PH if there's any hope of them spawning again. 2-The previous owner mostly fed them live blackworms. I'm in Palm Springs where for the next 3 months or so the temperature is going to be 100 degrees or more ,so mail order is probably a problem and neither of my two independent stores carry blackworms. Any thoughts on either of these issues is appreciated. Thanks!

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You might try some freeze-dried blackworms, my discus take to them...
they are usually a food that discus take well to- both domestics and wilds. I get mine from this company:
https://aquaticfoods.com/

Did you just get the wilds? Do they look like they are adjusting well to the pH at 7.0?
I would give them some time, just observe to see how well they are settling in before making adjustments to your water for spawning.
After they have established themselves you can take the pH slowly down to induce spawning.
Congratulations! They are very nice.

 

[mrrobxc]

When I was a into wilds, I went on simplydiscus quite a bit a learned a ton. The of the site sells FD blackworms. Multiple varieties.

 

[Lilyann]

Al at Simply has a good product as well- no doubt. Both are good options

 

[Festae Forever]

You might try some freeze-dried blackworms, my discus take to them...
they are usually a food that discus take well to- both domestics and wilds. I get mine from this company:
https://aquaticfoods.com/

Did you just get the wilds? Do they look like they are adjusting well to the pH at 7.0?
I would give them some time, just observe to see how well they are settling in before making adjustments to your water for spawning.
After they have established themselves you can take the pH slowly down to induce spawning.
Congratulations! They are very nice.

Hi All-Thanks for the good word. I'm going to order the blackworms for sure. I'm a little concerned about the discus. They sometimes see their reflection in the bottom of the bare bottom tank and it seems to be spooking them a bit. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the tank I have is very well made and has a full bottom plate on the underside. The tank they came from was almost a community setting with sand, a lot of plants and some other fish. Conversely I have this set up as a breeding tank with the bare bottom. I went out and got a few potted plants and it seems to have calmed them down some, but their breathing is more rapid than I would like and they're not yet eating with verve despite being offered frozen bloodworms and beef heart. I'm looking at getting them some Discus Trace and although I'd hate to add sand, maybe I need to do so.

 

[Hidan]

Discus at times get spooked seeing their own reflections, if they are not used to it. Hence many people either paint the bottom or place a black paper under their tank.

The Discus should hopefully settle down soon and adapt to the tank. It usually takes a week before they are used to the new settings. Luckily most fish can manage with no food for around 15 days, so don't get too worried if they aren't eating well. They will once they get used to the tank as well as you.

I wouldn't spend money on Trace, just do regular water changes and give them a varied diet.

 

[Festae Forever]

Hi Again All-First a big thank you to all that have replied to my post. The Discus still don't seem to be doing great as I've yet to see them eat. They continued to be really spooked and although I didn't want to stress them further, I felt I needed to take action. Friday I added ceramic tile to the bottom of the aquarium as well as live plants and driftwood. This does have them up and swimming, but even a feeding of live blackworms yesterday(obtained from an hour away) didn't get them feeding. Here's my water parameters:
KH-1
PH-6.5
Ammonia- .37ppm (taken after a heavy unsuccessful feeding)
Nitrate-0 ppm
Nitrite-0 ppm
Though I was advised against it by the person I purchased them from, I was considering adding some Cardinals as dither fish and maybe a couple of Corys. His logic was the Cardinals might eat the babies if they spawn. However he had both Cardinals and Corys in the tank they spawned in. Suffice to say, they're nowhere near spawning and I just want to them to eat and look happy. Any thoughts?

 

[Lilyann]

What temperature do you have your tank at?
When I have Discus that are reluctant to eat I slowly turn tank up to 90 degrees. This will raise their metabolic rate and encourage to eat. I would also get a vitamin supplement like Boyd’ Vitachem that can be both added to water and to food- it also stimulates appetite. Also, use a product like Seachem Garlic-guard added to ( soaked ) bloodworms. The discus are very attracted to eat garlic.

 

[Festae Forever]

What temperature do you have your tank at?
When I have Discus that are reluctant to eat I slowly turn tank up to 90 degrees. This will raise their metabolic rate and encourage to eat. I would also get a vitamin supplement like Boyd’ Vitachem that can be both added to water and to food- it also stimulates appetite. Also, use a product like Seachem Garlic-guard added to ( soaked ) bloodworms. The discus are very attracted to eat garlic.

Good suggestions-Thank you. I have the tank at 86 right now. Will turn it up a few more degrees. I might have some Kent Garlic laying around from my marine fish. Will get some Vitachem too.