mdlnewman
Members
OMG these Discus are amazingly skittish. Wonder how long before their own shadow will stop scaring them. I have turned off the bright plant growing lamp for now. Hopefully they'll settle in soon.
YSS
Members
Are these the ones you picked up from the meeting yesterday? How many do you have, how big is the tank, and what else is in the tank? Also, for discus care, try simplydiscus.com, but like John said yesterday, be mindful of advices you get on the internet.
mdlnewman
Members
yup 3 new discus hans pretties in a 65 gallon tank, not alone
mscichlid
Founder
Give them some time. Check your nitrate level.
YSS
Members
Also, three is not a good number for discus juvies. Often, they will fight and fight until there is one left. For the juvies, recommended minimum number is 6. They may work out for you, but don't be surprised if they start fighting.
George
CCA Charter Member and person in charge of the we
"Plus others"??? Don't you quaranteen? Very bad vibes here. Do not kill the lights or they will never acclimate. They should be by themselves but I guess you already blew that one. From what I heard you deserve what you get.
I still wish you luck. Discus are great fish and those in the auction were beautiful.
George
I still wish you luck. Discus are great fish and those in the auction were beautiful.
George
Avatar
Plenipotentiary-at-large
If you get completely demoralized or nearly so...
...there's room at the Inn(er Sanctum of one SF LaBudde). Somehow I ended up with four of them and am sure they'd be glad of the company.
I'm sort of in for a pretty penny here, hard not to 'see' my own bet.
...there's room at the Inn(er Sanctum of one SF LaBudde). Somehow I ended up with four of them and am sure they'd be glad of the company.
I'm sort of in for a pretty penny here, hard not to 'see' my own bet.
mdlnewman
Members
Wow have a bad day George. Sorry if I don't have 6 extra tanks laying around to quarantine fish in.
Why bother with the lame, "I wish you luck", after saying I hope all your fish die in the first sentence??
YSS
Members
How are the discus doing? I think you should be ok without the QT as you didn't have any discus in the tank you put them in.
Some are very strict about QT and some aren't as strict. I am of the latter. I got two full grown wild discus from Hans at the meeting and also got a small cutie in the auction. I put all of them in my display tank as I knew the fish were 100% healthy. Some people will never do that. No matter what.
Anyhow, the little guy is among 12 giant wild discus and he is doing well. Started eating yesterday. Good luck with your discus.
Some are very strict about QT and some aren't as strict. I am of the latter. I got two full grown wild discus from Hans at the meeting and also got a small cutie in the auction. I put all of them in my display tank as I knew the fish were 100% healthy. Some people will never do that. No matter what.
Anyhow, the little guy is among 12 giant wild discus and he is doing well. Started eating yesterday. Good luck with your discus.
dogofwar
CCA Members
George's advice about quarantine is sage...and not difficult to do (keep an extra sponge or two cycling and you can set up a quarantine tank as needed for new acquisitions)...
Sorry to sound harch, but no matter the source, no matter the quality of the stock...I do my very best to quarantine. Doing otherwise is rolling the dice...
Matt
Sorry to sound harch, but no matter the source, no matter the quality of the stock...I do my very best to quarantine. Doing otherwise is rolling the dice...
Matt
mdlnewman
Members
This Matt is not harsh. It is providing an opinion.
Tony
Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
Hey Mike-
Have they come out of their shell yet? Hope they're doing alright. Though I've never kept them, from what John was saying, it doesn't sound like discus need babying like popular theory says.
It was great seeing how excited you and the Mrs. were at the front table the other day. Like a couple of little kids.
It's all about the moments of child-like enthusiasm. That's why I love this hobby.
Have they come out of their shell yet? Hope they're doing alright. Though I've never kept them, from what John was saying, it doesn't sound like discus need babying like popular theory says.
It was great seeing how excited you and the Mrs. were at the front table the other day. Like a couple of little kids.
It's all about the moments of child-like enthusiasm. That's why I love this hobby.
dogofwar
CCA Members
Amen brother!
You might bump up the temp...nothing like a little hunger to overcome the desire to hide~!
Matt
You might bump up the temp...nothing like a little hunger to overcome the desire to hide~!
Matt
Hey Mike-
Have they come out of their shell yet? Hope they're doing alright. Though I've never kept them, from what John was saying, it doesn't sound like discus need babying like popular theory says.
It was great seeing how excited you and the Mrs. were at the front table the other day. Like a couple of little kids.
It's all about the moments of child-like enthusiasm. That's why I love this hobby.
Enkay
Members
Thought I would state my experience.
I got a pair from Jose here couple months ago. I put them in their own tank but they were seriously skittish for the longest time. It took them two months plus to get acclimated and now they eat out of my hand.
The one thing you might want to test is your pH. If you are in NoVa and use tap water, the pH has gone up to 7.6+ last couple of weeks. Get a bottle of pH buffer and use a dose (reduce by 0.2) every 24 hours. Get it down to about 6.6 - 6.8.
I have seen that discus dont usually care about the nitrates (ammonia is bad though) but pH can get to them especially if there is a sudden change. If the pH in Hans' water was below 7 and they went from there to a high pH it wont help them.
Good luck!
My two cents.
I got a pair from Jose here couple months ago. I put them in their own tank but they were seriously skittish for the longest time. It took them two months plus to get acclimated and now they eat out of my hand.
The one thing you might want to test is your pH. If you are in NoVa and use tap water, the pH has gone up to 7.6+ last couple of weeks. Get a bottle of pH buffer and use a dose (reduce by 0.2) every 24 hours. Get it down to about 6.6 - 6.8.
I have seen that discus dont usually care about the nitrates (ammonia is bad though) but pH can get to them especially if there is a sudden change. If the pH in Hans' water was below 7 and they went from there to a high pH it wont help them.
Good luck!
My two cents.
John_Nicholson
Members
Personally I would not worry about the Ph right now. Discus can adjust to a wide range of Ph but cannot adjust to Ph that bounces around all of the time. Shadows falling across the tank can mess with discus. It is just how they are sometimes. I would just make sure that the water is clean, stable, and warm. After that just give them sometime. The deal with the number of fish is because while not overly aggressive they are cichlids and as such they will pick on each other. If you have 6 or more it really helps to spread the aggression. Georges point on the QT is also valid. Discus are amazing fish but a bad illness can wipe them out in a hurry. Most people QT new discus to make sure that the new fish do not bring in a problem to their current fish. In this case I know the source of your discus and know that they are fine so I would not worry about it this time. If you could pickup a few more discus from Hans it would help the situation. If you buy some discus somewhere else be sure to QT them.
Good luck.
-john
Good luck.
-john
mdlnewman
Members
They will sneak out and eat if you stand in the doorway and they can't see you Still run like hell if they see you at all. I've been in contact with Hans and will prolly get a few more.
Our tap water is 7.6 and it gradually goes down in that tank because of the drift wood. But since I will be doing frequent water changes it will most likely stay 7+.
Temp is bumped up to 85-6 now. If I can find a good container I could use RO water.
Still run like hell if they see you at all. I've been in contact with Hans and will prolly get a few more. Our tap water is 7.6 and it gradually goes down in that tank because of the drift wood. But since I will be doing frequent water changes it will most likely stay 7+.
Temp is bumped up to 85-6 now. If I can find a good container I could use RO water.
John_Nicholson
Members
I would not worry about RO water unless your tap water is really, really bad.
-john
-john
minifoot77
Members
hans uses tap so they don't get shocked too bad going to there new owners house so stop trying to make it hard on yourself mike
mdlnewman
Members
Actually my tap is not so bad, TDS of 54.
leisure_man
Members
QTing the discus is a very good idea since they are notorious to have internal parasites. I once had an entire batch of discus came in with tapeworm from a very 'famous' breeder. Since his discus breeding facility had a central system, my guess was all his discus got tapeworm to various degree (except for the breeders which were isolated from the system).