Help with my discus

[nicmack]

I have a community tank with platys, harlequins, tetras and two small discus the problem being that one discus is not eating at all and the platys are overdosing I have tries discus tucker, bloodworms and are developing a white worm culture - i have a feeding ring as well which she dosen't go for when the others come out for feeding she hides in the corner....is there anything else i can do? is thee any particular food that the discus will go for and the livebearers wont??? its been 8 days now and her colouring etc is still good and she is fairly active but I don't think she will last much longer at this rate

[sharn]

healthy discus can last weeks without food so dont worry too much

i think the reason she is not eating is because the other discus wont let her. discus are cichlids and will bully one another quite badly if they arent in big enough groups to disperse aggression.

there isnt much you can do to stop the livebearers eating their food- discus can be slow eaters (comapred to live bearers which want your whole arm too lol) and they will struggle with faster fish in the tank if they are not feeling 100% comfortable.

try dispersing the food throughout the whole tank. maybe chop up some live garden worms (from a chemical free source) and see if they will go for that, make sure they are small enough for the discus but too big for the other fish if possible. they were what i used to get mine eating when i was having problems with aggression so it might be worth a shot. you could also feed the fish at the front then while theyre busy drop some down where the discus is hiding.

if her colour is good, breathing normal etc then i would look at losing the discus, losing the live bearers/other fast feeding fish or getting a new tank for discus only and have a group of 5+.

[Jettin]

I would suggest adding in more discus, they swim in a shoal, so another 4 would be good, the numbers will make them feel more comfortable and less shy.

The one thats not eating now is probably trying to find food at night when the lights are out.