FranAndMark Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 hi there, i am new to keeping discus and have encountered a problem. i have 5 discus, 2 of which have a small amount of mucus trailing off their fins.they are also withdrawn, not feeding well and turn a dark colour at times. i have turned up the temp to 30 degrees and have been treating with melafix for the last 4 days.they usually are kept at 28 degrees with no problems. i have been doing water changes of 20 % every 4 days. they don't seem to be getting any worse and the mucus has cleared but they are still dark in colour and look unwell.pH is neutral and nitrite levels are fine what is this and how is it caused?. what should i be doing to get them healthy again? can anyone help fran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IOU1 Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 You sure they don't have babies? I haven't bred discus before but after they lay eggs and they hatch, they develop a mucus on their bodies to feed the young for the first few days. They can intensivy into a darker colour when breeding. You sure they aren't parents with young fry??? Sorry I can't be much help, I have probably got your hopes up thinking you have fry when it could be a disease :-? :oops: Sorry and good luck, someone on here will help you out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranAndMark Posted December 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 good point, i hadn't thought of that. they have been chasing each other around the last few weeks and attacking each other. i've also noticed that they sometimes lock mouths together like kissing gouramis do but only for a few seconds. is this discus breeding behaviour? there is only one now still sulking and is still a dark colour the other one has come right. i have lots of baby guppies in the tank,i don't think they are discus.i haven't noticed any egg laying. does anyone know how to tell male and female discus apart? fran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IOU1 Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Its nearly impossible to tell discus apart, which is why you are advised to buy a group of about 6 young fish to pair off.... :-? Lets hope they are babies, I don't want to get your hopes up :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted December 16, 2006 Report Share Posted December 16, 2006 you will know if you have a pair. they will shimmy at each other and generally show off then go off together and 'bond' :lol: they do have little tiffs every now and again but pairs normally dont fight too much. i would think the behaviour your seeing is aggression and they are trying to pick out their pecking order. it is very difficult to sex discus, sometimes the only way to tell is see them doing their thing, there are a few ways people sex them but they arent always reliable. i would up those w/c's, daily or every second day would be good if its possible with around 30-50% a time (if you can do more then thats awesome!), extra clean water can help discus fight off certain problems sometimes. is the one thats still dark the lowest in the group? they normally secrete slime when they are stressed, there are toxins in the water or they have an external parasite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranAndMark Posted December 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 hi there, two of my discus are still not right. they are both dark in colour and just sulking in the corner. and yes they are the two smallest ones. we got three as a group together from one person and they were all the same size. now one is absolutely huge and the other two are smaller. they have only grown a little. the other two we got from another source are quite large as well.is there anything i can do to stop the bullying apart from putting them into another tank. would extra plants or ornaments for them to hide in or behind help? i do have other tanks available to set up .do you think it would be a good idea to put them into another tank until they get larger and then return them into the main tank? should i continue putting melafix in. is it ok to use this with a black ghost knifefish also in the same tank? thanks heaps for your info. i'll try to do more water changes and see if it helps.the bottom does get quite dirty even after just 4 days. thanks fran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 First of all, i'll move the discus to a Barebottom tank and treat them with Furan2. Small discus don't do well in planted tank cos they need alot of food to grow thus producing aloy of waste which in turn needs alot of waterchanges in order to keep the water quality in top condition. You will not be able to acheive this in a planted tank. Best way to spread the aggression is to grow them in a group of 8-10 discus. After you have treated them, put them in a BB tank to grow them up with 6-8 feeding a day if you can.Feed a variety of food. Best food to grow them up is home made ox heart mix. Do a daily 25% waterchange. Keep the temp at 29-30 degree. When buying discus try to go for discus that are no smaller than 50mm in size. They might be more expensive But will save you a lot of trouble. Always buy from a reputable breeder or seller that are willing to help you out if you encounter any problem down the line with the fish. The most important thing is ALWAYS QUARANTINE your new fish AND TRY TO GET YOUR FISH FROM ONE SOURCE. Hope that help. Ronnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 i totally second the buying the largest you can afford part. i dont consider myself new to discus but i am still unable to grow them out very well, i bought 5 3cm discus and they all ended up dying even in a BB with heaps of w/c's but all my larger discus are doing well and i have seen a few double in size since i go them. healthy stock plays a major role also, if they get flukes etc when they are young it can cause a signifcant set back in the rate they grow. growing them up is hard work and IMO is best left to the breeders like discusguru 8) :lol: hopefully what discusguru has mentioned will be of some help to you, let us know how you get on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranAndMark Posted December 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 hi, thanks for your info.will try what discusguru suggested. thanks heaps fran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranAndMark Posted December 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 hi again, what is the ox heart mix made of?. is it just minced or diced ox heart. is there anything else you add to it? fran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted December 20, 2006 Report Share Posted December 20, 2006 You can buy the ox heart from your butcher or supermarket. You have to trim off all the fat and put it through a mincer. Things you can add to it are Raw prawns, spirulinar powder, multi mineral and vitamins powder, garlic. Mix them all together and put them in a zip lock bag (thin layer so you can break it to feed the fish) and freeze them. If you prefer you can freeze the clean ox heart and use a cheese grater to grate them into thin strip and feed them to the fish without adding any of the above . Do not over feed and any uneaten food should be remove to stop it polluting the water. Best to feed an hour before you do WC. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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