brishe Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 We have restarted our 150litre tank due to disease. Currantly occupied by a few guppies, some baby bristlenoses, 2 gba and one adult bristlenose.(the tank is cycled and going great) Yesterday we recieved 3 baby discus from Auckland. The nitrite is less that 0.1, ammonia nil the ph has always been 7.0 but was advised that discus like it at 6.5 so i got some "proper ph 6.5" and was told to add it to the tank to get an instant result so i did this and it is now 6.8 which is ok i think. The guppies and golden bristlenoses were looking a little stressed(breathing fast) yesterday as was the discus but i did expect them to be after a traumatic journey, some of the guppies are a little dark in colour too which they didnt use to be in their other tank. Should i keep using the ph stuff?? has anyone else use it? If i could have some feedback about what i am or am not doing right would be great, i want to make sure that everyone is happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Throw away you pH adjuster, otherwise it will be running your life. Yes, the discus might prefer 6.5 in an ideal set up, but you are only .5 away with a stable setup. I'd throw it out. The reason your other fish are stressed IMO is that they have had a too big a pH swing for their liking. They should recover tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Your Discus will adjust to your existing pH of your tap water. As Alan said.. throw away your pH adjusting stuff.. I was in a similar situation to you.. wasted my money :-? just keep up with the water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me love fishy Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 I read on this forum that discus like clean water (someone correct me if that's incorrect), just something to be wary of going forward, good luck with your discus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 All fish do better with clean water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 6.5 pH might the the 'ideal' reading for discus, but they can handle about 5.5 to 7.5 as long as it's steady and all the other tank parameters are normal. Some bogwood or driftwood (which the plecos will want too) should help keep the pH down in a more natural way. Otherwise a bit of peat in the filter will have the same effect. But like the others said, 7.0 is close enough and well within the discus' range. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted May 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 Throw away you pH adjuster, otherwise it will be running your life. Yes, the discus might prefer 6.5 in an ideal set up, but you are only .5 away with a stable setup. I'd throw it out. The reason your other fish are stressed IMO is that they have had a too big a pH swing for their liking. They should recover tho. I did query that with the lfs about the stress of the ph change but he said they will be fine!! I certainly learn more from the forum than the petshops, thanks for that. The tank is normally stable at around 7.0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted May 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 Your Discus will adjust to your existing pH of your tap water. As Alan said.. throw away your pH adjusting stuff.. I was in a similar situation to you.. wasted my money :-? just keep up with the water changes. Thats great to know, thanks. I was researching on the net and so many sites said that the right ph for discus was really important to their health and as we were spending so much money on them i guess i was getting a little paranoid. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted May 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 I read on this forum that discus like clean water (someone correct me if that's incorrect), just something to be wary of going forward, good luck with your discus. Yes i read that too, i do water changes every week and the water stays pretty clean, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted May 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 6.5 pH might the the 'ideal' reading for discus, but they can handle about 5.5 to 7.5 as long as it's steady and all the other tank parameters are normal. Some bogwood or driftwood (which the plecos will want too) should help keep the pH down in a more natural way. Otherwise a bit of peat in the filter will have the same effect. But like the others said, 7.0 is close enough and well within the discus' range. Cheers Ian Thank you for that, its very reassuring to hear. We have got plenty of wood in the tank, so hopefully it should stay stable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 Discus will be ok in PH 5-PH8.5. Trick is to keep it stable (not 5 one day and 7 the other) Baby discus are better kept in groups of 6 and over. 3 is a bad number to have. Hope your baby discus is not too small or you'll have a hard time raising them in a community tank. Better to raised them up in a BB tank and then put them in the com tank. They need alot of food and WC to grow to their pottential. With heavy feeding there is no way you can keep the water quality clean. Clean doesn't mean crystal clear water. It simply mean the least amount of dissolved waste and nutrients. Good luck with your discus and do not play with the PH. Cheers, Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted May 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 Discus will be ok in PH 5-PH8.5. Trick is to keep it stable (not 5 one day and 7 the other) Baby discus are better kept in groups of 6 and over. 3 is a bad number to have. Hope your baby discus is not too small or you'll have a hard time raising them in a community tank. Better to raised them up in a BB tank and then put them in the com tank. They need alot of food and WC to grow to their pottential. With heavy feeding there is no way you can keep the water quality clean. Clean doesn't mean crystal clear water. It simply mean the least amount of dissolved waste and nutrients. Good luck with your discus and do not play with the PH. Cheers, Ron Ok, thanks for that helpful info. They are approx 5cm accross from nose to tail, i was going to put them into our smaller tank but i have just finished treating those fish for hex and i didnt want to risk them catching it. They arrived on wednsday lunchtime and i have only managed to get one to eat 2 bloodworms yesterday!! so i am having a little stress about them today, they are hiding quite alot but do come out to the main part of the tank occasionally. When i feed them flake food they seem to be scared of it and swim away. When you say three is a bad number does that, why is that? Is there something else i could be feeding them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted May 28, 2007 Report Share Posted May 28, 2007 three is a bad number because either two will buddy up and nail the third or one will become super bossy and relentlessly go at the other two. its usually the first one though, experienced it myself and after getting more i now have a happy tank (6 in my 200L barebottom). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted May 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2007 three is a bad number because either two will buddy up and nail the third or one will become super bossy and relentlessly go at the other two. its usually the first one though, experienced it myself and after getting more i now have a happy tank (6 in my 200L barebottom). I have now moved them out of the community tank and into a bb tank which they obviously are more at home in as they are all eating really well now, and it is much easier to clean up after them but we are having some issues..... The two bigger ones are picking on the smallest on but also they pick on each other so i am stuck with what to do?? I have emailed the guy asking if he has got any more but i havnt heard back i have also asked him for help. Would i be better taking out the picked on one ? or should i put a tank divider in? I also noticed that one of the bigger ones is breathing faster than the others and its right gills look inflamed?? do you know what this could be from?? Other than that they are very lively and seem to be doing ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted May 31, 2007 Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Because you have a small number of discus theres nothing you can do to stop the fighting bar getting more or seperating them (i had three at one stage and it wasnt much fun). I would attempt to get some more asap because stress can bring on illness very quickly. If the bullying is really affecting them i would probably seperate them, they will be sad by themselves but not as sad as getting picked on 24/7. Gill inflamation is not a good sign, usually when they use one more than the other/ breath extra fast its often flukes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted May 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2007 Because you have a small number of discus theres nothing you can do to stop the fighting bar getting more or seperating them (i had three at one stage and it wasnt much fun). I would attempt to get some more asap because stress can bring on illness very quickly. If the bullying is really affecting them i would probably seperate them, they will be sad by themselves but not as sad as getting picked on 24/7. Gill inflamation is not a good sign, usually when they use one more than the other/ breath extra fast its often flukes. Ok, thanks, is there any treatment for flukes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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