New and looking for advice.

[Teshi]

I'm new to the forum and seeking a bit of help.

I'm looking to achieve keeping Discus fish. So far I haven't been very successful. I've lost 4 out of 4 this week.

My tank has cycled (fishless) and I had nothing in it after it cycled but the 4 discus. my Ph 7.8 , Ammonia .25 , 0 nitrates. Temp supposedly 86. The reason I say supposedly is the heater was set at 97 but the digital thermometer was reading 86, but when i put in a mercury therm. it read 79.

I had the fish 7 days. I did 2 about 25% water changes in that week. 3 died within 4 days and the 4th on the 7th day.

I'm not sure why they died. I'm trying to figure out what i did wrong to prevent it happening again.

I've changed my heater and thermometer today. So far the new ones are reading accurate.

 

[boadams87]

Well since ur reading ammonia ur really not cycled yet! In a cycled tank the ammonia and nitrites will read 0 while the nitrates are suppose to be less than 20.

 

[Charan]

I have the Similar problem. My 4 guppies and 2 glow fish died within 4 days

Last Sunday I brought 3 silver Molly and changing 10% water every other day. So far they seem fine and I am also controlling the feed.

 

[boadams87]

This may help you both!



http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

 

[Teshi]

Before I got the discus the ammonia was at 0. Since adding them and them dieing that is where it read. The tank was set up for almost 2mo before adding fish so it would be cycled. I did a proper cycling.

 

[Snype2live]

you may have suffered some sort of crash if you ph dropped temp dropped or something or if you just stopped feeding the bacteria after you cycled it because if it was cycled properly ( by the way what do you mean by that? there many different ways to cycle this may help someone more experianced help you ) your ammonia would be absolutely zero it would never raise even if your water supply had ammonia cause the bb built up would devour what little bit there was in the water ....imo i know that discus are very sensitive TO ANY DIFFERANCES i read they pretty much have to have exactly what they experiance in the wild

 

[Teshi]

For cycling my tank i set it up the end of Dec begin of Jan. I used media from one of my other tanks and cycled it through... Ammonia>Nitrites>Nitrates.
When I got the Discus the tank was stable 0 ammonia 0 nitrites. I do have other tanks. This is a 55gal. I got it for the purpose of having discus. I don't want people to think I set up the tank and put fish in it. I guess that's what I meant that it was cycled properly

 

[Snype2live]

did you feed it ammonia to acctually build the bacteria up or just put media in it ,sorry if it seems like i tryng to say you dont know what your doing im just trying to help you . So what ammonia did you use how much did you dose each day or like i said did you just put media in and wait??

 

[Teshi]

To cycle my tanks i use the recommended pure ammonia and kept the levels at 4 ppm when the ammonia started dropping I tested for my nitrites to check for elevations yay nitrites. Continued feeding ammonia until my nitrites were 0. Checked for nitrates yay nitrates.. PWC.. I checked my tank for a week. 0 ammonia 0 nitrates. PH 7.8 (a little high for discus but was told not to worry about it yet.) I know this sounds simply put but it is how I've cycled my tanks for a few years now.

 

[mozcheez]

I see you said it's a 55 gallon tank.

Regarding your heater and temperature, what kind and wattage do you have? How is it placed in your tank? (i.e. sideways, 45 degree angle, straight up and down) And also, where in the tank is it? (Middle, far left, far right, etc.). Where were the thermometers in relation to the heater?

Also, how much are you feeding?

 

[Snype2live]

ok well i just wanted to make sure because some friends of mine said they cycled tanks and just set it up with media in it and left it for a month ....well im at a loss for words except maybe you had a down set to your bacteria or maybe the tanks to small

 

[Teshi]

it is an Eheim Jager 300watt. I have it placed in the middle of the back of the tank at a 45angle up. I have a thermometer in each front corner of the tank. My LFS replaced the faulty heater yesterday and the new one is working great. thermometers read right on to the setting.

I was feeding them 2/day.

 

[Teshi]

I have nothing in the tank right now. Ammonia-0 Nitrates-0. I think I need to put something in it or start feeding the BB ammonia again I've never had this happen b4

 

[mozcheez]

I'm glad to hear that the temperature issue was due to a faulty heater and that the LFS replaced it for you.

I don't know much about discus, so I don't really have any advice or tips to offer you. I was thinking that the ammonia rise could have resulted from overfeeding, but I doubt that 2x a day is too much (someone will correct me if I'm wrong).

If you still have ammonia lying around from your initial cycling, I'd definitely keep it dosed up a little until you can add more fish. I don't think the full 4ppm is necessary, but maybe 1-2ppm just to keep the bacteria fed and the cycle continuing.

I'm leaning toward thinking it was the temperature fluctuation that caused the deaths. I'll bet the temperature could have some affect on the cycle, as well - but I don't know that for certain either.

Good luck Teshi :\

 

[Teshi]

Well I'm thinking of going and getting 4 more discus. From a different shop. When I was in the LFS that I got the discus from the rest of them were all kind of at the top of the tank. I'm wondering if something is up with them too. Thats why I didn't get any more from that shop. These aren't shops like petco or petsmart. they are Fish Shops that have been around for years.

Just hoping the heater was the stresser for already stressed fish

 

[Teshi]

Ok just got home with 3 new discus. Water all tests great. Doing a drip acclimation right now. They all look good from the long trip home. 4hrs. These fish look so much healthier than the first ones I purchased from a different LFS.

Wish me luck and the fishies too!

 

[boadams87]

Ok just got home with 3 new discus. Water all tests great. Doing a drip acclimation right now. They all look good from the long trip home. 4hrs. These fish look so much healthier than the first ones I purchased from a different LFS.

Wish me luck and the fishies too!

Wow you really went a long way to get those!!!!

 

[Teshi]

Yes, The other LFS is about 1.5hrs away. But the first 4 I purchased from them died and didn't want to repeat. So I decided to travel a bit further this morning and go to a LFS near my daughters. Traffic does play a bit in the travel time too I really hope we are successful this time around.

 

[boadams87]

Well I hope so to. Good luck

 

[mozcheez]

Good luck!