My Discus isn't doin so well

[Jensensyn]

The basics:
55 gallon tank
Bamboo, some fake coral decorations, gravel, a bubble wand and two bubble decorations.
PH 7.0
Ammonia <.2 ppm
Temperature 80 degrees
Tank mates: 3 angel fish, pear gourami, catfish, and bottom feeder.

I am trying to change out the water with all RO water, but I've only got about 15 gallons in there so far.

When I woke up this morning, he was on the bottom of the tank and very dark in color. I was out of town about a month ago and the person watching my fish killed most if them. I felt like I established a safe environment about a week ago, when I bought this discus. He has been doing very well up to today. There seem to be scratches on his face, he's staying at the bottom of the tank, and when he swims he looks drunk. I can't see any ich or fungus, but I have began medicating just in case. I am using Kordon's brand Rid•Ich Plus.

Any other suggestions on what he might have or what I could do?


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[Andy Sager]

For starters, I feel like you have the Discus in with the wrong tankmates. They like quiet and don;t really like to fight for thier food or space. Unless this is a newer, "man made" variety, the PH is way too high for the Discus as well. ( Check wth the store you got him from as to what their PH is in the tank they keep their Discus.) Wild Discus come from very soft, acidic water with very low PH values. If this is a wild form, I would suggest seeing if the store will help try to revive him for you and you will need to set up a different set up for him once he's better. Discus, are best kept, with other Discus. They also are not a good fish for new aquarists. They can be very demanding of their food, water requirements, temperature requirements and tank mates. In your case, I don;t think medication is the answer here. It sounds like he is mistreated ( by the conditions) not sick.

Wish I had better news. Hope this helps

 

[TomCarter13]

Yeah i agree with above. Although with new modern discus (e.g the pigeon type discus and blue diamond, blue turq etc) they tend to be hardier than wild discus so your water conditions need to be kept at this:

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 10ppm or under (this is why large frequent water changes are a big thing with discus)

Modern discus however are okay with most pH levels. It is recommended with MOST fish that if your tank ph has the same pH as the water you put in the tank then it should be fine. The more it fluctuates the fish will end up falling ill.

Discus should really be kept in a species only tank because of there requirements. They also really love live plants so that they have places to hide. I prefer live plats as they wont damage the fish at all and it makes the tank look more natural. Another cool thing is that plants help reduce nitrates and bad stuff that is in the tank.


Drift wood is another good thing as it is natural and it reduces pH too.

Also as stated in the previous reply, discus like to be with other discus. A group of 5 or more is ideal.

Hope this helps


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[gilpi]

Don't blame it on your pH. My discus are thriving in 7.8-8 pH. I know it's not ideal but most likely they have been many generations bred in captivity, many discus breeders wish they had a pH of 7.
The bigger issue here is...
Water changes... At least 50% twice a week and that's being conservative.
The tank mates like angels are not good mainly because they are faster when it comes to feeding, your discus doesn't stand a chance, I would not put a gourami with discus and catfish, if it's a pleco...not good with discus at all.
Discus are not good for a community fish if that's your wish, their requirements don't match that of any of the fish you have especially in captivity.
It's best to keep discus on their own since they require optimum condition and diet.
I would stay away from things like buffers and others that change pH, I don't recommend medications since I haven't used any and some of them can wreck your biological filter.
What I would do, I would place the discus on its own in a smaller tank, say 15-20 gallons, temp at 84f with daily 50%-75% water changes to see if it can recuperate and I would not worry about RO water.
The dark color indicates stress.