Shy Discus

[nick_schembri]

Hi, last week I bought a brown discus and a marlboro red discus (3.5") and yesterday I got a solid cobalt and a turqoise red (2.5") . They are in a 75 gal slightly planted tank. The first 2 I bought happened to be a male and a female, they already laid eggs! but no success (Im only 16). Every time I enter the room they seem to be frightened and hide in a corner but when I look thriugh the gap in the door they seem happy. I thought this may have to do with the fact that they are a shoal fish so I got the other 2 discus. But instead, the new discus seem to join them. Now for my question: Is this normal behavior for discus or is this temporary because they were quite expensive and I barely see them. I know its only been a week but Im worried.
Any comments would REALLY be appreciated.
thanks.
Nicky.

 

[madasafish]

Discus, esp. younger discus can be very timid. You're completely right that they'd be a lot more confident in a school. I'm guessing it is out of your price range to get 4+ more, no? Otherwise, make sure they have plenty of hiding space.

BrianNY and some others are quite expert with Discus (I've seen Brian's set-up, and his fish are gorgeous and extremely healthy). I'm sure he, or another of our resident discus gurus, will have more to say.

 

[madasafish]

Oh, and I think I've found that moving the lighting right to the front of the tank makes fish feel more protected at the back. This might help...

 

[nick_schembri]

Thanks madasafish, my lighting is at the front of the tank. Its not that getting more is out of my price range but my father is one of those guys that thinks that any money spent on fish is a waste. He doesn't even know I got discus but it won't be long before he finds out. I'm a bit confused because the LFS has discus in pairs and they really don't seem shy and their tank is bare.

 

[nick_schembri]

Least shy

The one in the pic is the cobalt blue. He/She is the one that hides least. It also likes to stay away from the others. At the LFS it was the only one that seemed to play 'macho'. It also likes to flare its fins a lot (like a betta). Do you think it looks like a good quality healthy discus? The weird thing is that it is one of the smaller ones and it is least shy.

 

[madasafish]

Well, color depends on breeding strains. Some cobalts are bluer than others. I think yours looks nice, but doesn't have the color of a discus with excellent water and vitamin-enriched food. How often do you change the water? Most discus experts advise daily water changes to ensure excellent-quality water.

 

[nick_schembri]

I change my water once a week but I use Tetra EasyBalance that says you only have to change the water every six months.
I only got this fish yesterday so its colours don't reflect what I feed it yet.
It is already a bit brightly coloured but Im hoping it becomes nicer when it grows since it is only 2.5". The water is a bit yellow because I filter it through peat.

 

[madasafish]

I don't know what EasyBalance is, but I can tell you that not a fish expert in the world would recommend water changes once every 6 months... Glad you aren't following those guidelines. How ridiculous that they'd suggest that!!

Well, do your best to change water as frequently as possible. Perhaps PM BrianNY and find out what he feeds his discus

 

[nick_schembri]

I kinda solved the problem, in what some people think of as a bad idea.
I put in my 5 angelfish with the discus and now they are much less shy. From now on I am completely in favor of mixing discus and angels for the following reasons:
1. The discus are less shy
2. The discus seem to enjoy the angels' company(they swim together all the time)
3. They really look nice and natural together
4. The discus are now actually eating their food when I'm in the room.

I'm soooooooooooo Happy!!

 

[BrianNY]

Hi Nicky, (I responded to your PM before I read this post). That's a great looking discus. Fins held nice and high is a good sign . You are right about discus coloring up as they mature.

As you said, discus are a shoal species and they do better in numbers. I would never recommend keeping discus with angels. Primary reason is Angels can carry diseases which can be fatal to discus. I don't mean to alarm you but the younger the discus, the more susceptable they are to illness.

Next thing is this........ I change the water in my discus tanks just about daily. I'm also changing about a third of the tank each time. I know this may sound extreme but......in order to achieve health and growth, discus require the cleanest of water. So if you haven't bought a python to make water changing easier, it would be a great investment.

HTH
Brian

 

[BrianNY]

Here's a pic of one of my red turqs. You can see more in my gallery