Iceterran

I just picked up 6 red Turquoise Discus for my 75gal, the water params are as follows:
PH: 6.5
temp: 80
GH: not sure, going to buy test kit today
nitrates/nitrites/ammonia: 0

The fish have been in my tank for two days and they seem to bunch up in the corners of the tank and hide frequently. Also the first day I brought them home they ate very lightly, now they seem un interested. Is this normal for new discus?
Other inhabitants in my tank include 2 Bolivian rams, 2 celebes rainbows and a fairly large algae crew, I can be more specific about the algae crew if it is relevant. Thanks

 

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Tedb

Everything seems in line, is it a planted tank? Did you buy them from a breeder or LFS? Maybe it is the added light that has caused their fear? I know most breeders have little light over their tanks so when a fish is placed in a brightly lit tank it can cause stress. Give them a few more days while they get adjusted. I have had this happen when I took discus from bare bottom tanks and put them in planted tanks and visa-versa. I used to grow my breeders out in a large planted tank then move them to sparse breeding tanks when pairs formed. They would stress for a few days and then come around. You might try lowering the lights for a few days. As for getting them to eat, are you feeding them the same thing they were eating before? Also are they adult or juvi discus? Adults have a harder time adjusting than juvis so it may take them longer. You might try feeding them live blackworms or chopped earthworms for a while until they feel comfortable enough to start eating other foods.

BruceWatts

Yes it is pretty normal. They need a few days to adapt to their new home. Depending how big your new discus are you have added a heavy biolode to your tank and it may not be big enough to house them at maturity with the other fish that are already there.
I would try and tempt them with live foods to get them eating again. Try tubiflex worms or brine shimp. Probably not a good idea to feed the worms after they have settled down though.

The other thing is that 80F is a little low for discus. Be sure to not make any sudden correction or fuss about the tank until they have settled in.

Bruce

rich_one

couple things, imo:

1. I think for one, your temp is a bit low for discus. you cannot go raising it suddenly now, but I would not go lower than 82 at the worst for discus, and I have kept mine at 84.

2. be patient... it is normal for discus to not eat right away when they have been added to a new tank. the should start eating in a few days, and can even go several weeks... not that you want yours to go THAT long. for now, feed very small amounts, just to see if they are taking the food. do not overfeed if they are not eating, thereby increasing your bio load, which can make things go worse with discus real fast.

3. in my experiences, tankbred discus anyway, are as unaffected by light as most common fish. do you have them in a high traffic area? if they are not used to that, that could be spooking them. do you have them near a door entry to a room? also a bad idea... again, spooks them when people "suddenly appear" in a room. they like to see you coming. also, do you have natural hiding spots in the tank for them? plants or maybe some driftwood? having a place available to hide will also help them be calm about swimming about the tank.

4. what kind of "algae crew"? if it is a common pleco, or otos, or a variety of other algae eaters in that vein, the discus could be getting attacked as well. many of those fish will attach to the discus to eat their slime coat... which, of course, is stressful.

for now, just leave them be and allow them to adjust, though again, you should SLOWLY raise the temp of that tank, imo. just a few more things for you to consider.

speakerguy

Get the temp to 82-84. Will make a big difference in activity. I don't think you can go any higher than 84 with planted tanks though.

apistomaster

Your water is way too cool. 84*F is the ideal temperature for Discus and they can tolerate the lower 90's for treatment of some diseases in quarantine tanks.
They should be immediately warmed up. It's no wonder they are hiding. They probably haven't been eating well either, right?

Discus are far more hardy than most people think. They only require warm water and a regulare regime of water changes. At the least, change 50% of the water twice a week, feed frozen blood worms, Tetra Color Granules and give them some live black worms once in awhile.

I have been breeding and selling Discus since 1969. I have kept my line of Red Turquoise going since they are so popular but I am more interested in wild Discus which I do not recommend for beginners.
Here is a photo of my ten Heckel Discus which I grew to adult size from 3-inch juveniles.

 

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