New Discus stressed - keep offering them food?

Got 2 small/juvenile discus fish a few days ago and I’ve got some questions. I’m keeping them in a 20 gallon (will be going in a larger tank at some point), tank is bare bottom, Aquaclear 30 filter, and a random heater. Tank at 82-84 F, pH 7.6-7.8, hardness is middle of the road (I forget the numbers), haven’t checked the other stuff since I did a big water change last night (will check again after work). I know the pH isn’t ideal but going for consistency over specific parameter (as my research suggests I should do). Trying to get away with water changes 4 times a week. I am currently treating the tank with copper safe as one of this fish had what looked like a small white worm on her, at first just looked like a spot but on closer inspection it’s more string like. The fish with the spot also rarely raises her dorsal and bottom fin, which I’ve heard can indicate stress. Neither fish seems to eat well/at all. I’m trying to feed 3X a day but that mostly means adding food, watching the fish ignore it, and then scooping the food out a few minutes later. Currently have frozen brine, blood worms, and beef heart as well as freeze dried brine and blood worms. Also have specialized discus pellets. Haven’t done it yet but plan on treating for internal parasites/tapeworm when I can buy the meds/get out to the LFS. So the questions. . .
I’ve only had these little dudes a few days and know stress is to be anticipated, and this can inhibit feeding, but what should I do? Not offer food for a day or so? Keep offering food but less often?

 

It's likely they're not used to their new surroundings. It's common with fish and it may take time for them to get used to it. I believe discus require more than just the two fish. You will need to add more in the future.

 

Little update. Maybe too soon for the copper safe to have kicked in but the one discus is looking better, can’t see any white spots or worms and isn’t retracting her dorsal and analfin as much. . .

STILL NOT EATING THOUGH!!!

 

Skip a day or two of feeding, next feeding put an orange peel in the water a little while beforehand. I've heard that it helps them develop an appetite.
Also, as Fashooga said, you'll need more than a group of two. They do best in groups of 5 and up, and the sooner the better.

 

Ok I can get more on payday, and will skip some feeds. Also I’ve been doing 25% WC daily think that’s ok? Also also think I’ll add a sponge filter?

 

Water changes mostly depend on the water chemistry, if you can keep the nitrates less than 20ppm with 25% a day then it's absolutely enough. Sponge filter can't do anything but help so go for it!

 

Fed today after fasting them for 36 hours, one ate but the other did not. . . Progress I guess. . . They are almost always showing their bars, I’ve read this means stress but I’ve also read bars can be more visible is certain strains? Not sure

 

Have you tried the orange peel ??
https://www.reef2rainforest.com/2016/04/19/introducing-orange-peel-discus/I add 1 drop of orange extract to every 15-20 g when I do water changes ..My own little take on the article above ..
IMO 20 gallon is a little tight to grow out discus in ?
Getting more will help but upgrading tank needs to done also IMO ??

 

No I forgot to try orange peel, will grab some (or extract) today.

And yeah I agree about the tank size, I’ve got to tanks in my garage I’m waiting to set up, planning on doing a small group in 55. . . In hopes of getting a pair.

 

Raising the temp also helps get them to eat. Alsoleave the food in tank for an hour or so. They may eat when your not around. Pictures help.

 

Little update.

Added air/sponge filter.

Tried orange peel in the water but didn’t seem to have much affect on the one who wasn’t eating.

The energetic one, let’s call him Clyde, Clyde eats and actively goes after food I put in the tank. The other just sits in the corner. . . However if I leave food on the bottom it does disappear so maybe the other eats when I’m not looking?

Also I added a 3rd to the tank (could only afford one this payday, more next week). . . And things are. . . Odd. Clyde swims around as normal and the other 2 just huddle in the corner. If Clyde or the others get to close they all start nipping and chasing each other? The 2 in the corner also appear darker than usual.

Excuse the food, just added fed frozen brine before taking pic.

 

I wouldn't worry about the nipping for now, they're establishing where the new addition belongs in the pecking order. Will probably happen for every discus you add.

 

Just a couple things to consider. If you haven't, put white paper under your tank. This will prevent reflection which can cause stress. Since it's a small tank, I would just do fin level WC every other day. Fish like garlic smell, not sure about orange. Have you tried freeze dried blood worms? Most discus like it. I pre soak them, then dump it in the tank so that it floats in the water rather than floating on the surface. Some discus takes a long time to eat so just leave it in the tank. If after several hours it's still there then remove it. I've noticed some discus like to peck food off of the sponge filter.
Good luck.

About nipping, if you don't have enough fish to spread out the aggression a nasty one can harass another so badly that it won't let it be until it's too tired to even swim away and it'll end up floating in a corner.

 

Well there’s nothing in that tank. That adds to stress. Fish have no where to hide. Put a piece of driftwood in there or a potted plant. Something big enough for them to hide behind. What are you feeding them? What was the pet store feeding. A good food is freeze dried black worms.
plants in my qt tank.

 

NEED SOME HELP. The problem child still won’t eat. I’ve started feeding live tubifex worms and she won’t even eat those (the other 2 love them) (Note that as far as I know the store they came from was feeding frozen blood worms exclusively which I have tried). And generally there is no aggression towards each other at feeding. I added some plants/pots as well in hopes of reducing stress. . . Nothing seems to work and at this point she looks quite skinny (she didn’t feel like posing for a picture).

WHAT DO I DO? I have treaded with coppersafe as I had seen a few white bits on her, but those are gone. I used a tapeworm med (though with daily water changes not sure how effective). I could net her out and do a med bath with polygaurd/salt in hopes of treating everything she may or may not have???

I’m at a loss for what to do and I’m afraid if I don’t do something she’ll die.

 

Tank looks better with plants . Nice .
I use orange extract in my tanks .
It is not a miracle thing or quick fix..The article I linked had them changing out the orange peel everyday for WEEKS not days like you tried earlier ..
I might be inclined to go with peels or extract with every waterchange ..
Have you offered frozen blood worms ??
You are right it is important to get the weak one eating .No recovery happens if the fish is not eating ..
I am comfortable saying 1 drop orange extract per 20 g at water changes ..Been doing it for months now with many of my fish ..
I believe the article was linked earlier ?

 

I’ll definitely go get extract today, she needs to eat!!!??!?

 

NEED SOME HELP. The problem child still won’t eat. I’ve started feeding live tubifex worms and she won’t even eat those (the other 2 love them) (Note that as far as I know the store they came from was feeding frozen blood worms exclusively which I have tried). And generally there is no aggression towards each other at feeding. I added some plants/pots as well in hopes of reducing stress. . . Nothing seems to work and at this point she looks quite skinny (she didn’t feel like posing for a picture).

WHAT DO I DO? I have treaded with coppersafe as I had seen a few white bits on her, but those are gone. I used a tapeworm med (though with daily water changes not sure how effective). I could net her out and do a med bath with polygaurd/salt in hopes of treating everything she may or may not have???

I’m at a loss for what to do and I’m afraid if I don’t do something she’ll die.

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Hey
GM. Cory recommends a medication trio with any new fish your get & every since I’ve purchased & used his medication trio the past year or two- none of my fish have died that were treated with this. None of my discus have died from little babies when I’ve used this treatment plan. (Knock on wood)

I use the API general cure 1st now, then API erythromycin, then hikarI ich x. IMO... he’s made is super simple to keep your fish without killing them & constantly guessing what’s wrong with them.

Now... you can take them to a Veterinarian who specializes in aquatics, they can tell you exactly what’s wrong with your fish. I believe in taking animals & people to the dr. But, Otherwise, the medication trio works well for most common fish diseases or problems- his meds are broad spectrum, unless you got something weird going on in you tank.

 

NEED SOME HELP. The problem child still won’t eat. I’ve started feeding live tubifex worms and she won’t even eat those (the other 2 love them) (Note that as far as I know the store they came from was feeding frozen blood worms exclusively which I have tried). And generally there is no aggression towards each other at feeding. I added some plants/pots as well in hopes of reducing stress. . . Nothing seems to work and at this point she looks quite skinny (she didn’t feel like posing for a picture).

WHAT DO I DO? I have treaded with coppersafe as I had seen a few white bits on her, but those are gone. I used a tapeworm med (though with daily water changes not sure how effective). I could net her out and do a med bath with polygaurd/salt in hopes of treating everything she may or may not have???

I’m at a loss for what to do and I’m afraid if I don’t do something she’ll die.

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If you really really concerned with the weak discus, you can call the store, there real names, not handles and they will talk to you if they have time. I’ve talked to Cory b4 he’s super super knowledgeable & nice!!
My names real as well, You can call me also & I will help you. If I have time to post on here & give my opinions, then I have time to talk to you. Send me private message & I’ll give you my info.

 

Between what I already had and the LFS this is the closest to the method I could find. Did a 50% WC last night and just a tiny one today to remove poos before dosing. Took the carbon out of my filter and added some more media (my thinking was better to have something in there where the carbon used to be so more bacteria can live/grow). And dosed all my meds. Will probably wait a few days to change water again?

 

Between what I already had and the LFS this is the closest to the method I could find. Did a 50% WC last night and just a tiny one today to remove poos before dosing. Took the carbon out of my filter and added some more media (my thinking was better to have something in there where the carbon used to be so more bacteria can live/grow). And dosed all my meds. Will probably wait a few days to change water again?

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It’s not exact brand meds, but you got everything that‘s recommended, it should work. Honestly, ever since I’ve used his medication trio, I haven’t lost a fish out of my angelfish & discus tank. Follow the directions, I think it says WC every other day? Not sure on metroplex??? I think metroplex goes in food??
I dosed one medication at a time- starting with general cure- your metroplex for 4 days, then I move onto erythromycin- your mycin, then I did ich x last. They seem to feel a lot better after the metro & wormer. Because I had a small angelfish just stop eating and staring off into space in a corner of the tank, right after I got my first two discus, I consulted and I treated them all- the entire tank, that angelfish was eating again by the next day or so.

NEED SOME HELP. The problem child still won’t eat. I’ve started feeding live tubifex worms and she won’t even eat those (the other 2 love them) (Note that as far as I know the store they came from was feeding frozen blood worms exclusively which I have tried). And generally there is no aggression towards each other at feeding. I added some plants/pots as well in hopes of reducing stress. . . Nothing seems to work and at this point she looks quite skinny (she didn’t feel like posing for a picture).

WHAT DO I DO? I have treaded with coppersafe as I had seen a few white bits on her, but those are gone. I used a tapeworm med (though with daily water changes not sure how effective). I could net her out and do a med bath with polygaurd/salt in hopes of treating everything she may or may not have???

I’m at a loss for what to do and I’m afraid if I don’t do something she’ll die.

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Hey

Are you seeing any improvements in your discus after using the praziopro & metroplex? It may take a day or two, but they should start perking up & eating more.
Just keeping going through the medication trio, one after the other, cause if it isn’t one of those things, it may be another that the mycin or ich meds will take care of.

API General cure you dump in the tank & they have to process it though their bodies, idk how metroplex works exactly? I’ve never used metroplex.

 

Per the instructions/LFS it can be dosed in the water or in food.

She seems a bit more lively/active this morning, and swam up with the others when I put food in though still didn’t eat. Still dark in coloration too. But a little improvement anyway.

 

Ok, dose it in the water if she won’t eat it in the food. She has no choice to absorb it then. Because when my angelfish started acting all funky after I added those discus, I don’t know if they gave it something or not, but it just stopped eating completely & just stayed by itself in the corners or staring in right top corner of tank. I did what Corey recommended and it was back to normal in day or so.
You’d be dosing metroplex & prazipro together then to substitute general cure. What temperature you have your heater set at?

Hey
Here’s video of my discus & angelfish.

 

Had to separate them, Clyde (the mean one) was just shredding the other healthy one! Will probably add the final 2 I plan on getting come payday and see if he’s more mellow in a bigger group.

 

Are they both eating now?

 

The sickly one did eat 1 tubefex worm!!!

 

Good if you can get them back eating, they will live & thrive.
I have a very thin layer of sand now in my tank, because the discus really love to blow on the sand to stir it & look for food.
I’m trying to kinda make it like where they come from. If it’s thin layer, it’s not hard to keep clean.
Keep treating them with the medication trio & by the end they should be eating again. Keep their temperature 82• and higher, if your plants can tolerate the heat. Water clean- not to clean though.

Look at photo how small my first two were when I got them in May I think. Yours are very young like mines were. You can grow them out like I did mines.




Current photos :

 

Few updates:

I added a 4th discus. Took out the divider. Took out the plants and added empty pots instead. . .

Few problems:

The sickly one is still hardly eating and she’s darkened up in color (I assume from stress). Clyde (the mean one) still chases and nips the the one, and now occasionally goes for the sickly one. . .

Was thinking about moving some of my angels in to maybe spread out the aggression. But honestly not really sure what to do or if they’ll just work it out. Also, I think at this point I’ve done most of what I can do for the sickly one, maybe I should move her to her own tank?

 

I think moving to it’s own tank will be the best. Raise the temp a little and try some meds. BarbaraLocke and DecoyCat have both used meds and may be able to help tell you what meds are needed. Also coralbandit has a thread about the use of potassium pomegranate that may be of use.

Sorry I thought this was a new thread. Being you’ve already medicated and nothing has changed I would still remove it from the group tank. See how it does alone with food and the raised temp. Again put something in the tank for it to hide behind. If this doesn’t work corals pp treatment may be the best choice. Unfortunately this happens with discus and most of the time they don’t survive.

 

Few updates:

I added a 4th discus. Took out the divider. Took out the plants and added empty pots instead. . .

Few problems:

The sickly one is still hardly eating and she’s darkened up in color (I assume from stress). Clyde (the mean one) still chases and nips the the one, and now occasionally goes for the sickly one. . .

Was thinking about moving some of my angels in to maybe spread out the aggression. But honestly not really sure what to do or if they’ll just work it out. Also, I think at this point I’ve done most of what I can do for the sickly one, maybe I should move her to her own tank?


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Hello
I’m so sorry . I was hoping that one would perk up after you treated them. Did you do the ick x medication too? My angels have never bit or went after my discus, even when the discus were real tiny. But, I have found that the discus eat a lot more with the angels in the tank because they become competitive. If they don’t eat, they angels will eat, so they basically out eat the angels, kinda like kids. If one kid has ice cream, the other one wants it to- that’s the effect the angels have on my discus.

I know if I didn’t have my angelfish in with the discus, the discus wouldn’t eat as aggressively as they do. My discus are fat like the angels & eat anything and everything they see the angels eat including any live plants I add to the tank. The angels will chew them up first & the discus will follow right behind them and shred the live plants down to stems. Now, that’s my tank.

Few updates:

I added a 4th discus. Took out the divider. Took out the plants and added empty pots instead. . .

Few problems:

The sickly one is still hardly eating and she’s darkened up in color (I assume from stress). Clyde (the mean one) still chases and nips the the one, and now occasionally goes for the sickly one. . .

Was thinking about moving some of my angels in to maybe spread out the aggression. But honestly not really sure what to do or if they’ll just work it out. Also, I think at this point I’ve done most of what I can do for the sickly one, maybe I should move her to her own tank?


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Hello
Also make sure your feeding the little baby discus food that can fit in their mouths. I had to figure this out when I had little baby grey discus, it wasn’t that they didn’t want to eat or angelfish out ate them, the food I initially gave them was to big for their tiny mouths to eat. Try the freeze dried tubifex worms, frozen baby bribe shrimp, tetra granular food & crumble flakes. Get hikarI baby cichlid food if you have to. Look at their mouths, their super tiny. They may be able to eat bloodworms-frozen & freeze dried, although I’ve found tubifex worms will fit in their mouths better at that size.
Most people are starting with way bigger older discus than I had & you got, a 3-5 inch discus can eat way bigger food than your little 1.5 inch discus, so feed yours accordingly.

 

So I did a couple things. I removed Clyde (the mean one) and put him in my community tank, was sick of watching him beat up the 2 smaller ones, including the sickly one. I removed the sick one and put her in her own tank with more meds. . . Hope she makes it.

Also here’s the new “scape”.

 

Hey
Clyde should be fine with the angels, he can bully them now- what it sounds like he will do. Run the full course of meds one at a time, a couple days of meds won’t help her. I really hope she makes it.

 

So I did a couple things. I removed Clyde (the mean one) and put him in my community tank, was sick of watching him beat up the 2 smaller ones, including the sickly one. I removed the sick one and put her in her own tank with more meds. . . Hope she makes it.

Also here’s the new “scape”.
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Just saw your thread MoshJosh, and you‘ve received a lot of good advice. I know how frustrating it is to have a fish that doesn’t present with an obvious ‘disease’, and isn’t thriving! The only suggestion that I have (that you may have done already) is to raise the temp in the tank your depressed discus is in. I wasn’t able to find the link to an article that I had posted a few months ago, but it describes your sickly fish to a ‘T’, and recommends using Metronidazol (MetroPex) and raising the water temp to 92F. I did that with my 75 gallon Discus only tank when one stopped eating, and while it was expensive treating a tank that size, I figured if one had internal flageolets, then they had all been exposed. You won’t see immediate improvement, as the treatment takes a couple of weeks of adding Metro to the water, and replacing what was removed during water changes - and I also mixed some in with the freeze dried blackworms my guys love (along with some Focus that binds meds to the food). Hope your little one makes it!

Ok, here’s a couple of good articles about internal flageolets in Discus. The secon one mentions a place to get pure metro, but the link goes to an expired domain - so the third link I’m adding is to a place that has it at a reasonable price (you’ll have to scroll down a ways, but they’ve got 75 grams of the powder for $25.95) Hope this helps!

Discus Fish Care: Internal Parasites

 

Ok, here’s a couple of good articles about internal flageolets in Discus. The secon one mentions a place to get pure metro, but the link goes to an expired domain - so the third link I’m adding is to a place that has it at a reasonable price (you’ll have to scroll down a ways, but they’ve got 75 grams of the powder for $25.95) Hope this helps!

Discus Fish Care: Internal Parasites

Hey
See I was thinking maybe his little discus has hexamita or parasites- but metroplex & prazipro would take care of both. Maybe it’s flukes or flagellates that you suggested, if he can kill whatever it is b4 she starts wasting away, he can save her.
That’s why I use aquarium co-op’s medication trio cause it covers most normal bugs fish get and I’m not killing the fish & racking my brain trying to guess what bug it is. Guessing with meds will only kill the fish experimenting on them. Doing nothing will kill the fish too☹️.
Idk. I’ve used the med trio & none of my discus or angelfish in the same tank have ever died- and that’s through tank minI cycling and everything. I’ve only had and angel acting like he had some discus disease and those meds fixed him right up.
I hope he can save the little Discus girl.

 

Hey
See I was thinking maybe his little discus has hexamita or parasites- but metroplex & prazipro would take care of both. Maybe it’s flukes or flagellates that you suggested, if he can kill whatever it is b4 she starts wasting away, he can save her.
That’s why I use aquarium co-op’s medication trio cause it covers most normal bugs fish get and I’m not killing the fish & racking my brain trying to guess what bug it is. Guessing with meds will only kill the fish experimenting on them. Doing nothing will kill the fish too☹.
Idk. I’ve used the med trio & none of my discus or angelfish in the same tank have ever died- and that’s through tank minI cycling and everything. I’ve only had and angel acting like he had some discus disease and those meds fixed him right up.
I hope he can save the little Discus girl.

I like A trio tiffani, but over and over again I read about Discus becoming depressed, not eating, and slowly wasting away. Metronidazole is always the medicine of choice that has brought these fish back. I used MetroPlex with mine, but it isn’t pure Metronidazole - 70% metro and 30% inactive ingredients, excipients. Maybe that’s why the directions say to use one or two scoops for every 10 gallons. The other thing that I think is really important for MoshJosh is to try to get his Discus to eat some medicated food. Getting the Metronidazole into the fish’s gut is critical. And even though the med is absorbed through the water column, it will take a lot longer to kill off the flagelets, and his fish seems pretty sick right now. I know that the one I lost went downhill slowly, but seemed to perk up and eat/interact a little at times. I didn’t know about Metro then, and was trying Prazipro and General Cure. Because these flagelets are commonly found in the gut, and cause no harm unless something like stress or another illness weakens the fish’s immune system - then they can multiply unhindered. That’s probably why you can have a number of Discus in the same tank, and only one fails to thrive. I’m pretty sure, now, that this is what killed my Discus.

 

Sorry you lost your fish, how many of your discus died?

 

Sorry you lost your fish, how many of your discus died?

I only lost one to this mysterious, slow deterioration. I lost another when it went ballistic and bashed itself to death on the sides of the tank only a few weeks after I got it. Wasn’t being chased or bullied, and had actually been the most dominant one. This happened about 10 minutes after I had done a WC, so there was speculation that something in the water set it off.

 

I only lost one to this mysterious, slow deterioration. I lost another when it went ballistic and bashed itself to death on the sides of the tank only a few weeks after I got it. Wasn’t being chased or bullied, and had actually been the most dominant one. This happened about 10 minutes after I had done a WC, so there was speculation that something in the water set it off.

Oh, I’m very sorry about your discus. It went ballistic & killed it self??? I would only give someone advice that I believe will help them & that I personally have experience with.
I’m giving MoshJosh advice based on my experience & I haven’t lost any discus or angelfish in this tank it treated with the medication trio, so of course I’d swear by it. They’ve actually gotten better when I did this treatment(angelfish) & if they show any signs of sickness in the future, I’ll do it again, because I believe it works.
Now my daughters established 10 gallon tank in her room that I’ve not done this medication trio on, I’ve lost 2 fish in past yr. a bristlenose pleco(could’ve been old) and a new rasbora I bought this past summer.
(I can’t keep any tiny fishes alive- but I can keep the exotics going just fine, )
I absolutely refuse to do daily WC, I’ve tried it b4, my discus don’t like it! I believe it messes with chemistry of water way to much and these are my first discus, I’m no expert- but I do know they like stability and consistently same conditions everyday.

 

Oh, I’m very sorry about your discus. It went ballistic & killed it self??? I would only give someone advice that I believe will help them & that I personally have experience with.
I’m giving MoshJosh advice based on my experience & I haven’t lost any discus or angelfish in this tank it treated with the medication trio, so of course I’d swear by it. They’ve actually gotten better when I did this treatment(angelfish) & if they show any signs of sickness in the future, I’ll do it again, because I believe it works.
Now my daughters established 10 gallon tank in her room that I’ve not done this medication trio on, I’ve lost 2 fish in past yr. a bristlenose pleco(could’ve been old) and a new rasbora I bought this past summer.
(I can’t keep any tiny fishes alive- but I can keep the exotics going just fine, 23])
I absolutely refuse to do daily WC, I’ve tried it b4, my discus don’t like it! I believe it messes with chemistry of water way to much and these are my first discus, I’m no expert- but I do know they like stability and consistently same conditions everyday.

Yes, it was very strange, but after reading an article one of the other members sent to me it sounds like it was a case of ’dashing Discus‘ syndrome. Not very common, but there have been enough reports of this happening that it’s been given a name. There’s a lot of great information here amongst the members who have Discus, and it’s wonderful to find knowledgeable support when we need it! I don’t do daily WC’s, but any of the larger tropical fish kept in numbers in tanks smaller than 120 g’s or so, need tank maintenance more often than tanks with little fish because the waste they produce is much greater than having small fish in the same size tank. Just think how many guppies it would take to equal one 5” discus! When I see 10 Discus in my 75 gallon tank, and then imagine each Discus equaling 20 or more guppies.....well, even running 2 big canisters in that tank, I clean it every 2 or 3 days.

 

Thank you to everyone who has posted and offered advice. Sorry I haven’t updated sooner. Despite putting her in her own tank, continuing meds, and trying new meds she did not make it. . .

Since losing her though I have gotten 2 new discus who seem to be doing well. . .

Will try to get pics soon.