Small discus fish not eating.

Hello,

I searched previous topics and read the Discus Care Sheet thread prior to posting this, but I didn't find any info relevant to the particular problem I have. My discus has recently developed eating problems: she takes the food in her mouth, but spits it back out after a few seconds. She does this with bloodworms, brine shrimp, freshwater flakes, and Omega One cichlid flakes.

Here is the background:
I have, if memory serves correctly, a Blue Diamond or possibly a Cobalt Discus that I have had for 6 months, about 2 inches long. She (not sure of the sex, but I decided to make her a girl) has not grown at all that I can tell, but seems relatively healthy and happy, even though she lives in a tank which I now know is not ideal for a discus. When I started fishkeeping I made some impulsive and ill-informed decisions. Anyway, she is in a 36 gallon community tank with mollies/swords, ghost cats, cory cats, hatchets and an Angel. Up until recently, things have been fine and peaceful in this tank. The discus was the tank boss, and chased the Angel, but not aggressively. But now the Angel has outgrown her. He doesn't show any aggression to her, but I noticed the change in her behavior was linked to this transition of power. She is less active than before, but not lethargic.

The tank is planted with bamboo, some kind of fern (its been in there a long time and I can't remember the name of it), and I recently added a 12" Argentine Sword. The discus gravitated to the fern and spends most of her time in that vicinity. I can't think of any other pertinent information, but please ask if you need more, and thanks in advance for helping me with this problem.

 

Good morning,

Have you tried adding Garlic Guard to the fish food? Sometimes garlic can act as a food enhancer for fish and too, it is said to boost the fishes immune system. I use Garlic Guard twice a week on my fishes treats along with Vita Chem for additional Vitamins.





You can also use Garlic Juice from minced garlic in a jar (water based and not oil based):
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...r-just-an-example-for-those-needing-it.62705/

Also, you can make your own garlic juice from Fresh Garlic using the recipe below:

"Benefits of garlic:

Purifies blood; detoxifies; lowers cholesterol levels; lowers blood pressure; blood thinner; prevents blood clots; boost immune system; prevents heart disease and strokes; destroys cancer cells; muscle relaxant; antibiotic; antifungal; suppresses growth of tumors
Using a medium size bulb; peel cloves apart, snip off ends; microwave cloves for 5 to 10 seconds to pop hulls; remove hulls; cut the length of the cloves in thin slices; place in cup of hot (from tap) water; cover, and let sit at room temperature for 12 hrs; mash the cloves and strain for immediate use; refrigerate until needed. good for two to three weeks.
The longer the cloves soak, the stronger the solution."

The information above comes from the link below:


Storing Fresh Garlic:



Best wishes for your fish.

Ken

 

Thanks very much for the information Ken.

 

Hello and welcome to the forum,
Your Discus not feeding may be caused by the other tank inhabitants being too boisterous
Discus are shy and jittery kind of fish that require a school of dither fish to keep them company and give them a feeling of security

 

I have 5 ghost cats and 4 marble hatchets, are they dither fish?

 

The hatchets are usually good dither fish for discus, as they occupy a different zone of the tank, and are active without being boisterous.
What I find odd is the lack of growth in your discus, especially given that you have had her for about 6 months. Is it likewise with your other fish? (6 months), and what are your water parameters like?.
I take it that your discus being off its food is a relatively new thing.
One thing that springs to mind is that I have never kept discus as single specimens, always at least 3, usually more.------rick

 

The hatchets are usually good dither fish for discus, as they occupy a different zone of the tank, and are active without being boisterous.
What I find odd is the lack of growth in your discus, especially given that you have had her for about 6 months. Is it likewise with your other fish? (6 months), and what are your water parameters like?.
I take it that your discus being off its food is a relatively new thing.
One thing that springs to mind is that I have never kept discus as single specimens, always at least 3, usually more.------rick

HI Rick,
I did have another discus in the tank before I put the current one in, but he died from not eating. Up until recently the remaining discus has been eating fine. The past couple of nights I have been able to get her to eat a few brine shrimp. I also put some wafers for them to graze on. My water ph is around 7.4-7.6, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates normal.
I have a 37 gallon tank cycling at the moment, and when it's ready I plan to move some fish into it. Probably the mollies and the swords, and possible the big angel. He is a voracious eater. He and the other fish have been steadily growing, so it seems to be just the discus isn't growing. So maybe when the 37 is ready and the fish are moved, I can add another discus or 2.

 

My discus is also leaning to one side and has her fins tucked in. I'm sure this isn't a good sign.

 

HI Rigel, sorry I am late getting to this, work has been in the way lately.
how is your Discus doing? if you are cycle a new tank I would move the Discus to the new tank right now, leave all the other fish where they are.
to many things going on here to pinpoint yet, but the Discus needs a hospital tank. I would put her in the new tank and turn the temp up to 90 degrees, then
add Epsom salt to the tank. 1 tablespoon for every 10 gl of water, everyday do a large (at least 75%) water change and add Epsom salt back after filling the tank back up.
keeping the temp at 90. do this for 5 days. turn the lights off the first day, just the room lights the second day and you can turn the tank lights back on on day 4.
on day 5, stop treating the Epsom salt and begin to turn the heat back down. not all at once, just a few degrees at a time and on about day 8 be back down to 83-84 degrees. still doing daily water changes of 75%, this should go on for a couple weeks.
DO NOT feed her the first day, then begin feeding her the second day ( what do you fed her by the way) a little more each day. it sounds like your Discus is stunted in growth and you may be to late to fix that. Juvies need to be fed at least 4-6 times a day during their first 8 month or so.
you should get the fish back to eating but if not it may have stressed itself out enough that it has an internal parasite problem.
good luck, if it is still eating sparingly you should get some results from this treatment. then you can look at getting some more.
Discus should be in at least a group of 5-6 and a 55 gl tank.

 

I have a question on feeding I have 6 Discus in a 55 gal tank, they are doing great. My question is I feed them at 9am, 1pm, and 5pm. But there is always a abundant of fish poo even after I have done my water change and vacuumed up all the poo an hr later there's a bunch more. Its almost like I can't get it all. Do you think I could be over feeding at times of feed? there regular diet is this Discus fish pellets I give them a good pinch each time is that too much? Should I cut back but and another feeding time? Thanks

 

High temperature is very important for discus, specially when they are younger, try maintaining the water at above 90F

 

I have a question on feeding I have 6 Discus in a 55 gal tank, they are doing great. My question is I feed them at 9am, 1pm, and 5pm. But there is always a abundant of fish poo even after I have done my water change and vacuumed up all the poo an hr later there's a bunch more. Its almost like I can't get it all. Do you think I could be over feeding at times of feed? there regular diet is this Discus fish pellets I give them a good pinch each time is that too much? Should I cut back but and another feeding time? Thanks

I think you nailed it Mammoth, cut back on how much you are feeding each time. but step up another feeding ( or 2) I feed mine 4-6 times daily but in small amounts.

High temperature is very important for discus, specially when they are younger, try maintaining the water at above 90F

Fan, are you saying above 90 degrees all the time? if so, I respectfully disagree with this. to step the temp up for a fish not eating I would agree but to maintain a temp like that all the time should not be normal practice. just to clarfiy

 

hI all
Hey Disc61 in a previous post do you meen 90 F or 90 Celsius??
I guess it is F cause I don't think anything could survive on 90 C

ive got similar question as well
one of my discus do not want to eat any pellets or flakes only blood worms
the other 2 are always hungry but this bugger if I don't feed him with frozen worms he would be on a diet
due of my working hours I do feed them 2-3 times a day hope that's is enough

 

90 F, juvies really need 4-5 times a day, try an auto feeder while at work.
also, Bloodworms are candy and not real nutritious, try blackworms-freeze dried they will love them. also soak those pellets in some garlic guard for a little
to wet their appetite, it will take a few days but they will begin trying them.

 

well I will try to feed them before I leave to work at lunch and dinner time until I am sure that all of them will eat pellets or flakes 2 of them will eat whatever I put in but one is picky
ive put some live plants so hopefully it my help him to digest better
I will try to prepare this garlic guard and give it a go
in my lfs ive been told to avoid live or frozen blackworms cause they can carry some sort of bacteria that could be harmfull for our discuses and that's why ive end up buying frozen blood worms

 

well I will try to feed them before I leave to work at lunch and dinner time until I am sure that all of them will eat pellets or flakes 2 of them will eat whatever I put in but one is picky
ive put some live plants so hopefully it my help him to digest better
I will try to prepare this garlic guard and give it a go
in my lfs ive been told to avoid live or frozen blackworms cause they can carry some sort of bacteria that could be harmfull for our discuses and that's why ive end up buying frozen blood worms

HI Virusmk, use a very, very small amount of the garlic guard, as in drops, then let the food soak for a bit, then put some aquarium water over that and pour it in the tank. you will have to be persistent in doing this at least once a day, eventually they will begin eating the flakes and pellets.
Frozen bloodworms have little nutrition, don't get me wrong all Discus love them and if fed enough will not eat anything else, this is not good for your Discus as they need variety with lots of nutrients in it.
I would definitely agree with your local store about live or frozen blackworms (I learned the hard way) BUT in post # 14 I mentioned Blackworms in the freeze dried method.
Freeze Dried eliminates any of those parasite issues found in live or frozen, AND the hold most if not all the protein and nutrients of the blackworm. I would highly recommend this food ( it is my staple food for all my Discus ). I buy all mine online here is a link to one source
you have options there on what to buy - I would try just the loose blackworms to begin with, but you can get some of his (Dan) mixes as well. he makes everything on site at his location (he freeze dries them himself) he also adds other things to it like spinach for example which is one of the best veggies for Discus. you will find this food used very widely in the Discus keeping corners.
I would also stop using the bloodworms all together when you begin feeding them blackworms for a while, then re-introduce the bloodworm as a treat every week or so.
I would be very surprised if you Discus do not jump all over them.

 

I will try to find something locally and I also emaild australian customs with the details of what I want to bring in here ... belive me aussie customs are f.... up for getting food and plants in australia they won't allow nothing through unless is made buy some big corporation and it is certified that it won't spread pests, deseise or something that can harm local habitat

I will get autofeder asap at least 2 can live and grow properly
meantime their diet contains... tetra color tropical pelets , tropical fish flakes enriched with protein and frozen bloodworms which is their favourite
I will try to prepare garlic guard once I find little bit time Christmas arpoaching and things at work are going crazy long days