Discus stress - 'dark.'

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sandnuka

New Member
Never seen them lay on there side? Keep an eye on it...... what temp you keep the tank at? Just to give ya a heads up, discus are super succeptable to getting hexima.... They have a really week immunity.... anyway, hexima dies at 85 degrees.... I always kept my tank above that around 86 -87... this way they stay super healthy. ;)
 
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sandnuka

New Member
I keep everyone of my tanks at 82.... but discus have to have allot higher.... plus you will see them happier and out more! :)

DIscus, although found in the wild, are now hybrids due to all the crossing to make the gorgeous colors that are available.... sucky part is then they have to have a little extra care cause there mutants... (thats why Im not a fan of hybrids) but couldnt resist the discus. :(
 
Addictedtofish

Addictedtofish

New Member
Discus like alot of fish will drop to the bottom and sleep, discus like to lean against each other or against decor. If you dont have any nocturnal fish in the tank you will witness alot of this behavior and laying on there side ive seen them do this when there tank temp is on the cold side of what they like, almost like hybernating.
 
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protocl

New Member
ok, so i just bumped up the temp. trying to get around 85.
found the discus laying on the driftwood, again..haha.
 
Addictedtofish

Addictedtofish

New Member
I would bump it up to 86 to 88 that way no diseases can live in the water, not even ich. 85 is the border temp for most diseases.
 
Addictedtofish

Addictedtofish

New Member
what else is in the tank? I generally kept my tank at 86 to 87, for a week I had it at 90 to kill ich. I had cardinals,neons, cory cats, pleco and for a few months a black ghost knife. The higher temp also speeds up there metabolism.
 
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sandnuka

New Member
My community discus planted tank I kept at 85 - 86 cause there were rams in there and apistos.... that way everyone was happy.... 88 is too high for most fish, they get super sluggish and boring.

also rams and others need some bacterias to help digest there food that die at higher temps.... so as a nice comprimise I always kept it right at the 85 level. :)
 
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sandnuka

New Member
protocl said:
silver arowana, cuvier birchir, a few BN pleco's and a purple spotted gudgeon.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a really cool lookin mix! would love to see some pictures of the group together!
 
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flo77

New Member
protocl said:
ok, so i just bumped up the temp. trying to get around 85.
found the discus laying on the driftwood, again..haha.
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The concentration of disolved oxigen in water decreases when water temperature increases. Aditional aeration may prevent finding discus laying on the side(at least for me worked).
 
Addictedtofish

Addictedtofish

New Member
Thats good advice flo I totally forgot about that, When I had discus I had a couple of air stones going day and night in each back corner.
 
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protocl

New Member
flo77 said:
protocl said:
ok, so i just bumped up the temp. trying to get around 85.
found the discus laying on the driftwood, again..haha.
Click to expand...
The concentration of disolved oxigen in water decreases when water temperature increases. Aditional aeration may prevent finding discus laying on the side(at least for me worked).
Click to expand...
i have a rena xp4, pushing water with a spray bar; thus agitating the surface at all times. if this approach is not supplying enough water to air mix, ill add an airstone.
 
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flo77

New Member
Protocl, it's my 2 cents opinion. I don't know your bioload and I can't say if your filtration is enough or not. Anyway aditional air stone can't hurt. Remember, if you have big fish they need more air. Also they eat and poo a lot, that means in your filter are a lot of beneficial bacteria which require a lot of oxigen. Increasing water temperature may result in a water depleted of oxygen. For some reason discus don't like that. In my tank they are the first fish to react on this. I had discus almost dead and after I put an airstone they came to life. My water temp is 87-88.
 
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protocl

New Member
flo77 said:
Protocl, it's my 2 cents opinion. I don't know your bioload and I can't say if your filtration is enough or not. Anyway aditional air stone can't hurt. Remember, if you have big fish they need more air. Also they eat and poo a lot, that means in your filter are a lot of beneficial bacteria which require a lot of oxigen. Increasing water temperature may result in a water depleted of oxygen. For some reason discus don't like that. In my tank they are the first fish to react on this. I had discus almost dead and after I put an airstone they came to life. My water temp is 87-88.
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as for temp, yes...i should have it at 85 and up, just im worried for the other occupants. as for diseases and such, i cannot say and will not say i will not have a affected fish, but i just dont want the other occupants to actually seem sluggish and all.

as for my 180G filtration: rena xp4 and a fluval fx5.
ill go out and get a good air pump and see how it from there.
 
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flo77

New Member
Protocl it's only you the one who decides how much the temperature in your tank should be. I only tried to explain why your discus lay on side when you increase the temperature and why extra aeration is necessary in that case.
 
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protocl

New Member
flo77 said:
Protocl it's only you the one who decides how much the temperature in your tank should be. I only tried to explain why your discus lay on side when you increase the temperature and why extra aeration is necessary in that case.
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the temp is at 84.6.
Everyone seem fine. That discus is mire active, but I think the other 2 paired off....at 3"? That young?
 
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sandnuka

New Member
they can start pairing an spawning at 9months... some discus grow slowly, so size isnt really how you tell if they are pairing.... If the pair is beating on the others, and kinda just hanging out alone in there own corner, then they definetly paired, might want to consider moving them to a 29gal, or 20gal tall. :)

I would bring up the temp just 1 more degree... shouldnt harm anything, but I know you want it just above 85 degrees to kill most hexima. :)
 
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