Discus Stressed

lynx336699

Medium Fish
Oct 22, 2009
81
0
0
Chicagoland area
#1
So riddle me this batman. I bought a new discus two days ago. The discus is now my second largest one. so i transfer him into the tank and i could tell he stressed out hes hiding up in the corner of the tank and not looking to good. also one of my smaller discus keeps nipping at him. so just in case i check my water levels. 6.6 ph 0 ppm ammo. 0 ppm nitrite 20 ppm nitrate 83 degrees temp. so after that i shut down the lights for the rest of the day and night. i wake up yestersday the new discus has all its color back looks awesome is hanging out with the other discus. happy happy joy joy. so a hour later i walk pass the tank again and theres the new discus up in the corner all stressed out again and the other smaller discus keeps pecking at him. so i call the pet shop and ask the guy about it he says to move everything around in the tank let it sit for a hour or two then shut down the lights for the rest of the day. so i do this and wake up this morning turn light on and the discus looks great again hangin with the others. hour goes by again and i look theres the discus up in the corner all stressed out and the smaller discus still messin with him here and there. any ideas guys? should i shut down the lights again or should i just let them be? :confused:
 

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
May 16, 2003
8,589
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42
Colorado
#2
Sometimes it takes awhile for a newbie to fit in...you might turn the lights off again for awhile and see if it helps. A move alone is kind of stressful so whatever you can do to help him out will help keep him from getting sick.
 

kezdoc09

Medium Fish
Jul 28, 2009
77
0
0
#3
just give him a week or maybe more, some peeps say that it can take up to 6 weeks for a discus to settle and even eat properly, how long have the original discus been together? remember they have got strong personalities and u can't force them to be friends it will take time.
 

Doomhed

Large Fish
Feb 11, 2003
687
0
0
41
Rhode Island
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#4
you do realize a 55 gallon is WAY too small for 4 discus, a ghost knife, pleco AND 4 hatchets, right? not only that but the temps are too high for hatchets to survive for long periods of time, not to mention the size issues with plecos or ghost knives.

I did not know what filter you are running, so I went with a bare bones sunsun 303 canister, but no matter how much filtration you add the fish just don't have the room.

AqAdvisor - overstocked discus
 

lynx336699

Medium Fish
Oct 22, 2009
81
0
0
Chicagoland area
#5
i do realize the pleco and the ghostknife have to go. my friend is taking the ghostknife and putting it in a 75gal. he just set up. but that ghost knife is maybe 6-7 inches ive had him for almost 3 yrs now he is my oldest fish. hes been in a 29 and a 37g with no problems. the pleco im going to trade in and get juuli corys. i keep the tank at 82 degrees and run a peguin 350 and a emperor 400. i use an undergravel filter thats running a whisper 100 air pump thru it. the hatchet fish are doing great my issue with them before was the water has to be soft . this was before i discovered neutral regulator and discus buffer. my discus has broke the stress and now thier all getting along fine. the rams also are doing great. but if you checkout aqadvisor it says upto 5 discus in a 55 is fine. it never red flagged and said fish may out grow tank. it said that when i had my red hook silver dollars and bala sharks and tinfoil barbs so i gave those fish away. once i get rid of the pleco and ghostknife i dont see there being an overstocking problem.