Need help discus pair not eating or spawning!!!

[Mlehdiscus]

Hello I am new to the forums so forgive me if I sound stupid. Ok so 1 week ago I received a confirmed pair of cobalt and royal discus that I had ordered from uncle Sam's discus, it has now been 1 week since they came and have not eaten anything, the male took a tiny bite out of some beefheart yesterday but that's it, I tried feeding them beefheart, discus pellet food, blood worms, and tubifix worms, no interest at all except for the bite of beefheart, also they have not even showed signs of spawning, what should I do!!

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

How long has the tank been set up for?

Have you checked the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and general hardness (GH)?
If yes, what were the results in numbers?

What is the temperature of the water?

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

Do you have any plants in the tank?

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Don't feed beef heart or other mammal meats to discus because the fish don't digest it very well. Prawn/ shrimp, fish, squid, mussel meat and other marine based foods are better choices.

If the fish are not eating, only offer a bit of food and remove it if not eaten within a minute. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until the matter is resolved.

If you can post a picture of the aquarium and fish we can check them for disease and offer ideas on tank décor?

 

[Mlehdiscus]

Hi and welcome to the forum

How long has the tank been set up for?

Have you checked the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and general hardness (GH)?
If yes, what were the results in numbers?

What is the temperature of the water?

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

Do you have any plants in the tank?

---------------------
Don't feed beef heart or other mammal meats to discus because the fish don't digest it very well. Prawn/ shrimp, fish, squid, mussel meat and other marine based foods are better choices.

If the fish are not eating, only offer a bit of food and remove it if not eaten within a minute. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until the matter is resolved.

If you can post a picture of the aquarium and fish we can check them for disease and offer ideas on tank décor?

Hi and welcome to the forum

How long has the tank been set up for?

Have you checked the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and general hardness (GH)?
If yes, what were the results in numbers?

What is the temperature of the water?

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

Do you have any plants in the tank?

---------------------
Don't feed beef heart or other mammal meats to discus because the fish don't digest it very well. Prawn/ shrimp, fish, squid, mussel meat and other marine based foods are better choices.

If the fish are not eating, only offer a bit of food and remove it if not eaten within a minute. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until the matter is resolved.

If you can post a picture of the aquarium and fish we can check them for disease and offer ideas on tank décor?

HI, the tank has been up and running for around 4 months now, I did a water test yesterday and results came back as 0 for nitrites, 0 for ammonia, 10 ppm for nitrates, and 6.5 ph, they tank is a standard 55 gallon 48 long 12.5 wide 21 tall, but I put a divider because of my other discus so they only have have of the tank, on side without the pair I have many plants including anubias barteri, baby tears, wisteria, dwarf jungle Val etc etc, and the only decor is also on the side without the pair and the decor is Driftwood, lava rock, and river stones, bother sides have gravel but on the pair side there is a air sponge filter instead of the main canister filter, there is also a 10 inch tall Terracotta breeding cone, this morning I heard from a friend that the spawning setup cannot be in a community tank and cannot have gravel and should be bare bottom, so I will get a 20-30 gallon tank today and paint the outsides with white latest paint and somehow figure out a way for the water in the 20-30 to be cycling we other the 55 by maybe using a low gph powerhead to pump water from the 55 into the 20-30 and have a powerhead fitted with a sponge intake in the 20-30 to pump water back into the 55, good idea? Also this morning I realized that the one thing I had not tried was live brine shrimp so I dumped many in and all were eaten by male and female!!! Thanks!!!!

 

[Colin_T]

If you put some plants and ornaments in the side with the pr, it would make them more comfortable and they would be more likely to eat.

Is the partition (tank divider) solid or can water flow through it?

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Discus regularly breed in a community tank with gravel. We had a young pr sitting on the counter in the shop and they bred every month. They were kept in an 80 litre octagonal tank with gravel, plants and a bunch of glowlight tetras. Kids use to tap the glass and people stood next to the tank when they were paying for items. The fish didn't care and are actually happier in tanks with some substrate and plants.

We had 10 big discus in a 10ft tank and that was heavily planted with 5 inches of gravel and hundreds of other fish. The discus in there bred regularly.

Having other fishes in the tank (that are not discus) will help prevent the discus from becoming shy and panic whenever you go near them. It can also encourage them to eat. The other fish will help distract the parents when they have eggs and young and make the parents more likely to look after their young.

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Dark backgrounds are better than light ones and you can tape coloured card or a black plastic bin liner on the back of the tank.

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If you have a well established filter, you can take half the filter materials from it and put them into a new filter. Top up both filters with more media and you have 2 established filters and can put one on a new tank.

 

[Mlehdiscus]

If you put some plants and ornaments in the side with the pr, it would make them more comfortable and they would be more likely to eat.

Is the partition (tank divider) solid or can water flow through it?

------------------------
Discus regularly breed in a community tank with gravel. We had a young pr sitting on the counter in the shop and they bred every month. They were kept in an 80 litre octagonal tank with gravel, plants and a bunch of glowlight tetras. Kids use to tap the glass and people stood next to the tank when they were paying for items. The fish didn't care and are actually happier in tanks with some substrate and plants.

We had 10 big discus in a 10ft tank and that was heavily planted with 5 inches of gravel and hundreds of other fish. The discus in there bred regularly.

Having other fishes in the tank (that are not discus) will help prevent the discus from becoming shy and panic whenever you go near them. It can also encourage them to eat. The other fish will help distract the parents when they have eggs and young and make the parents more likely to look after their young.

------------------------
Dark backgrounds are better than light ones and you can tape coloured card or a black plastic bin liner on the back of the tank.

------------------------
If you have a well established filter, you can take half the filter materials from it and put them into a new filter. Top up both filters with more media and you have 2 established filters and can put one on a new tank.

Wow!!!!, My divider allows water to flow throw but only has very small holes, I have 3 neon tetras and 2 bristlenose pleco on the pair side, I also have plenty of plants I can transfer over. Thanks for the help!!!!!