All Of My Discus Died Within 2 Hours

[tattae]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Tolak]

If the tank pH tests at 6.4, and your tap water, which I'm assuming you use for water changes is 8.4, something is out of wack. Are you using anything to adjust the tank pH, and what has the pH of your tank & tap water been in the past?

 

[backley420]

this happened to a guy i know.. forgot to turn on cooler and water got too hot, lost all his dicus......

 

[ArauraDiscus]

I just have a ridiculopusly high Alkalinity. I add Discus buffer which makes the Kh off the charts so that a water change doesn't change the Ph much.

 

[ljaus]

hi i am so sorry to hear about your loss, my brother in law discus last year for unknown reasons he lost about 6 out of 12 the others had no problems. if they were fine before the water change then there is definatly something in your water that shouldnt be

 

[Tolak]

I just have a ridiculopusly high Alkalinity. I add Discus buffer which makes the Kh off the charts so that a water change doesn't change the Ph much.

This could be part of the problem. Bignose posted an interesting explaination, along with peer reviewed references, on how hardness changes can be more stressful than pH changes; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...16&start=16

Adding anything to the tank, such as buffers, pH adjusting chemicals, peat, or bogwood, will raise your TDS. More than likely this also increases your hardness. From what I understand harder water is actually better for growing out juvie discus, the increased mineral content is supposed to help with skeletal growth. I'm sure, just as with other things, this can be taken a little too far. Off the charts may be a little too far, especially if these are the fish you got in a few weeks ago.

 

[afishdude]

it wasnt the moss i sold you was it?

 

[ArauraDiscus]

No rest easy. THe moss never touched the discus tank or the 46 gallon where I had the losses a few weeks ago. Actually every tank the moss has touched is healthy as can be. * knock on wood*


Also thank you tolak, good info, but that cannot be the reason they all died all of a sudden. I do water changes like this all the time, especially with the discus. Good idea though. ALso they all wouldn't have died within two hours either from this, especially since it wasn't a huge change. The alkalinity has stayed at 300ish at the limit of the chart, water changes or not. And no discus buffer has been added in a week and a half. Actually since I've had the discus I have only added a pinch of the buffer once. Thats it.

 

[afishdude]

good just making sure..
has it flourished yet? or turned like a light green color?

 

[ArauraDiscus]

Yah it's nice but it fell apart and is in tiny strands all over the tank unfortunately.

 

[nukeonekitty]

Sorry dude. I'm sure not much can make your stomach stop curling. Hope you can get everything under control though.

 

[afishdude]

give it time, it will form together.

 

[GuppyDude]

Sorry for your loss Mr.Discus, thats quite a blow.

Could the increase in the number of those white worms signify somthing dramatically changeing in your water? I know that they are harmless, and actually quite pevolent in bare-bottomed tanks, but maybe somthing with your water change affected the parameters. But if nothing in your tests are comeing to light, purhaps it was somthing momentary that shocked the fish?

Again i'm sorry for your loss, discus are a fragile fish to keep and any attempt to keep them is certainly note-worthy. Better luck in the future, never give up.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I would consider checking your taps. Some of the old water systems don't get changed, and can carry large amounts of diffrent metals, along with large amounts of lead (from lead pipes.) I suggest possibly doing some tests on the water as well. I don't know what you could do, but you could try to take a few samples, and get one to a vet.

You could be getting somewhere, maybe the water companies slack. If you find anything take it up with your local government, and see what you can do.

 

[angelmouse]

OMG so sorry about your Discus, i hate it when you just don't know why it happened because it makes it difficult to right the problem. I never trust tap water and local authoritys with sensitive fish, r/o units are worth their weight in gold with sensitive fish.
Hope you find the cause,sorry about your fish loss
Regards Angel