Discus Not Eating

[ILuvTropicalFish]

I got two pigeon blood discus a week ago. I had to pull the one I had so they could acclimate to the 55 gallon tank. They are both swimming around and enjoying being here. Here is my problem. One of them is eating well, and I have not seen the other one eat at all. I have tried a pellet food, frozen bloodworms, and frozen beefheart. Does anyone have any suggestions? The fish seems happy.

 

[Tolak]

Please fill this out to help us help you;

Tank size:
pH:
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp:

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):

Volume and Frequency of water changes:

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants:

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):

Exposure to chemicals:

Digital photo (include if possible):

 

[ILuvTropicalFish]

Please fill this out to help us help you;

Tank size: 55 gallon
pH: 6.0
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 30
kH:
gH:
tank temp: 78

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): Looks great, swims around, hangs with the other new discus. Just does not eat.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: Usually once a month. In anticipation of the new arrivals, changed twice, two days apart the week before I got them. I change 1/3 each time. Since getting the new guys, I put the existing discus in a ten gallon because he is alot bigger and was chasing the newbies. To keep his water the same I have pulled three gallons from his tank, moved three gallons from the 55 gallon to his, and put new three gallons every two - three days.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Aquarium salt and a discus additive. Tank runs with HOB filter with filter material.

Tank inhabitants: 5 blonde tiger barbs, three catfish and one bn pleco (very small).

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): Just the two discus.

The tank has been set up for years. Has been a discus tank for about two years. When I change the water I vacuum from the rock substrate.

Exposure to chemicals: None

Digital photo (include if possible):

I have since read some of the other threads that popped up when I posted. I soaked frozen mysis shrimp in garlic and tried that a few minutes ago and nothing. He acts like he is not hungry. Oh, and the lfs was feeding a mix of bloodworms and flake food. The two fish had been there for a couple of months. He said he had not actually paid close attention to whether or not he was eating, but he helped me look at him to be sure he did not look like he was starving. He fed them in front of me and this one ate very little, where the other one ate like he was hungry. I should have known better. I should not have bought him.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

He could have internal parasites, especially if you said that he had not been eating at the pet store. Try soaking garlic in blood worms. Although your probably much better telling the LFS you suspect parasites and swap him. You could try treating him, but once they go off food a lot of times it's too late to pull them back around

 

[ILuvTropicalFish]

I talked to the LFS today and they will make it good if the fish dies. I put the discus I had in the big tank and placed the apparent sick one in the bare ten gallon and I am treating him for internal parasites. I really hope he gets better because I get attached to these guys so fast! Thanks for all your help!

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I talked to the LFS today and they will make it good if the fish dies. I put the discus I had in the big tank and placed the apparent sick one in the bare ten gallon and I am treating him for internal parasites. I really hope he gets better because I get attached to these guys so fast! Thanks for all your help!

Do you have mature filter media in the tank? Temperature? What medication?

 

[ILuvTropicalFish]

I talked to the LFS today and they will make it good if the fish dies. I put the discus I had in the big tank and placed the apparent sick one in the bare ten gallon and I am treating him for internal parasites. I really hope he gets better because I get attached to these guys so fast! Thanks for all your help!

Do you have mature filter media in the tank? Temperature? What medication?

Yes, I got the media from the 55 gallon tank and put it in the ten gallon. The tank is at 78 degrees. I am using API General Cure which has 250 mg Metronidazole and 75 mg Praziquantel per tablet which treats 10 gallons. It says to dose twice, 48 hours apart. Does that okay?

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I talked to the LFS today and they will make it good if the fish dies. I put the discus I had in the big tank and placed the apparent sick one in the bare ten gallon and I am treating him for internal parasites. I really hope he gets better because I get attached to these guys so fast! Thanks for all your help!

Do you have mature filter media in the tank? Temperature? What medication?

Yes, I got the media from the 55 gallon tank and put it in the ten gallon. The tank is at 78 degrees. I am using API General Cure which has 250 mg Metronidazole and 75 mg Praziquantel per tablet which treats 10 gallons. It says to dose twice, 48 hours apart. Does that okay?

Sounds alright, but the temperature is way too low. Up it to 90F for treatment and to increase metabolism. Should be at about 87 or 88 normally (about 30 degrees.) Watch out for a mini cycle in the big tank after removing media. I know Metro can be dosed every 12hrs, too sure about prazi. I would do at least 50% w/c daily and re add medication you took out.

 

[ILuvTropicalFish]

Okay, I will bump up the temp slowly. Also, I should have said I took half the media from the 55 gallon's filter. Hopefully it won't throw that tank out of balance. Thank-you for your input DL. It sure would be nice to save this fish!

 

[Jim Curtis]

I talked to the LFS today and they will make it good if the fish dies. I put the discus I had in the big tank and placed the apparent sick one in the bare ten gallon and I am treating him for internal parasites. I really hope he gets better because I get attached to these guys so fast! Thanks for all your help!

Do you have mature filter media in the tank? Temperature? What medication?

Yes, I got the media from the 55 gallon tank and put it in the ten gallon. The tank is at 78 degrees. I am using API General Cure which has 250 mg Metronidazole and 75 mg Praziquantel per tablet which treats 10 gallons. It says to dose twice, 48 hours apart. Does that okay?

Sounds alright, but the temperature is way too low. Up it to 90F for treatment and to increase metabolism. Should be at about 87 or 88 normally (about 30 degrees.) Watch out for a mini cycle in the big tank after removing media. I know Metro can be dosed every 12hrs, too sure about prazi. I would do at least 50% w/c daily and re add medication you took out.

Does'nt sound right to me. If you just bought the fish you need to give it more time to acclimate. I dont think treating for parasites is a good course of action. It seems obvious to me that if one of the Discus you bought at the LFS has parasites than the other would have them too by now. I think you jumped the gun with the medications. If you have a tank with only two discus than one will be dominate over the other. That's just the way discus are. The one will probably not allow the other to eat. That is why it is recommended that you have at least 5 discus in a tank to help spread aggression.

 

[ILuvTropicalFish]

Does'nt sound right to me. If you just bought the fish you need to give it more time to acclimate. I dont think treating for parasites is a good course of action. It seems obvious to me that if one of the Discus you bought at the LFS has parasites than the other would have them too by now. I think you jumped the gun with the medications. If you have a tank with only two discus than one will be dominate over the other. That's just the way discus are. The one will probably not allow the other to eat. That is why it is recommended that you have at least 5 discus in a tank to help spread aggression.

Jim, the fish in question was not actually eating all that well before I bought him. He was in my tank for a week and never grazed or showed interest in food even when it fell right in front of him. These two fish were very tight. They swam together and I watched them quite a bit. The one that does eat never ever chased the other one. I do know what you mean by aggression. The one I already had is like that, and very sneaky about it. I kept him separate for the week. When I put him back, he went right back to his sneaky ways. I now have a divider in the big tank so the healthy discus can have more time and maybe grow a bit bigger. Also, maybe I can afford a couple more in that time so I can have the school I should have. I am also watching the other one to see if he shows signs of illness. Thank-you for your input, but I really think we are on the right track. And if you are right, he will start eating in the ten gallon and all will be good.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

Does'nt sound right to me. If you just bought the fish you need to give it more time to acclimate. I dont think treating for parasites is a good course of action. It seems obvious to me that if one of the Discus you bought at the LFS has parasites than the other would have them too by now. I think you jumped the gun with the medications. If you have a tank with only two discus than one will be dominate over the other. That's just the way discus are. The one will probably not allow the other to eat. That is why it is recommended that you have at least 5 discus in a tank to help spread aggression.

She said she didn't see the Discus eating at the LFS which is why I would suspect she brought home a sick fish. No, the other Discus may not have parasites. As long as the other one is stress free his immune system can probably fight it off. Take nematodes for example, these parasites normally only show up as a serious situation in stressed fish.

Jim, the fish in question was not actually eating all that well before I bought him. He was in my tank for a week and never grazed or showed interest in food even when it fell right in front of him. These two fish were very tight. They swam together and I watched them quite a bit. The one that does eat never ever chased the other one. I do know what you mean by aggression. The one I already had is like that, and very sneaky about it. I kept him separate for the week. When I put him back, he went right back to his sneaky ways. I now have a divider in the big tank so the healthy discus can have more time and maybe grow a bit bigger. Also, maybe I can afford a couple more in that time so I can have the school I should have. I am also watching the other one to see if he shows signs of illness. Thank-you for your input, but I really think we are on the right track. And if you are right, he will start eating in the ten gallon and all will be good.

Jim's right though, you need to add more Discus.

 

[Jim Curtis]

Well how many discus were in the tank at the LFS? The same rules apply even at the fish store.

 

[ILuvTropicalFish]

These two discus were the only two at the LFS. That is why I wanted both of them. They were hanging out together there too. I have tried to build my discus population over the last couple of years, but I kept losing them. I only had one survive. The economy and some health issues slowed me down a bit. I think I know now why I was losing fish. It was my bully. I intend to build my population. Thanks again to both of you for all your help. I am still learning how to successfully keep these beautiful fish.

Here are my new additions. The first one is the one that is eating and the second one is the one that is not eating.

 

[ILuvTropicalFish]

Okay, it has been two days. I put the second treatment in the tank. I just noticed he was pooping something white and cottony looking, it was about 3/4 of an inch. He is still not eating anything, but is this a good sign?