Discus

[RinaLane]

Bought few baby discus. Do they look & act healthy?
They eating, not hiding but I'm paranoid

I think 1 of them has tiny white dot under top fin but it's too small to take a picture of. I run UV-filter if it ich I hope it will be gone soon or its just my imagination... The fins & flippers is clean & without tears. They following me around if I'm near tank. Gorgeous fish but I dont have professional eye for discus. Is everything looks ok with their shape, belies etc? And I guess I'll have to buy few cori fish now they seems quite messy eaters & my ghost shrimps cant keep up

[video]https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhIRN0A-pWQ[/video]​

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

I'm worried that the other fish in the tank may not be suitable for discus.

 

[RinaLane]

The only one which paying any attention to discus is labeo bicolor. But they doing fine. Eating very good. Not hiding.
I wonder if I should buy few more or not

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

That is the one that caught my eye at first. I would definitely re-home him.
 
How are the tetras?
How many do you have?
Are they active?
 
When I did Discus years ago, they were supposed to be kept with peaceful non-active fish. Also, we kept that at higher temperatures than was appropriate for most community fish. I only kept Cardinal Tetras and Otto Cats with mine.
 
Personally, I think they looked a little stressed in the video. I attributed that to being new to the tank and being youngsters. What made me think they were stressed was the stripes, which are more prevalent when young, and the fins not being fully extended. I think someone said earlier that Discus are not as difficult to keep as they were years ago but any advise from someone who hasn't kept them before should be taken with a LARGE grain of salt. They may be eating and swimming fine but even low levels of stress over an extended period is more detrimental than high levels at a short duration. If you become familiar with the subtle signs of stress, you will be able to react before it is too late.
 
As to stocking, they get to be about the size of a small dinner plate. The higher temperature of the water also lowers the potential fish capacity of your tank. Warmer water isn't as capable of holding onto dissolved oxygen. I think your current numbers are right for your tank but that is just my personal opinion based on knowledge that is years old in my head.
 
HTH

 

[RinaLane]

7 tetras. I bought 20 from petco & they all were sick & died out
Yes they were in stress & labeo has to go - he keeps chasing around same one discus which puts us both in stress. The discus is 2 inch in size, I have 5 for today,  2 more will arrive tomorrow. They dont show to much color yet. But I see more blue than before but not full body coloration.  10 days in my tank with UV-filter very hungry bunch.
The plan is to have in 75G 7 discus, about 10-15 tetras (optional), 2 plecos, 3-5 coris & 1 polypterus senegalus. I think I'm done with any other fish varieties. Discus is the main attraction no need anything else. I really want more plant but apparently my led  light is bad

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

You don't seem to be understanding me. Discus are a peaceful fish and do not handle stress very well. That RTS needs to go now. Also, those tetras are, IMHO, too active. Some plecos are not suitable, either. They can develop a taste for the slime coating on the discus. That polypterus scares me, also. While they are relatively peaceful, they do have a large strong mouth and could easily take a chunk out of a discus.I'd hate for you to find a chunk taken out of one your fish. It will also eventually eat the tetras. Whoever is giving you advice on compatibility is not doing a good job. Since you are not listening to me, you should find someone else that really knows their stuff.
 
Good luck.

 

[Baccus]

I too thought the clamped fins showed some stress on the discus, but without having observed these particular discus before I wasnt willing to make the call from one shortish video. Observation will be the main key with keeping these fish alive and healthy.
 
Also if you are getting discus from various sources watch out for health issues arrising in either the new or existing ones. With discus especially when different fish have been kept and bred in totally different locals with entirely different set ups both groups of fish can have been exposed to entirely different fish diseases that the other group has never experienced and therefore has no immunity to.
 
I would also watch your discus with the shrimp, my sister had discus with cherry shrimp, all went well until the largest discus discovered not only could it eat the shrimp but also found them to its liking. It then proceeded to eat every shrimp in the tank and ended up with compacted bowels and died.
I know strebia corydoras catfish are often kept with discus because its believed that strebia like warmer water, but I have found strebia corys to like the same temperatures as peppered and other corys. Always keep in mind the higher the temp the less oxygen the water can hold and the more fish in that warmer water the less available oxygen for each fish.
 
Personally even though discus are considered kings of the aquarium I would have tried out my fish keeping skills on just as stunning a fish but a little more forgiving the Severum.

 

[Byron]

I agree with Rob.  Any fish "chasing" a discus is causing serious trouble and must be removed immediately.  The polypterus senegalus is also non-compatible in this tank; not only the size (20 inches) but it is nocturnal and this is not good.  Would want to know the species of pleco as some get very large and this is aside from other considerations a big impact on water quality.
 
Corydoras need a larger group; you should here have about a dozen.  I have Corydoras sterbai at lower temperatures than discus need, but I will accept that they do well at the warmer temperatures.
 
And on the temperature, the discus need 82F which is warm for many fish, long-term, so tankmates must be carefully selected.  For "tetra" I spotted Pristella and Glowlights in the video, and this will be on the warm side for them.  And I would not recommend fish from chain stores like Petco.  Find a good locally-owned hobbyist store, and quarantine new fish.
 
On the plants, I can't say much about the light as I have no direct experience with LED.  Are you using any plant fertilizers?
 
Byron.