I'm A Copycat !

[walkers101]

give him time both of mine took exactly 24 hour to eat and explore the tank

 

[ChilliPepper]

I didn't realise you can keep Discus with other SA cichlids, as I thought they needed really high water temps. Though I keep my SA's at 26c/80f so I suppose it is possible. Discus with an O would be a no though, as noway would they get any food. The Sevs worked that out quite quickly. There is no 'being shy' allowed in my tank

He is cute though, and I hope he starts eating and swimming about confidently soon

 

[hamfist]

I didn't realise you can keep Discus with other SA cichlids, as I thought they needed really high water temps. Though I keep my SA's at 26c/80f so I suppose it is possible. Discus with an O would be a no though, as noway would they get any food. The Sevs worked that out quite quickly. There is no 'being shy' allowed in my tank

He is cute though, and I hope he starts eating and swimming about confidently soon

Yup, 27-28C (80-82F) seems a good compromise temp, where everyone is happy.

He is certainly swimming around a LOT more today. Didn't eat this morning but I bet he won't be able to resist bloodworm this evening !

 

[Balloons&killies]

discus need a temp of 84-86F to be healthy and happy

 

[ajs2294]

I have mine at 84.6 too, 82 is a bit low for Discus And you said he didn't eat this morning could be a sign of a slow metabolism due to lower temperatures, discus should be ready to eat all day. It is optimal to feed them small meals every few hours as well as the twice a day feedings.

 

[hamfist]

I have mine at 84.6 too, 82 is a bit low for Discus And you said he didn't eat this morning could be a sign of a slow metabolism due to lower temperatures, discus should be ready to eat all day. It is optimal to feed them small meals every few hours as well as the twice a day feedings.

From my reading I thought it was generally agreed that young discus needed 84F and upwards. However, adults should be fine with 82F. At 4-4.5" long, I'd defo consider mine an adult.

 

[ajs2294]

Well I wouldn't consider 4 inches an adult not a baby but not an adult. It still has a good 2-4 inches to grow which will take well over 6 months in good conditions. Of course it won't be as picky as a 2 or 3 inch fish but its not a fully grown adult. You must also take into account that while it is still growing it should be a very happy feeder (in discus terms ). Healthy discus will feed whenever food is present and at 4 inches I would want my fish eating 3 times a day, and due to the fact you said it refused to eat in the morning I would highly recommend raising the temperature to see if he wasn't feeding due to the lower temperature effecting his metabolism. They key to raising discus is limiting the variables that's why keeping temperature and water quality precise is necessary. Any little early clue on sickness can make a huge difference if a fish slips into a sick spell it can be a real pain to get them back on track. A loss of appetite could be due to stress, stunt, or Hex, not saying that any of these are true but its best to stick to what works best. Some experienced breeders and keepers are so anal about these conditions they keep fish in bare bottom tanks through the whole grow out stages that's a solid 6 inches. I'm not trying to be rude just suggesting you stick with the accepted norm do to the fact you are new to discus and only have a single fish.

 

[hamfist]

Well I wouldn't consider 4 inches an adult not a baby but not an adult. It still has a good 2-4 inches to grow which will take well over 6 months in good conditions. Of course it won't be as picky as a 2 or 3 inch fish but its not a fully grown adult. You must also take into account that while it is still growing it should be a very happy feeder (in discus terms ). Healthy discus will feed whenever food is present and at 4 inches I would want my fish eating 3 times a day, and due to the fact you said it refused to eat in the morning I would highly recommend raising the temperature to see if he wasn't feeding due to the lower temperature effecting his metabolism. They key to raising discus is limiting the variables that's why keeping temperature and water quality precise is necessary. Any little early clue on sickness can make a huge difference if a fish slips into a sick spell it can be a real pain to get them back on track. A loss of appetite could be due to stress, stunt, or Hex, not saying that any of these are true but its best to stick to what works best. Some experienced breeders and keepers are so anal about these conditions they keep fish in bare bottom tanks through the whole grow out stages that's a solid 6 inches. I'm not trying to be rude just suggesting you stick with the accepted norm do to the fact you are new to discus and only have a single fish.

Got a better idea of his size now. He's a good 4.5-5" actually. I've actually seen breeding pairs in shops no bigger than him.
Anyway he's been hugely more confident as the day has worn on. He ate frozen bloodworm with the others this evening and is swimming about confidently all over the tank. He seems to have been accepted as an "honourary uaru" by my two. They are getting on famously and are clearly enjoying each others company. So all is going well. I shall continue as is for the moment.

As for sticking to the accepted norm ... are you talking about the temperature ? I did actually do a fair bit of reading before coming to my decision. And from what I read, 82F was at the bottom end, but still within the acceptable range, for an adult discus.

 

[walkers101]

I have mine at 84.6 too, 82 is a bit low for Discus And you said he didn't eat this morning could be a sign of a slow metabolism due to lower temperatures, discus should be ready to eat all day. It is optimal to feed them small meals every few hours as well as the twice a day feedings.

He has been in there 24 hours give him chance to settle in then he will feed

 

[snowflake311]

I think 80-82F is fine for a discus. The wild discus are in water that ranges from 76-90F depending on the season. The reason many breeders keep them at such high temps is because many parasites don't like high temps. I'm sure you will do what's best for your fish and will not harm come to him. So keep doing what your doing and just have a back up ready for if something happens.

I myself just put all my large cichlids in my 100 gal to make room for more discus. Now the search is on for healthy discus.

 

[ajs2294]

I'm not telling you to change anything just advising you to stay to the norms to avoid issues or alter to the norms if you experience problems. Once again though a 4.5-5 inch discus is NOT an adult. I have had angels "Pair" and spawn and under 3 inches but they don't have fertilized spawns. Chances are a 4-5 inch breeding pair is not producing fertile eggs or is stunted. And I know I'm going to seem a stickler but are you just keeping a lone discus forever or is it just short term that your only going to have one like snowflake?

 

[snowflake311]

I really don't think one discus will die if it is kept alone. It has a better chance of getting sick from being beat up by another discus. There was a tank of 6 small discus at a LFS and 2 were skinny and weak. after watching I could see they were getting beat up.

These are cichlids and everyone of them is different. The books says one thing and the fish will do another. So whos to say you can't just keep one. I have read of a few people keeping a single discus for years with no problmes. One problem is a lone discus can become aggressive. other times very shy and then some are fine. I personaly think you can get away with one. BUT you will miss out on watching them interact with eachother. I'm not saying you should keep one discus but I think it can be done.

One thing I will agree with is you should keep more then 3. Because they do set up a pecking order and most always the lowest in the pecking order will suffer. The more you have the less one fish will get picked on.

 

[ajs2294]

I really don't think one discus will die if it is kept alone. It has a better chance of getting sick from being beat up by another discus. There was a tank of 6 small discus at a LFS and 2 were skinny and weak. after watching I could see they were getting beat up.

These are cichlids and everyone of them is different. The books says one thing and the fish will do another. So whos to say you can't just keep one. I have read of a few people keeping a single discus for years with no problmes. One problem is a lone discus can become aggressive. other times very shy and then some are fine. I personaly think you can get away with one. BUT you will miss out on watching them interact with eachother. I'm not saying you should keep one discus but I think it can be done.

One thing I will agree with is you should keep more then 3. Because they do set up a pecking order and most always the lowest in the pecking order will suffer. The more you have the less one fish will get picked on.

The way I look at it is in fish standards they are very intelligent, thus allowing them to form a social structure of sorts. And having 8 discus in my tank I can spend hours watching how they interact its quite amazing. Many biologists in the wild have also noticed there social tendencies and I see it "cruel" to limit a social fish to loneliness. Just because you can get away with doing something doesn't mean its the "best" thing. Personaly I see the vast majority only break the 5+ rule if they have breeding pairs. But to each their own.

 

[hamfist]

And I know I'm going to seem a stickler but are you just keeping a lone discus forever or is it just short term that your only going to have one like snowflake?

My initial plan is to keep just the one, and see how it all goes. If he is not thriving I will re-assess the situation.
At the moment all the signs are good, he is eating now and it looks like my uaru are providing him with a very acceptable "family".

 

[Balloons&killies]

See, IMO keeping just one discus DOES NOT sound good.
A discus needs companions. they love to socialize with eachother they like to swim as a group.

Where are you getting the information?

i researched discus since last november,and i still need more to know, like some genetics,breeding,etc. i might hold off on my first discus coming in august.