Need Help On This Symptom

[bsilverfox]

New tank. cycled in 6 weeks with 4 - 3" Discus. One stopped eating 2 weeks ago and I see him occasionally swimming on his side and rubbing up against a wood deco. Added 2 more 3" a week and a half ago Neither are eating and one I have seen twice doing the same thing described above. Water is good-no ammonia or nitrite but there is some nitrate which I have been trying to lower with water changes. To little avail. Reading is hard to discern with the API test kit but it looks like 40PPM. PH is 7.6  Temp 85*. Any ideas would be appreciated. I am concerned about the nitrate but do not want live plants nor is R/O or water changes with distilled water an option. I am feeding flake food designed specifically for Discus, frozen food for Discus marketed by the seller and have tried small pellet food for Discus which they look at and totally ignore as it works its way to the bottom of the tank.

 

[wrighty8529]

hi can i ask how often u doing water changes also what u feeding them and by the ph it dont look like you running ro water maybe a pic of the discus will help ,us

 

[bsilverfox]

Hi Fish Fanatic,  During the Nitrogen Cycle period I did water changes for a while on a daily basis. Since then I have been doing them once every 10 days to two weeks about 20%.
The PH is high--it is what the tap water is in this area. I bought my Discus from a guy --"Discus Hans" who has a warehouse near me and ships all over the USA. WWW.discus-hans-USA-net
and he has loads of tanks with nothing but discus--different sizes and different colors. AND he uses local water and the PH is 7.6 in his tanks. I am feeding them Cobalt Aquatics Discus Flakes Premium Fish Food along with a frozen mixture of I don't know what but it is made and sold by Discus Hans-and while it's messy--they love it. I am using Baltimore tap water. I don't have any pics and am new to the forum and am not sure yet how that works-but hope to figure it out soon.