Need Help With Discus Tank

[ClkJay]

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- 155 gallon tank
- 4 5" Discus - 6 2" Discus - 5 Cory - 30 Black Neon Tetra - 3 Dwarf Gourami - 1 Pleco
- 2 300 watts thermostats
- 85-86 degrees
- 6 pieces Malaysian Drift Wood
- Live plants
- 1 UV sterilizer
- Eheim Canister Filter

I have had this tank for over 3 years with Silver Dollars in them (No problem), removed them and added all of the above fish 3 weeks ago. Nitrite and nitrate at 0. PH only reads 6.0 max, could be lower. Ammonia is at .5-1. I have been doing 10%-15% water changes every other day. After water changes, Ammonia reads .5, after a day it may go up to 1.

Don't know why the Ammonia is going up so fast. I feed once a day and they finish within 2 mins. I am now getting a white cloudy/slimey thing on their eyes. The Discus seem to have spasms with there fins every so often. It seems like they are going in and out of stress. They are eating. After every water change, I apply API Stress Coat Plus and API Stress Zyme and aquarium salt.

My water doesn't seem to be crystal clear. Could this be caused by water being too hard (KH)? Would having a too low of a PH have any part to this? Should I raise the PH to 6.5-6.8? Do I have too much fish in the tank? This has been happening since I have added all of the above fish in the same water that I had the Silver Dollars in. Water hasnt been stable since.

One afternoon last week, I changed the water and Ammonia was at .25, the very next early morning, my ammonia spiked and all my Discus had that white cloudy/slimey thing on their eye. I lost 3 2" Discus that morning. One of the 5" Discus was laying sideways with no movement even when you moved him. I did 2 20% water changes right away and after 7 hrs or so he started getting better.

Any ideas of what could be wrong with my tank. The white thing on their eyes and the spasms are my main concerns. I have went to many Fish Stores and they seem to always want to sell me medication. I have tried meds but no result.

 

[Thommo]

How many dollars did you have in there before going to these guys. Was there a lag (days between gettin grid of the dollars from the tank and putting in new fish)

It sounds to me that it is AMMONIA poisoning that is causing the issue. I would be doing larger water changes and more frequent 50% daily IMO or whenever you see a reading 0.25 or more ammonia. I think that the influx of fish is more than what your current filter is cycled for. Meaning that there isn't enough good bac to process the increase in ammonia output from the fish

Test for NitrItes also as you will find that the ammonia will eventually go down as the bacs increase but the nitrIte will go high which is fatal to fish as well. Same with nitrites. see a reading do a water change.

I think you will be up for a few water changes.

You DON'T need meds now just clean Ammonia free water. You may need meds later as the fish are stresses right now and are suseptable to disease etc.

Lots and lots and lots of water changes. If you have another tank maybe try and spread the fish load so there isn't as much ammonia being developed by all the fish.

If yo uare unsure what I'm talking about read is a good start What is cycling plus all the other pinned topics in beginners resource centre

P.S. That is a lot of discus for a 155 gal tank. I know that they are small but they do get large in the end!

 

[ClkJay]

How many dollars did you have in there before going to these guys. Was there a lag (days between gettin grid of the dollars from the tank and putting in new fish)

It sounds to me that it is AMMONIA poisoning that is causing the issue. I would be doing larger water changes and more frequent 50% daily IMO or whenever you see a reading 0.25 or more ammonia. I think that the influx of fish is more than what your current filter is cycled for. Meaning that there isn't enough good bac to process the increase in ammonia output from the fish

Thanks for the advise.

I have moved my discus to another tank that was established for 3 weeks now. Unfortunately, I lost all my small discus.

Now back to my 155 gallon, I now have 30 tetras, 1pleco, 1 dwarf gourami, and 4 corycats left in there. I tried to start all over with this tank after I lost the other fishes. It has been 3 weeks now. I have the EHEIM Large Canister Filter 2260, which should be good up to 400 gallons. I purchased 5L of new Eheim substrate and 5L of Eheim Mech and put them in the filter. I also have 47 oz. of Chemi Pure in the filter. I left the anubia and java fern plants in the tank also.

I have been checking the ammonia every 3 days, and been recording the ammonia going up again. from .25 all the way up to 8.0 now. Again it has been more than 3 weeks but under 4 weeks. I have been putting in stress zyme to promote bacteria for the biological filter. and for past week, I have been putting in ammo lock so the ammonia wont effect my fish.

Will Ammolock effect the growth of bacteria for the biological filter?

Is this level ammonia normal? Should I just wait another 2 weeks?

 

[theshadowinc]

That canister filter is only 396g for filtration fish only tank especially discus is 4x min, that means you need 620g filtration system for that tank for fish only tank, and with discus that tank can hold 15 very easy going by inch per gallon rule when fully grown to adult size. What you did was shock the filtration system for a loop hole when you added all that bioload to it, the filtration system you have is meant for a 99g tank max not a 155g tank. when was the last time you changed your filration media assuming you change only 1/3 to 1/2 when you do it. Look in the area of getting more filtration to that tank and everything should turn out fine I would assume. The thing is if you do get the tank cycled and you add the fish back in again you will go through the same thing again that you are going through now.

 

[ClkJay]

Well I added all new media more than 3 weeks ago. I am trying to get the cycle going again. While I am trying to get the cycle going, I have the tetras and the cory cats inside. I have been feeding once a week a very small portion. What I am asking is that, is it normal for ammonia to go up to 8.0 in 3 weeks with so little fish and no sign of the cycling to start? Do I need more time to start the cycle? Does ammolock interupt the cycling from starting?

So this means I would need another filter according to you? Any others think i need another filter?

What if I got another identical EHEIM filter and run it side by side? Since the pump will be the same, will I have a problem running both side by side through one intake and one out take? meaning from tank to filter1 to filter 2 back to tank?

 

[ClkJay]

Any other suggestions or opinions....