# Bought new discus and hes not eating help =/



## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

Hey i bought my first new wild discus yesterday and i put him with my plecos in my pleco tank, and all hes been doing is hiding under a piece of wood and not eating i even did a 50% water change before letting him in.... u guys know why?


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Because it is stressed and needs to slowly acclimatize to your tanks conditions. 

Difference in environment, ph, temp, tankmates, amount of lighting, ....

Give it a bit more time but don't overmonitor the fish.

Hiding underneath wood is normal as thats what they do in nature. Its just looking for hiding spots.

Sent from my mobile phone


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

Thank you very much i was really worried could he also be lonely i only bought one to try him out because is my first time having a discus and wanna put all my attention to him. does he need some buddys to make him feel at home?


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

I have just one discus in my tank right now and he didn't really eat for the first two days or so (I feed him bloodworms) and was mostly staying to the back of the tank, but a couple weeks later and he'll come to the front of the tank when he sees me and will eat out of my hand. I've got 4 more discus on order so he'll have some friends though!


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

ahh ok i hope he comes out soon.. dont know if he can last 2 weeks like yours without food haha...


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

You'd be amazed how long they can past without food. Prior to shipping wild discus, they are fasted. 

Discus like other schooling fish prefer to be in numbers. But just wait and see how it comes back in the coming days. 


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

2 days not 2 weeks!


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

ahh ok hope it will be better tomorrow is second day hope he pops out haha


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Yeah owning a single discus is never a great idea as they are most comfortable in a school. It will be stressful on them. Hopefully it will get more comfortable in the future. As long as he eats then he will likely be Ok. 

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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

Keep your wcs up. They don't like bioload. Clean water. Lots of wcs. You need a group of 4 or more. 5 is better. How big is your tank? 
They need big tanks. Prefers boy one per 10 gallons unless your doing wcs daily or every second day.


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

ya same thing today still hiding i have a 55 gallon all for him haha rest is plecos not on the same level...


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

btw they dont have to be the same type to keep each other company right?


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

It may not eat for a whole week even with the right condition.
Usually not a good idea for 1 discus in a 55. It will freak out when shocked. Try 4-5.
I would recommend 79F min temp or you likely will have problem. Lots prefer much higher 83 - 86F.
May be difficult to keep the water clean enough for them in a pleco tank.


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

well im using 2 big HOB and weekly more then 50% water change and before i put him in i had a water change too


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

i think my tank is at 29 degrees


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

I have a dozen wild discus in my approx 100g tank. I'm going to add a couple more. They are way more comfortable in a large group. 

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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

nice tony u got a pic i wanna see your discus XD


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Pat805 said:


> nice tony u got a pic i wanna see your discus XD


http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?p=295020

I believe there's a few shots of this tank in the video in this post. Haven't had much time to do pix lately.

Sent from my gigantic Samsung Note 2


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

wow nice .... how u water change haha my 55 gallon takes me forever = =


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Pat805 said:


> wow nice damn how u water change haha my 55 gallon takes me forever = =


It does take some time. I pump the water out with an Quietone 3000. But refilling does take forever. Lol

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## April (Apr 21, 2010)

Get
A
Magdrive pump on the end of a garden hose. And pump back in from a holding tank or a running. Sink .


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

where i get a magdrive pump? oh still the same today still hiding underlogs and dont see it eating.. i saw him eat alot at the sellers tank tho @@ must be really scared


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Magdrive is just one brand. Any big power head to do it at a speed that you like. A $75 sump pump from Canadian tire/Princess auto will push a lot of water.

Patience =) Leave him alone for a week. If you play around with the system too much, you may end up killing the poor thing


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

oh ok thx will do ill look up what those pump are.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

My understanding is that a mag pump is a magnetic pump. Since it does not have as many moving parts and will not risk leaking heavy metal or oil into your tank as some other pumps it is preferred to be used for discus. It looks kind of like the propeller in your canister filer, very easy to clean.
I change my water every day 90%+ and I don't put anything in the tank other than a heater, a filter and an air stone. My discus is the only decoration I have. They need clean water and if you give them a place to hide they probably will. 
Doing big water change is the key to healthy discus in my opinion. Daily is ideal. A pleco tank might be too "dirty" for a discus, they like very clean water.
May be put him in a smaller bare bottom tank and do more frequent water change? Ask Rick he has awesome discus and he will give you the best advice you need. Get a few more from a good breeder, like Rick. Weekly 50% water change is not really a lot for discus, especially when you have pleco in the tank.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

MagDrive =)
Mag Drive Water Pumps
1/3 HP Sump Pump | Princess Auto


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

That sump pump is a pretty good deal, under $70!
I use a mag pump I got from Mello to pump water from an aging barrel into my discus tank. It has been working very well. I am keeping 5 in a 45 gallon grow-out tank now.
I suspect daily big water change might stress the pleoc out. But then they produce lots of bio-load so weekly 50% is probably not going to cut it for the discus. 
Gary keeps his discus with pleco and they are beautiful but he is very experienced and he has a nice group of them. 
I think it is not an easy task to keep just one discus with a bunch of pleco with weekly 50% wc, better keep the discus separately in another bare bottom tank with frequent water change imo.


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

Damn my main fish is pleco tho sigh mayb I should sell him b4 I kill him. Won't be allowed to have more tanks :/


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

I did see him eat a couple blood worms yesterday tho ...


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

I think you should just do some water changes, and stop worrying


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Keeping discus may not be as challenging as it seems; however it does take more commitment and research than keeping pleco. Okay, may be for the fancy plecos.
If the commitment is not there and the intent is not to have more than one discus, may be passing it to someone else may not be too bad an idea  Better for the rest of the tank mates IMHO.


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

Ya I keep fancy plecos but was gonna try with one discus , I might pass it on to someone else that knows alot about this fish I don't want it to die


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

What size/strain is the discus? Have you tried feeding it freeze dried blackworms?


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

i got it from charles all i know about it , is its a wild discus


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

mayb a 3.5-4 inch in size


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

I am not saying you will kill him LOL but just that I think it may be easier if you keep him in a separate tank that is smaller so you can change water more frequently since it sounds like you feel that changing water for a 55 gallon is a lot of work (and it is). 
If you get it from Charles may be you should listen to Charles as he should know.
Good luck.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Keeping a single discus is not always the wrong thing to do. I have setup a couple of tanks using a single discus to act as a predatory fish so the smaller schooling fish will school tight together. You can also get the same result using an angel fish as well. But my clients want to try a discus and the tanks are not having issue with keeping a single discus with good number of cardinals and rummynose.

And both of those tanks are not bare bottom.

With that in mind, keeping discus in a bare bottom tank is easier as maintaining a large school of discus is much easier to do with a bare bottom tank. However, keeping only a single discus in a community is not an unheard of or a bad thing to do either. Try reducing the light and do a few water changes. The wild tefe is very strong and was very active and eating. It might need a bit more time to get used to your tank and environment.


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

oh ok if i want to try out what u said and grab a bunch of cardinals from u, do u think he will eat them when he grows up


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## Clownloachlover (Apr 21, 2010)

my personal opinion....and this is my opinion only...some others may feel the same way...but I am only speaking for myself...I think keeping fish in a bare bottom tank with no plants or anything is down right cruel. I think it is best...once again my own opinion...to keep fish in as natural of a habitat as possible...now I know we can not recreate exactly what they have in nature...seeing some of the beautiful tanks featured on these forums...some people have come very close to nature...but bare bottom with no plants...sorry I don't agree. I realize that retailers, breeders and some hobbyists do it for cleanliness and ease of maintenance, but for a long term home...sorry, I prefer the natural look. Having said that, ignore those words when you see my tank setup as I have cheesy shipwrecks in my tank, but that is at the request of my son.


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

Mm that is a good point


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

i think some good news i see him eating now but not alot he hides and pick on the singular floating blood worms..


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

Well finally seems like my discus isn't looking too good... He's always almost sideways tilted lying down on the bottom of the tank in a corner


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

I would do the same if I was the only one in the tank. Try testing your water and if required, water change since you have quite the bioload in the tank.

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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

agreed...how often are you doing w/c's? I would start doing them every day if it were me. All those plecos in there definitely must create quite the bioload. Is this still a loner Discus in there?


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

I w/c every 2 to 3 days 75% and ya is a loner... I wanted to get another for a cheaper price but water is usually fine with in a 3 day limit


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

Also how many discus do u think In need I order for him to stop hiding and swim normally, case I saw him swimming upright again this morning looking a bit more normal then last night.


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

Discus are usually best kept at a minimum of 5 although some people say 4 is okay


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Like any schooling fish, the more the better, especially wilds. I'm not a discus expert but their personalities come out when they're in numbers much like corydoras.....gives them a sense of security in numbers.


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

ahh ok so im guessing 5 discus for 55 gallon as the 10 gallon 1 discus rule?


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Sure. But all your plecos and potential discus collection would thrive in a 160g that is currently being sold for $200.


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## Pat805 (Oct 12, 2011)

Oh damn let me check the post


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