discus gone mad?

[the caretaker]

A mate of mine has 6 discus in his tank all water conditions are perfect. The problem is that one by one the discus are going completely mental swimming at high speed even to the extent of hitting the sides of the tank and it a good size tank 5ftX2ftX18" does anyone have any idea what this could be? he is desperate he has lost 2 of them through this and he does not want to lose any more. please help if you can. thanks

 

[Opcn]

Sounds like fish trying to escape bad water to me.

 

[Mr Miagi]

It sounds like they are nervous.

A heavily planted tank is the best idea. But if you cant do this for some reason, make sure therre is nothing IN or OUTSIDE of the tank that can spook 'em.

Add backgrounds or cover the sides with background or spraypaint.

 

[G_Sharky]

They probably got spooked out, If I were your friend it would be wise to put a blanket over the tank for atleast a day or two to relieve the stress on those DIscus...good luck..

 

[Bloomjack]

i have 2 in my planted 3ft tank and they dont get sppoked at all.The tank has no backgrounds and is in the middle of the kitchen and living room with lots of ppl walking past them and they love it! Allways come to see you and look interested!

The putting a blanket over the tank sounds like a good idea though just to settle their nerves lol