DISCUS NOT EATING!! HEEEELLLPPPPP

[Tuydark]

Hi everyone, as you can see in the title I have a discus fish that's not eating, or at least I don't see him eating, here's the deal- I got the fish a month ago as of today, along with 3 others, the guy that's not eating is about 8cm and the others are about 4, the smaller one's eat just fine! Till they can't eat no more the big guy I haven't seen him eat not once, I've seen him pecking at the floor every once in a while and also at the nerite eggs all over the rocks evethough they're super tough and he can't scrape them off. I've seen him poop once about a week ago (normal poop, not stringy or white or anything, straight up brown). I'm feeding a frozen discus blend with bloodworms, beefheart, Artemis, small shrimp. All the others love it, the tank size is about 150L and tank mates are a juvenil gourami and an angelfish, and 3 danios as well as 2 black skirt tetras, the tank is heavily planted with loads of hiding spots, although he only hides when I come to the tank (yes I've tried feeding while hiding he still won't touch it). Water temp is 29C, 0 ammonia ph 7.
I know he's eating, is belly is not concave or anything, I'm just afraid he's not eating enough and it was fairly expensive for a fish.. And I like him a lot wouldn't like to loose him, I got rid of almost every fish I had to start a discus tank now I'm afraid it won't work, pls help me with some tips. Might it be the size? It takes longer to get accustomed?...

 

[PheonixKingZ]

From my limited knowledge of Discus, they are picky eaters to begin with, and if the rest of the group are bullying the smallest one, the smallest one will not eat. (The bigger ones may also be stealing his food)

You really need someone who has real world experience with Discus: @Colin_T @Wills

 

[Tuydark]

From my limited knowledge of Discus, they are picky eaters to begin with, and if the rest of the group are bullying the smallest one, the smallest one will not eat. (The bigger ones may also be stealing his food)

You really need someone who has real world experience with Discus: @Colin_T @Wills

But it's the big guy who's supposedly not eating, he's alive I mean, he has to be eating something.. I just don't know what to do, everyone else eats in front of me

 

[Colin_T]

Have you tried feeding them live food like brineshrimp, daphnia and mosquito larvae?

How often are you feeding them?
Try feeding them 3 times a day and do regular water changes and gravel cleans to keep the tank clean.

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What was the water chemistry (pH, GH & KH) of the water where you got the fish, and what is yours?
If there is a major change in water chemistry, it could upset them.

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If the fish is shy and retiring, give it time to settle in. A month is normally heaps but some fish remain nervous. If you have the tank in a major living area with lots of people moving around, it helps the fish get use to people.

You can help reduce the fish's stress by spending lots of time in the room so the fish gets used to people being around it.

You can have a small television on in the room. You don't need the sound, but the flashing light and movement on the screen can help.

You can have a small fan in the room. Tie some streamers (about 18 inches long) to the fan and have the fan on oscillate. As the fan blows, the streamers wave about and provide movement in the room.

Have some floating plants in the tank to help provide cover. Plants growing in the substrate can also help.

 

[Fish4dawin]

I noticed as well that you have danios in the tank with gouramis and angefish. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but there are a few things in the tank that will affect the gourami and angelfish. First of all, the gourami and angelfish will fight over territory, secondly the danios will stress the heck or bother the gourami and angelfish. Also, 150 litres is too small for discus and angelfish. Discus need a tank of around 75 gallons I believe, and angelfish need a 55 gallon and over. Just pointing some stuff out.

 

[Tuydark]

Have you tried feeding them live food like brineshrimp, daphnia and mosquito larvae?

How often are you feeding them?
Try feeding them 3 times a day and do regular water changes and gravel cleans to keep the tank clean.

-------------------
What was the water chemistry (pH, GH & KH) of the water where you got the fish, and what is yours?
If there is a major change in water chemistry, it could upset them.

-------------------
If the fish is shy and retiring, give it time to settle in. A month is normally heaps but some fish remain nervous. If you have the tank in a major living area with lots of people moving around, it helps the fish get use to people.

You can help reduce the fish's stress by spending lots of time in the room so the fish gets used to people being around it.

You can have a small television on in the room. You don't need the sound, but the flashing light and movement on the screen can help.

You can have a small fan in the room. Tie some streamers (about 18 inches long) to the fan and have the fan on oscillate. As the fan blows, the streamers wave about and provide movement in the room.

Have some floating plants in the tank to help provide cover. Plants growing in the substrate can also help.

I haven't tried feeding live just because I don't have access to anything at the moment, only fruit flys but those don't sink... I don't think that's the problem because they were eating pellets at the place I got them from, Water chemistry is about the same as long as ph and ammonia goes, and my water is pretty soft so I don't think that's the issue.. I'll try something live see what happens.. Thank you, the fish is in a place where's there's no movement, even if I'm there I'm standing still in front of the tank

 

[Tuydark]

I noticed as well that you have danios in the tank with gouramis and angefish. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but there are a few things in the tank that will affect the gourami and angelfish. First of all, the gourami and angelfish will fight over territory, secondly the danios will stress the heck or bother the gourami and angelfish. Also, 150 litres is too small for discus and angelfish. Discus need a tank of around 75 gallons I believe, and angelfish need a 55 gallon and over. Just pointing some stuff out.

There's nothing wrong with the fish you point out, they've been living together for over 2 years now not even a single fin bite, they're all fine and none of them are stressed, the angel and the gourami even school together, the issue is the big discus fish which won't eat much, he has to be eating if he's alive for a month now in my aquarium

 

[Colin_T]

he has to be eating if he's alive for a month now in my aquarium

Not necessarily. Healthy fish can go for months without food. Unlike mammals that use most of the food they eat to keep warm, most fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water. This means any food they eat is used to growth and movement. Subsequently, fish can go for weeks or even months without food and not look like they are starving.

 

[Tuydark]

Well Colin I'll have to disagree when you say a fish can go "months" Without eating, they don't have has much reserves as a snake has for example, a few weeks maybe 3 at max and if they're adult, which is not the case, that's why I'm worried, he's belly is not concave either which I would assume after 4 weeks without eating would be notcble, which balances the scale a bit..., Anyways I've read something online about orange peel as an apetite stimulator, you just put it in the tank and it's suppose to work wonders, any of you heard about this???

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Well Colin I'll have to disagree when you say a fish can go "months" Without eating, they don't have has much reserves as a snake has for example, a few weeks maybe 3 at max and if they're adult, which is not the case, that's why I'm worried, Anyways I've read something online about orange peel as an apetite stimulator, you just put it in the tank and it's suppose to work wonders, any of you heard about this???

There have been several members on TFF who have gone on vacation and such, and not fed their fish for a month. The longest my fish have ever gone without food is 1 week.

(Month’s, indicating multiple, may be a stretch.)

 

[Colin_T]

Everything I have heard and read says not to put citrus, onions or potatoes in fish tanks. If you want to try citrus peel, have some water standing by to do a water change if the fish act funny.

--------------------
My own fishes have gone for 2 months without any supplemental feeding. They ate all the plants and cleaned the algae off the glass, and were slender when I got back. But the only ones that died during that time were babies (less than 1 inch long) and a couple of unusual fishes that were specialty feeders. Everyone else was fine without food for 2 months.

There are plenty of marine fish in the ocean that go more than 6 months without food. These are usually deep sea species that live in complete darkness. They are so far down that very few things make it down to them. When food does make it down there, they spend days or weeks gorging on the food, then they starve again until the next time something comes along.

 

[Tuydark]

I watched several breeder videos who used the peel with no problem, And in case y'all want to know I saw him munch on a few pieces which then he spat out, although I think he ate one or two worms, I don't know if it was the peel or not but he freakin ate, after the peel was in for 2 hours... So idk maybe the voodoo really works

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Hi everyone, as you can see in the title I have a discus fish that's not eating, or at least I don't see him eating, here's the deal- I got the fish a month ago as of today, along with 3 others, the guy that's not eating is about 8cm and the others are about 4, the smaller one's eat just fine! Till they can't eat no more the big guy I haven't seen him eat not once, I've seen him pecking at the floor every once in a while and also at the nerite eggs all over the rocks evethough they're super tough and he can't scrape them off. I've seen him poop once about a week ago (normal poop, not stringy or white or anything, straight up brown). I'm feeding a frozen discus blend with bloodworms, beefheart, Artemis, small shrimp. All the others love it, the tank size is about 150L and tank mates are a juvenil gourami and an angelfish, and 3 danios as well as 2 black skirt tetras, the tank is heavily planted with loads of hiding spots, although he only hides when I come to the tank (yes I've tried feeding while hiding he still won't touch it). Water temp is 29C, 0 ammonia ph 7.
I know he's eating, is belly is not concave or anything, I'm just afraid he's not eating enough and it was fairly expensive for a fish.. And I like him a lot wouldn't like to loose him, I got rid of almost every fish I had to start a discus tank now I'm afraid it won't work, pls help me with some tips. Might it be the size? It takes longer to get accustomed?...

Was the Discus eating when it first came?
If it stopped eating suddenly, then it's usually due to internal worms or internal protozoa or internal bacteria.
At severe stage, the internal infection caused the fish to lose appetite.
The fish stomach or bowel might be clogged by the internal worms.
Andrew Soh(the famous former Discus breeder) even dissect the Discus stomach to see what are the causes.

Fish (all animals) are greedy for food. They will grab all the food whenever they can. Even if they are being chased by other fish, they may still try to steal some food.
In my opinion, only in serious cases like internal infection that can cause them to lose their appetite.


You can try to use Flubendazole for internal worms or Metronidazole for internal protozoa.
Or can even try with Epsom salt first at it may help to clear any clogging in the bowel.

Flubendazole(wormer)

Wormer Plus | Discus.com

<p>We recommend the usage of wormer plus once monthly for trouble free Discus keeping. This product will kill flukes, parasites and aquatic worms. Free Shipping (4-6 days) once processed. Upgraded shipping is available at an additional cost. 5G will treat up to 500gal of water 20G will treat up...

www.discus.com

Aquarium Medicine - Anti-Fluke & Wormer from NT Labs

Belonging to the best range of 'Water Treatments' awarded by the Pratical Fishkeeping Manufacturers Poll. Anti-Fluke & Wormer is an easy to use, ready-mixed liquid formulation of flubendazole effective for treating intestinal worms and also for eradicating skin and gill fluke infestations.

www.ntlabs.co.uk

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085TQ75Z5/?tag=ff0d01-20


Metronidazole:

API® | GENERAL CURE™

API GENERAL CURE fish remedy treats a wide variety of parasitic diseases.

apifishcare.com

Info about Discus:

Advice on Discus Health

www.sydneydiscusworld.com

Common Discus Parasites/Bacterial Problems and Treatments:

Bloat/Constipation Description/Symptoms: Your discus will appear bloated as it swallowed a marble. There may be an indentation behind the bloated area as if pinched by your thumb and forefinger. Your discus may shimmy and shake or may not be able to maintain its balance and will generally look...

www.aquaticcommunity.com

SimplyDiscus.com: Diseases and Medications

Discus that have been exposed to diseases or that have been improperly cared for may fall victim to a number of problems. This portion of the library concentrates on disease diagnosis, treatment, and preventative measures such as quarantine.

www.simplydiscus.com

Last advice.
To avoid internal infection in the future, it's best not to feed the Discus with beefheart or any live food.
I managed to convert all my Discus to eating high quality pellets food.
If you are interested, I can provide you with a list of pellets food that are high in Protein and Fats for your Discus.

 

[itiwhetu]

I would never keep Discus and Angels together. The Angels will intimidate the Discus. Just the sight of one is enough to put the Discus on alert and stop it eating.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

I would never keep Discus and Angels together. The Angels will intimidate the Discus. Just the sight of one is enough to put the Discus on alert and stop it eating.

It may also depend on the size of the Angel fish vs the Discus.
If the Discus is bigger by a few times, it may not be a problem.