# My discus fish is not eating



## ReefTrooper (Jan 29, 2012)

I have 2 discus fish and they are in a community tank .I have never seen them eating anything and am kinda worried :-? also can i keep them with barbs? i am new to discus keeping and any useful information would be nice thanks.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Hi,

are these a breeding pair? How old are they if you have any idea? Where did you source them? How big is the tank? Also, what other fish are in it?

With young discus, I would not suggest keeping only two of them. They are timid in general and do not do well in less than four. Young discus prefer to be in group as they feel much more comfortable until they pair off on their own. Discus less than four inches in diameter usually are best kept in a tank with no substrate or simply less decors to keep the environment clean enough to allow them to grow properly. They get stunted very easily. You'll find the young discus are much more sensitive compared to adults.

And no, do not keep them with barbs or any fish with darting moves. This is highly stressful for them.

Lastly, the reason I asked your source is that generally, you are better off getting your discus from reputable breeders, no matter if it is expensive to you. Stunted specimens from LFS are a far cry from the natural beauty of these fish. You wont be disappoimted getting quality discus if your purpose is to really see their potential.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Sorry about misspelled words. Using mobile and it's tricky.


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## ReefTrooper (Jan 29, 2012)

i got my discus from my LFS the tank is 33g my discus are young approximately 1-1 1/2 years old i have two tiger barbs 9 black neons ,3neons,4blackskirt tetras,2 sail fin mollies,5 golden rams, 3 German rams,2 angelfish approx 4 months old. do you suggest removing some of these and could u tell me which please.They live in a well densely planted heavily decorated tank. thanks for helping i greatly appreciate it :-D


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## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

Timothy 1998 cremer said:


> i got my discus from my LFS the tank is 33g my discus are young approximately 1-1 1/2 years old i have two tiger barbs 9 black neons ,3neons,4blackskirt tetras,2 sail fin mollies,5 golden rams, 3 German rams,2 angelfish approx 4 months old. do you suggest removing some of these and could u tell me which please.They live in a well densely planted heavily decorated tank. thanks for helping i greatly appreciate it :-D



Your tank is way to small for all those fish and those type of fish. Discus and German rams have very specific water requirements. Both those fish could do okay together, but you'd need like a 75 gal tank. I can't believe you have all those fish in 30 gal! Angelfish get large too, so they can't be kept in that tank. Great you have live plants. That will help for now, but you're going to need to do some changing of your tank.

Gwen


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

How big are these discus? That old already? If they are less than four inches, stunted most likely. Have you examined if their eyes are proportionate to body size? Compare shots of adult discus online to yours. Stunted discus are football in shape usually with unusually larger than normal eye size.

Black neons and blue rams are fine but the rest cannot match well with discus. Neons especially prefer cooler water. There is no way to compromise just to make the combo work properly. Even angels are notoriously dominant versusyour discus. This is another ting that would not work out for them long term especially if your angels start mating. I find angels extremely eager to.pair up and spawn. Even two females will pair up and behavioral problems arise.

The discus must either be rehomed or get a larger tank for them and map out a better plan if you are really serious in wanting to have them long term. They just dont do well in communities if kept in.less than recommended minimum.


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## ReefTrooper (Jan 29, 2012)

can i keep just the rams in a 33g ? or do they also need a larger aquarium? also do u think the aquarium is overstocked? i took out the 2 angels from the tank.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

The rams are absolutely fine, however a lot of your fish are incompatible with discus. Tank size remains an issue with regards to your discus considering their timid personality and group size. You would not want a 33g with simply a group of stunted discus. A 55g will do wonders for at least four of them. You can add cardinal tetras and rams alongside them if ever you go for that combo.


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## ReefTrooper (Jan 29, 2012)

ok so should which fish should i remove from my list and which should i keep in? thanks for all this great help :-D if you could tell me which fish to take out i will take them out now and transfer them to other aquariums


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Would be difficult where to start. Where will you keep the discus? As mentioned earlier, only black.neons and rams will work out.well with your discus. The rest need to be moved out.


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## ReefTrooper (Jan 29, 2012)

i removed the mollys,the tiger barbs and the angelfish. i will take out the rest tomorrow  another question if i may  is my tank overstocked?:roll: the discus seem to be more trusting already :-D


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

Discus need extremely good water parameters to survive and will get too large for smaller fish such as mollys.

What size tank do you have?


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## ReefTrooper (Jan 29, 2012)

Yeah i know the water is good


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