[Cstar_BC]

So today I almost had three Discus fry (1-2") die on me . I was carrying out my water changes , when halfway through I noticed two discus were on their sides lying on the bottom of the tank being swept around topsy-turvy by the current (which is minimal). I grabbed both of them and held them in my hands just below the surface over the bubbler so they wouldn't be jostled. 5min later they both swam off and were fine . About a 1/4change left to go and I have my 1 smaller one on the bottom completely drained of colour just like the other two . I thought he was a goner but repeat procedure his colour returned slowly 15min later he swam off - nothing has changed; my routine for the past week has been identical .

What did I do wrong?

My water goes from my tap to a holding bucket where its heated and aerated - I only ever add Prime , it is then pumped slowly into my tank.
The water temp change goes from 86 to 84
pH is 6.6** (Sorry realised this typo too late)
I do 90% changes daily

 

[Cstar_BC]

Sorry, now realize this should be in hospital section

 

[aprilsaquarium]

I'd say a ph drop. Or the fading off bubbles which there should t be any of your using a holding tank.
If ph goes down you can get ph shock.



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[josephl]

I'd say a ph drop. Or the fading off bubbles which there should t be any of your using a holding tank.
If ph goes down you can get ph shock.

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I'm with April on that it's likely PH. I do two things to make sure this doesn't happen when I do water changes, (1) add equilibrium or Epsom salts or sea salt once the new fresh water starts flowing back in and (2) add some coral substrate & oyster shells to be bottom of the tank. Glad that you saved them

 

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Moved to Hospital section.

 

[Ocean]

Maybe it's to big of a change.. try 30-50% wc instead of 90?

 

[aprilsaquarium]

90 is fine if it doesn't go down. Going up is fine. A 2 degree drop is fine. Anymore and another shock.
I use equilibrium
Also to
Be sure
My ph does nt slide .
If the filter does t keep up and high biolaod ph slides. Also you need some
Hardness for proper nitrification


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[cpat83]

what are you feeding them?

 

[Cstar_BC]

They get fed a homemade beefheart mix , frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp, and freeze dried Australian Blackworm. All of which gets siphoned out when they're done.

 

[Cstar_BC]

If it was a pH drop why has it only happened now . Did I do something wrong?

 

[Cstar_BC]

Because they're fry and I want the tank clean I have them on a bare bottom tank

 

[aprilsaquarium]

Some
Breeders just
Do wcs and. O filter as you get swings constant especially when they get eating a lot and
More waste. The swings is what kills them.
The best ones I ever raised I had constant drip in and out and no filters. And I used aragonite in the Rubbermaid the water dripped in on top.
That's what I always tell people the breeding is the easy part. The raising is the hard part. Getting good shape and not
Having die off at 6 weeks .


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[Cstar_BC]

I have to ask regarding the equilibrium - it sounds more like a mineral additive than a pH balancer .. should I add it or just do slower water changes .. I'm kinda terrified this happens tomorrow

 

[cpat83]

no idea. I had 6 fry die earlier this year after a few weeks....wasn't a PH swing as suggested as my PH was stable. I believe it was in the food I fed them, believe I may have fed tubifex worms.

No idea, really, anything different in the area that the tank is located in?

 

[Cstar_BC]

My water is soft - comes out the tap at around 6.0-6.4 .
It sits in my Rubbermaid tub for a few hours with the heater and aeration since I have horribly saturated water and reaches about 6.6-6.8 .
There is generally still 2-3inches in that tub when I'm done the water change that I just leave in there - which could be sitting at the 6.0 so it's lowering any new water I add- but how much of a difference would cause the shock?
If I add Kh booster - will that shock them?

There are just so many questions - and I'm really attached to these little guys (it's my first go at discus and I thought I'd done enough research)

 

[mollyb]

the pH from the tap is 6.0 - 6.4 (which is actually non potable by most municipal standards, but not uncommon here...) but in the tank it is holding at 7.4?? You say you only add Prime, so no buffer? I bet your test kit is off, or your probe needs calibration, or something. I would think your tank would go through pH drops, severe ones, even overnight, the effect is slowly building up as your filters age with the high bioload. Do you clean the filters every day?, at the time of the waterchange? I am with the others, add Equilibrium, or some other buffer system of your choice. RO remineralizers also work. Watley says you get much better growth/health with baby discus in alkaline pH, so keep it up there, 7.5 - 8.0 would be my choice. I would consider a malawi salt buffer system for these guys. It gets expensive with frequent water changes tho!. Brent

 

[aprilsaquarium]

Yes definitely better
Growth with minerals as our water is mineral poor. I was told by my discus friend and fantastic breeder long ago to start buffering and getting the hardness up once free swimming gradually for better growth . Equilibrium is by seachem.



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[davefrombc]

Abbotsford is not on GVRD water. Where Cstar is, the water could already be medium hard. It should not likely need any hardness buffering. My well water pH comes out of the tap in the low 6's but increases into mid to high 7's as the CO2 gasses off. Hardness here measure +/- 140 ppm out of the tap.
Cstar. . Have your water tested for hardness. pH is a measure of the acid/ alkalinity of the water, not the hardness.

 

[Cstar_BC]

Sorry i realized I had a typo in the first post and changed it . It should have said pH is steady at 6.6

 

[Cstar_BC]

Thank you all for the good advice - i will take a sample of my tap water to my local store to get a full spectrum test done so I know what everything is sitting at.