DISCUS: Heavy Gill Movement

I have a 4feet tank cycled for 3 weeks. And during those 3 weeks I added
a Congo tetra and a Rainbowfish to speed up the cycle. Nitrite is 0 and
Nitrate is tested low. I added plants in the background for the full length
of the tank. Mostly Hygros, Anubias and Ludwigias. I have added a Leopard
Snakeskin Discus yesterday after 30-minute acclimitization (sp?).

The Discus does the expected dashing around when I approached the glass but
for
the most part he looks OK hanging very still at 1 side of the tank and
occasionally
venture to the other side when light is off. The thing is I notice his gill
cover
opens real wide as if he is breathing heavily. I initially thought of it as
gill fluke
infection but I didn't notice any scratching on tank objects. In fact, when
I introduce
a juvenile Leopard (which I had for 6 months), they seem to get along OK. No
darkening,
no other anomalies on the skin, no white feces etc. The tank now also houses
4 active
Ottos, a foraging Ram and a shy Dwarf Gourami.

I'm no expert on diseases but what are the tanks other water conditions like
ie Ph, DH, GH, ammonia, temperature, etc...as its a very new system to start
introducing discus - in particular juveniles.Your tank wouldn't begin to
cycle unless you had added ammonia (or a source of ammonia ie fish) so it
would appear the tank is still undergoing the cycle process. Adding just a
couple of fish may take many months to fully cycle your tank and during this
period adding discus is not the best practice as they can be susceptible to
unsuitable water conditions. The filter will not have had any time
whatsoever to mature properly. The other thing is that discus are a shoaling
fish and juveniles especially should be kept in groups of no less than 6
otherwise they may become skittish, etc..

Chris

"alex crouvier" wrote in message
...
I have a 4feet tank cycled for 3 weeks. And during those 3 weeks I added
a Congo tetra and a Rainbowfish to speed up the cycle. Nitrite is 0 and
Nitrate is tested low. I added plants in the background for the full
length
of the tank. Mostly Hygros, Anubias and Ludwigias. I have added a Leopard
Snakeskin Discus yesterday after 30-minute acclimitization (sp?).

The Discus does the expected dashing around when I approached the glass
but
for
the most part he looks OK hanging very still at 1 side of the tank and
occasionally
venture to the other side when light is off. The thing is I notice his
gill
cover
opens real wide as if he is breathing heavily. I initially thought of it
as
gill fluke
infection but I didn't notice any scratching on tank objects. In fact,
when
I introduce
a juvenile Leopard (which I had for 6 months), they seem to get along OK.
No
darkening,
no other anomalies on the skin, no white feces etc. The tank now also
houses
4 active
Ottos, a foraging Ram and a shy Dwarf Gourami.

This is a second attempt..I can't seem to read the first...


I'm no expert on diseases but what are the tanks other water conditions like
ie Ph, DH, GH, ammonia, temperature, etc...as its a very new system to start
introducing discus - in particular juveniles.Your tank wouldn't begin to
cycle unless you had added ammonia (or a source of ammonia ie fish) so it
would appear the tank is still undergoing the cycle process. Adding just a
couple of fish may take many months to fully cycle your tank and during this
period adding discus is not the best practice as they can be susceptible to
unsuitable water conditions. The filter will not have had any time
whatsoever to mature properly. The other thing is that discus are a shoaling
fish and juveniles especially should be kept in groups of no less than 6
otherwise they may become skittish, etc..

Top_Bhoy

"alex crouvier" wrote in message
...
I have a 4feet tank cycled for 3 weeks. And during those 3 weeks I added
a Congo tetra and a Rainbowfish to speed up the cycle. Nitrite is 0 and
Nitrate is tested low. I added plants in the background for the full
length
of the tank. Mostly Hygros, Anubias and Ludwigias. I have added a Leopard
Snakeskin Discus yesterday after 30-minute acclimitization (sp?).

The Discus does the expected dashing around when I approached the glass
but
for
the most part he looks OK hanging very still at 1 side of the tank and
occasionally
venture to the other side when light is off. The thing is I notice his
gill
cover
opens real wide as if he is breathing heavily. I initially thought of it
as
gill fluke
infection but I didn't notice any scratching on tank objects. In fact,
when
I introduce
a juvenile Leopard (which I had for 6 months), they seem to get along OK.
No
darkening,
no other anomalies on the skin, no white feces etc. The tank now also
houses
4 active
Ottos, a foraging Ram and a shy Dwarf Gourami.

Add the comment that tank decorations, plants will also help making
juveniles paranoid. Strange how they are best raised in bare tanks then as
adults they can handle planted tanks.

"Top_Bhoy" wrote in
:

I'm no expert on diseases but what are the tanks other water
conditions like ie Ph, DH, GH, ammonia, temperature, etc...as its a
very new system to start introducing discus - in particular
juveniles.Your tank wouldn't begin to cycle unless you had added
ammonia (or a source of ammonia ie fish) so it would appear the tank
is still undergoing the cycle process. Adding just a couple of fish
may take many months to fully cycle your tank and during this period
adding discus is not the best practice as they can be susceptible to
unsuitable water conditions. The filter will not have had any time
whatsoever to mature properly. The other thing is that discus are a
shoaling fish and juveniles especially should be kept in groups of no
less than 6 otherwise they may become skittish, etc..

Chris

"alex crouvier" wrote in message
...
I have a 4feet tank cycled for 3 weeks. And during those 3 weeks I
added a Congo tetra and a Rainbowfish to speed up the cycle. Nitrite
is 0 and Nitrate is tested low. I added plants in the background for
the full
length
of the tank. Mostly Hygros, Anubias and Ludwigias. I have added a
Leopard Snakeskin Discus yesterday after 30-minute acclimitization
(sp?).

The Discus does the expected dashing around when I approached the
glass
but
for
the most part he looks OK hanging very still at 1 side of the tank
and occasionally
venture to the other side when light is off. The thing is I notice
his
gill
cover
opens real wide as if he is breathing heavily. I initially thought of
it
as
gill fluke
infection but I didn't notice any scratching on tank objects. In
fact,
when
I introduce
a juvenile Leopard (which I had for 6 months), they seem to get along
OK.
No
darkening,
no other anomalies on the skin, no white feces etc. The tank now also
houses
4 active
Ottos, a foraging Ram and a shy Dwarf Gourami.