Wilds in QT

Bought two lovely wilds yesterday and popped them into my QT. Left them in a dark, quiet space for 24hrs (well, they're still there, but have started turning on the room and tank light to get them used to their surroundings). Tried to feed them this morning and later this evening, but neither will eat, as they still seem quite stressed. Does anyone with experience of wilds have any ideas? Do they take a long time to settle?
Thanks,
L

Are they the ones from Seahorse by any chance?
In the QT tank i always have a thin sand substrate, a fake plant/piece of bog wood for the fish to hide behind and a filter.
When i get them home i put them in the tank with the lights off and i dont disturb them until the next day when the lights are on in the tank, make sure the lights come on 1-2 hours after the room they are in is brighter or they will freak out going from dark to sudden light. At first feed them small quantities 3 times a day and make sure they see you comming towards the tank when you'll feed them that way they wont get a fright and they will associate you with food.

No, they weren't the ones in Seahorse. It was those fish that convinced me I wanted some Wilds, but couldn't afford them.
@John- Won't mention who I bought them off, but it was a supplier that guaranteed they were two weeks in a holding tank before I bought themn and that they were feeding in that time. They really are beautiful fish and seem to be in great condition physically, so very happy with them in that regard.
@Arabu- I'm trying to get them accustomed to light by letting the room fill with light naturally. I have then been taking off the hood, turning lights on and slowly putting them over the tank to prevent any sudden light shock. Also, they have a piece of bogwood and some substrate in the QT for cover. At the moment they are simply hiding under the shelter of a large Almond leaf that I put in there to prevent direct Fluorescent light.
I'll try feeding them again over the next day or two and see if there is any change.
Thanks for the quick replies, any more advice would be greatly appreciated,
L

Make sure that the piece of bogwood is big enough for them to hide behind it, rest it against the back of the tank at an angle. Regarding the light i would put it on a timer because every time you take the hood of to turn them on you frighten them.

Ok, I'll throw it on a timer. I just thought that maybe the shock of the light suddenly coming on would be worse than carefully taking hood off and slowly replacing it. I defer to your experience though. The bogwood is big enough for them to hide behind, but it's lying on its side. I might prop it up as you said so they can get in under it. Have another piece of wood that would be perfect, but it was made for a terrarium and leeches tannins. Anyone know if this would be harmful or not? Problem is, don't know what wood it is. Just bought it on impulse in Purrfect Pets as it was a perfect shape. It was in the reptile section. Should have asked whilst I was there if it is suitable for an aquarium, but was too busy thinking of all the ways I could use it!
L

What size are they?
Which species/sub-species?
Have they been de-wormed?
I presume that they were eating at the time of purchase? if so then I presume you're trying to feed them what they were used to.

Any Discus when moved can go into a stop-eating mood.....I find that bigger ones and very young ones the worse for that.
Wilds are particularly sensitive to being moved.

Unless you have baby Discus, 24 hours is not something that I would be initially alarmed over for a no-eating period.

Your QT set-up should be like a full set-up with decor to give them a comfort zone. But also allowing for easy collection of uneaten food and visualisation of the fish (you don't want to be unable to see their progress).
Dimly lit tanks are important.

If you keep adding food to get them to eat, you may make them more stressed and increase the chance of bacterial and fungla growth (not to mention increasing ammonia etc).

All uneaten non-live food must be removed within 15 minutes; if you're adding too much to tempt feeding, then you are removing too much and thus stressing the fish more. If you leave it, then fungal spores that can grow on uneaten food can kill fish very quickly (remembering that Discus are a bit of a scavenger-style feeder)

I would certainly recommend adding AquaSafe (and I mean AquaSafe or something almost identical to it containing Thiamine...and not just any dechlorinator)

Live food (as mentioned) is a good option.

If your fish are big and healthy, then 24 or 48 hours will not harm them....if it is only a temporary settling-in period.

You may find that you get some tatty fins and glazed eyes.....but if your water is up to scratch then that should sort itself out. If your water is poor, then that will turn into something of concern.

ian

Hi L,

Any movement of the hood on the Tank is magnified x 100 in the Water, the Timer is a great idea and maybe only one Bulb in case you have more than that.

I'd advise, if you and whoever else is in the House are out for extended periods, to leave a stereo of some sort on while the House is empty and after you get them behaving normally, eating etc. Anyone arriving back and switching on Houselights, banging doors etc makes acclimatising very difficult, continuous noise via Stereo, Ipod doc system etc will make the transition a bit easier.

( no suggestions for suitable Music PLEEEEZE ! )

Kev.

Thanks for that, Ian. I'll answer with what information I have-
They are Symphysodon aequifasciata axelrodi, about 3.5-4''.
To my knowledge they were not wormed, but I have worming powder here (really have to give you the money for that, Jon).
They were not bought in a shop, so had to go by faith that they were eating. Don't want to name who I bought them off, as don't think he's a Sponsor here. Very happy with price and look of the fish though, just concerned about them grubbing.
I'll leave it a few more days with attempted feeding and see how they do.
Thanks,
L

Only saw that now, Kev, thanks. They are away up in the rafters, so pretty quiet up there, but I probably do spook them when zooming in to view! I'll leave some tunes on in the room when I leave. Bit of John Williams perhaps... sorry. couldn't help it. But when someone expressly tells you NOT to do something, it takes a stronger will than I possess to resist!
L

I was expecting a barrage of suggestions from the usual suspects, now you have broken the Duck, expect a Flood!

Kev

stretnik wrote:

I was expecting a barrage of suggestions from the usual suspects, now you have broken the Duck, expect a Flood!

Kev

And the usual suspects are...??

Did I mention Pink Floyd in my suggestions earlier. Well, they help me when I get rehomed.

I must say.....great choice in Wild Discus. And great to see some interest in the Browns.

no such thing as wild browns anymore. they would be classified as wild blues

well its really personal opinion on what ya want to call them.there brown in colour so i think most people would class them as brown.have you got any wilds yet damian

Good point Damian.

The Discus classification and taxonomy debate is an interesting one.
I have never been happy with any of the classification studies....too many flaws.
I'm not totally convinced with Bleher's or Ready's conclusion....yet some reviewers have seemingly pick-n-mixed the 'best' parts of each study (even though there are some mutual exclusions).

So, I would still call wild browns those fish from the lower Amazon who were once classified as S.a.axelrodi (even if that name is now invalid).

Of the Discus, I believe that S.discus is distinct from the classic 'green' (esp tefe) and that is distinct from the 'brown/blue' complex. But that the 'blue/brown' complex is quite close to the 'green'.

Now, being really cynical....I wonder if Shultz and Burgess actually decided to honour some of their friends (old Herbie, Billy and co) with some nice choice sub-species named after them. At least the reviews by Ready and Bleher remove most (I say 'most') of that thing.

Time will tell.....I'm happy to speak in olde worlde and new world.

any update on how the fish are doing today.and for heckal s sake get some pics up please


craig