Who Gives A Fish Forums

Noticed some of my discus fry look kinda wonky, like their bodies aren't symmetrical. Water params are good, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, nitrate around 10 ppm. Tank's a 40 breeder, temp at 84°F, running a Fluval 307. Been feeding them beef heart mix twice a day. Anyone else run into this?

Yo, that's sketchy. Had the same thing happen last year. Mine were all twisted up like pretzels. Turned out the breeder was messing with some weird genetics. You buy these locally or online?

Sounds like a genetic issue. If the parents were siblings or closely related, it's gonna show up in the fry. What's the lineage on these guys?

matto wrote: ↑Sat Jul 26, 2025 7:09 am Yo, that's sketchy. Had the same thing happen last year. Mine were all twisted up like pretzels. Turned out the breeder was messing with some weird genetics. You buy these locally or online?

Yeah, some breeders cut corners. You gotta vet them hard. 3monkeys, you check the breeder's rep before buying?

Might be the water hardness too. Discus fry are super sensitive to that. What's your GH and KH? I keep mine at 3 dGH and 2 dKH, seems to work.

Could be the beef heart mix. Some folks swear by it, but it's kinda heavy for fry. Try switching to baby brine shrimp or micro worms for a bit, see if they straighten out.

Deformities in fry can stem from poor nutrition or water quality during the first few weeks. What's your water change routine? I do 50% daily for the first month, then taper off.

Thanks for the input, everyone. Got these from a local breeder, but didn't ask about lineage. Water's at 3 dGH, 2 dKH, and I'm doing 30% changes every other day. Gonna try switching to baby brine shrimp and upping the changes.

Good call on the brine shrimp. Also, check if the breeder's got a rep for sketchy practices. Some dudes just wanna flip fish fast, don't care about quality.

Lineage matters big time. If the breeder won't give details, that's a red flag. Next time, ask for pics of the parents and their setup.