Discus emergency

So yesterday I got discus that admittedly where not looking good. Only reason I got them is because they are for our school and we are on a budget. So last night after acclimating them and doing tests to make sure everything was alright, I went to bed. pH-6.5. Nitrite, Nitrate and ammonia where all 0. I took media from my other tanks to prevent a spike and i cycled the tank with 3 platies . So some time during the night one of them got sucked onto the inlet for my internal filter(those grid things). so this morning when i saw it, I turned off the filter and shacked him of. Now his gills are moving and he has bars indented into his body. He is really struggling to swim and just doing a jerk every now and again. What should be my course of action

 

He just died. Was so weak he got caught in the air bubbles from the air pump.

 

Sorry for your loss... but it sounds like an injury related loss rather than sick fish. Discus don't move well... How many discus do you have? What size is your tank? What filter do you have?
Tell us some more about the school.

 

Right now I am quarantining them in a 40l tank with a internal filter that turns the tank over 3 time per hour. So not massive currents or anything. I am probably going to grow them out in there for a while. I had 5 but now I only have 4. And yes I have done my research about discus. Yesterday they not so eagerly took frozen krill.

Our school has an awesome science lab. We have a corn snake, children's python, california kingsnake and a white lipped herald. On the fish side we have an amazon setup(for the discus), brackish and a west coast setup. I am the head of all the animals there. Its probably the only reason I go to school there.

 

40 litre tank is way too small.....

 

Now they are 5cm so they are fine for now. Going to go into a 240l main display when they are eating a bit better.

 

@AKovarsky: No offence, they wont be fine. Your filtration is inadequate, Discus fish are messy eaters and water quality is of the up most importance when they are growing excluding feeding them the proper food they need. Your quarantine tank is far too small even for juvenile fish. Young Discus easily experience permanent stunting from exposure for even a relatively short period of time, and this will end badly for the fish. And that would be the reason why the fish are not looking good at the moment. I would suggest asking @Marco since he is the Discus expert on the forum for advice before it is too late.

 

I have to agree with stegosaurus on this. I would get the big tank ready asap. Juveniles are a lot of work and stunting is common if the conditions are not very good. They also require almost permanent feeding.
Do you have other fish in the big tank? You mentioned quarantine...
I forgot to ask the temperature?
And don't dispair, discus caring usually starts with a very steep learning curve and disasters are par for the course.

 

@Biggles: Problem is people assume Discus are the same as every other tropical fish, so they think they have the same needs when in fact it is the exact opposite.

 

And if they are still juvis you need to fees them a minimum of 6times a say with quality nutritious food. Thats also why the 40L wont work need to keep the rank clean with all the feeding. Also they would stress alot in a small tank like that

 

An assumption that usually bites in the first week, and either leads to rapid education or a tank full of dead discus.

I can say that I was as aware of what I was getting myself into as anyone could be... and I had a disaster first off. And lost 30% of my fish.

That you can do is keep them in a bare bottomed tank and use a thin pipe and suck up poop and un-eaten food of the bottom. This will keep the water healthier for longer.