why discus swim at tank top?

[knight]

Noticed my Discus keep swimming near the top of my 75-gallon tank. Water params are good, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10 nitrate, pH 6.8, temp 84F. They're 6 months old, fed beef heart mix twice daily, with a Fluval FX6 filter and sponge filter backup. Tankmates are 10 cardinal tetras and 6 sterbai corys. No recent changes except a 30% water change 2 days ago. Any ideas why they're doing this?

[Haven]

Mine do that sometimes too. Got a 55-gallon with 4 Discus, temp 82F, pH 7.0. They're about a year old, fed flakes and frozen brine shrimp. Filter's a Marineland Penguin 350. No idea why they hang at the top, but they seem fine otherwise. Maybe they just like it there?

[Silva]

Could be the oxygen levels. My 90-gallon has a powerhead pointed at the surface for extra agitation, and they don't hang up top much. Running a Eheim 2217, temp 83F, pH 6.5. Feed them pellets and bloodworms. How's your surface movement?

[knight]

Could be the oxygen levels. My 90-gallon has a powerhead pointed at the surface for extra agitation, and they don't hang up top much. Running a Eheim 2217, temp 83F, pH 6.5. Feed them pellets and bloodworms. How's your surface movement?

Surface movement's decent, but I'll try adding a powerhead. Got an old Koralia lying around. Thanks for the tip.

[Haven]

Might try that too. My surface is pretty calm, just the filter output. Got a spare air pump I could hook up. Tank's got sand substrate and some Java fern. Maybe they're just bored?

[Silva]

Boredom's possible. Mine got more active after I added driftwood and floating plants. Using Frogbit and red root floaters in mine. Also, check if they're gasping. If they are, it's def oxygen. My heater's a Cobalt Neo-Therm, keeps temp steady.

[knight]

Not gasping, just chilling up there. I'll mess with the flow and see if it helps. Got some floating plants coming in next week. Appreciate the suggestions, everyone.