My Discus Rescue

[ONOGUY77]

I was wondering what is wrong with him? I thought maybe peppered.. But it's all blue... Is it his color? Does he have a disease? He seems happy and healthy... I rescued him from my neighbor.. He didn't want him.. Called him a grade F discus...

[rickztahone]

It is a heavily peppered discus. He also seems bloated and is definitely stunted. Seeing as it is a rescue, this is typically the case. I am assuming the tank was not inhabited by other discus? It looks to be a fine looking tank. This discus may lose some peppering considering that your tank looks brighter.

[jmf3460]

man he looks bad, id put him in a small tank (20gal) by himself with tons of fresh clean water daily. do this for about a month and then post pictures of his progress, I bet he will be a totally different dude. You are a good person to save him, cant wait til hes healthy! Shoot him some Epson salt for the bloating.

[brewmaster15]

Your neighbor is right on the Grading ... If you were interested in that kind of thing..That fish would be rated very low... too much pepper and the shape is not great. But pepper aside the spotting is interesting. It looks like the result of an old strain Pigeon crossed with a leopard. Some TLC may clean up that pepper a bit. I'd deworm it once it settles in and see how it does for you. Lots of food and lots of clean water. Keep that tank substrate as clean as possible or the fish will never turn around for you. It will never be show fish, but it could be an interesting looking fish if you do not mind the pepper. Most these days, don't like the look of pepper on their discus.

hth,
al

[ONOGUY77]

I have a 10G that is fully cycled... I use that as my 9-1-1 tank... He should be fine in there right? I also have aquarium salt... Will add some in... and get tank ready... is there anything else I should do for him?

[Bill63SG]

No need for the aquarium salt.If it appears bloated use Epsom salt,1tbl spoon per 10gals.

[Second Hand Pat]

First let me welcome you to SimplyDiscus :) and suggest if you decide to try the 10 gallon (a 20 would be a whole lot better) is to do 100% water changes per day and be mindful that the BB will need to catch up with the additional bio-load after adding the fish to the tank. You might need to watch the ammonia for a week or so. The water changes will help to keep that in check.
Pat

[jmf3460]

the salt and daily water changes will really help a lot. a 10 gal is very small but it will do if you can do the water changes. get that guy some quality food, don't feed him petstore flake stuff, get him some frozen foods and some freeze dried bloodworms maybe even some live foods if you can afford them. I think you will be amazed at how good he will look after even one week.

[ONOGUY77]

Thanks for the info everyone.... I'm about to transfer him and give him lots of T.L.C Will do 50-100% water changes daily and use NITE OUT II or stability after every change.... Should I add the salt daily after the water changes?

[Bill63SG]

If it is bloated you only add until it poops,then your done.Also add only as much as the water you change.

[Len]

Welcome to Simply. I'd skip the salt and plenty of clean water and se what improvement that brings.

[Mongo77]

Why do you say it looks bloated? Mine look like that after a feeding. I'm talking about the swelling around the belly. Maybe I'm missing something. I'm asking this as a newb, interested in learning.

[discuspaul]

The swelling around the belly seems excessive for a discus - looks like bloat - not just well fed, and it should be treated for that with Epsom Salts.

[Mongo77]

The swelling around the belly seems excessive for a discus - looks like bloat - not just well fed, and it should be treated for that with Epsom Salts.

Ok thanks

[Mongo77]

OP, keep us posted on this fish. I'm curious how he turns out.

[ericNH]

Yea me too. Please do keep us posted. I happen to think that peppering can look good on some discus. It can sometimes add a cool contrast.

[Driftwood Mike]

Good luck, trust me water changes help more than you can imagine, I rescued a Blue Diamond from a lfs, it was so black you couldn't tell what color it was, after hiding and I mean hiding fo ten days, one night a pretty blue discus came out to eat. Had to be him cause I had no blues and still only have one. Show discus? Lol, hardly, but actually he is growing nice and is a high body I believe. His name is lucky because he would have been dead by the next morning if I hadn't talked the guy at the store into giving it to me! He will do just fine. Keep us posted!

[ONOGUY77]

I put him in hospital tank and noticed he did #2 which looked normal color... I thought with bloat they don't eat and can't do #2... Should I hold off on the salt?

[rickztahone]

clean water for now.

[Bill63SG]

Yep,if its poopin',just hit it with plenty of clean water.

[bluelagoon]

So did you use epsom salt to purge him or did me move on his own?He just looked very well fed to me.

[tmtplyb]

Ok I just pick up a discus from Petco same problem, can I do WC 2 times a day morning and evening it in my 20g hospital tank, doing 75% WC each time? since I have 40g holding bin which I aged my water in 24hrs before using it.

Thanks