I'm in need of Help!

[hashi0]

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As you can see my discus fish they are turning dark and 2 of the has marks as if they were scratched or somthing, they arent eating as good as expected and they are rather shy.. water is doing fine twice/week water changes.

can anyone give me some info about what might be the problem?

[warblad79]

Lack of water change, dirty substrate and some of the fish look sick. piece of advice, go bare bottom, more frequent water change 50% daily minimum, remove the sick fish and also cull the small one because his doom.

[hashi0]

well i have dripping water changes with 40gal change /24h and the parameters are fine.. with ph 6.9, they got like this when i start doing the dripping water change, and my tank is 195gal. and what do you mean by cull the small one...? ill change more water now..

[jmf3460]

you have some very unhealthy looking discus. regardless of how much water your drip is changing and what your tests say, there is likely lots of nastiness settled in your substrate and it is fouling the water. I would start with removing the substrate and doing a huge water change. I agree cull the little one, he looks awful

[strawberryblonde]

Hi hashi,

You said that your water parameters are fine, but just by looking at the discus you can tell that they aren't fine. The discus are dark, stressed and no longer healthy.

As warblad said, you would be MUCH better off if you remove the substrate immediately. It builds up with detritrus and rotting food, which fouls the water and provides a good place for bacteria and parasites to multiply.

A 40 gallon water drip per day isn't enough to keep your water clean enough for discus.

Please test your nitrates. They should be below 5ppm.

The fact that it seems like your problems started when you started the drip water change is probably a coincidence. Discus are a very hardy fish and can handle poor water quality for a long time without looking sick, and then they start to turn dark, then stop eating and then get sick. I'd bet that your discus have been living with poor water quality for quite a while and only now are starting to show the symptoms.

The best thing you can do is to remove the substrate and up your water changes to at least 50% per day till they begin to improve.

[DJW]

Could those marks be from a Pleco?

[rickztahone]

Could those marks be from a Pleco?

possibly, you can imagine that the 3 slashes are where the pleco may have tried to latch on.

OP, do you have plecos in the tank?

[hashi0]

possibly, you can imagine that the 3 slashes are where the pleco may have tried to latch on.

OP, do you have plecos in the tank?

i have a small 10 cm one in the tank with them.. you think he could be the one behind those marks? now i've cleaned away the substrate and also changed 50% of the wter
will do the same the next coming days, i really hope they'll get better soon.
And guys thnx a bunch for the support.

[DJW]

Are these the marks? These are shaped like the mouth of a Pleco are they not?

92270

[hashi0]

Are these the marks? These are shaped like the mouth of a Pleco are they not?

92270

Yes exactly those

[Jack L]

nice detective work. that looks just like the sucker marks on my glass from a farlowella, not a plec, but same idea.

[hashi0]

nice detective work. that looks just like the sucker marks on my glass from a farlowella, not a plec, but same idea.

Hello Again,

So i've been doing daily 50% water changes, and removed all the substrate, now my fish look pale like the pictures show and one has a black eye, plus they tend to rub on the roots and the few plans i have. Btw Your expertise is most appreciated.

any idea of else i can do?923639236492365


Best regards!

[Kyla]

is the whole face of that little discus in the last pic black? was it always like that? is the other sode of the face black also?

i have never seen anything like that on a discus. have heard of discus losing their colour due to nerve damage, but i don't know of thats true or not. def following this thread to hear if anyone chimes in

re: the lighter colour - discus will def lighten up to blend with brighter surroundings. and on darker substrate they darken accordingly. i painted the bottom of my tank white to really make their colours light up

[rickztahone]

That discus with the black face must have gone straight on to the glass wall and got nerve damage. Many times this will clear up after a while, but that looks pretty serious on a discus that is already obviously in bad shape.

[Filip]

They definitely look much better now, and you sure made the right decision on substrate .
Brighter colours as opposed to dark look on them means that they feel better and slowly regaining their health.
Since they are still scratching on object i think its better if you can up your WCs as much as you can . Try 90% daily or 50% twice a day, at least for a couple of weeks until you perk them up and get them healthy again.

BTW i also like Kyla have never seen black headed discus before .

[hashi0]

is the whole face of that little discus in the last pic black? was it always like that? is the other sode of the face black also?...

re: the lighter colour - discus will def lighten up to blend with brighter surroundings. and on darker substrate they darken accordingly. i painted the bottom of my tank white to really make their colours light up

It's only on one side and no it wasn't like this when i bought them.

That discus with the black face must have gone straight on to the glass wall and got nerve damage. Many times this will clear up after a while, but that looks pretty serious on a discus that is already obviously in bad shape.

So maybe he has a nerve damage, i didn't know about nerve damages after trauma such as hitting the glass. Interesting facts. So in case i wanna have brighter and more colorful colors when they are "cured" how do i go about it? i check the water parameters today, and noticed that the Ph has spiked, its on 7.6, do you guys have a god and healthy way to try maintain the ph lvls during these coming weeks?

[hashi0]

They definitely look much better now, and you sure made the right decision on substrate .
Brighter colours as opposed to dark look on them means that they feel better and slowly regaining their health.
Since they are still scratching on object i think its better if you can up your WCs as much as you can . Try 90% daily or 50% twice a day, at least for a couple of weeks until you perk them up and get them healthy again.

BTW i also like Kyla have never seen black headed discus before .

I'll start with 90% water changes, it's hard to do the twice/ day due to long working hours. It's a relief that they are starting to go back towards healthy discus =) i assume that the water filtration system i use wasn't enough, even tho it's recycling the water 7x/hr. Btw do you guys fill back the tanks with cold or warm water? I use warm water..i hope the temperature rise and fall isn't causing additional stress factors to make them more susceptible to disease.

Thank you guys for the great support!

[Filip]

I'll start with 90% water changes, it's hard to do the twice/ day due to long working hours. It's a relief that they are starting to go back towards healthy discus =) i assume that the water filtration system i use wasn't enough, even tho it's recycling the water 7x/hr. Btw do you guys fill back the tanks with cold or warm water? I use warm water..i hope the temperature rise and fall isn't causing additional stress factors to make them more susceptible to disease.

Thank you guys for the great support!

Discus are WC addicts :).
Ii dont know exactly why but the more you do the better they feel, eat , grow and act . Also its amazing that most of the health issues on discus can be healed by them selves with just doing large and frequent WCs within a couple of weeks.

On temperature and WCs.
Its good to adjust your new water temp. as close to their tank water temp. as possible .You can go up or down for 1 or max. 2 degree Celsius with no problem , but more than this gives them additional stress as you said it .
This also applies to PH of water. You dont wont much different PH water with your WCs cause it gives them additional stress also . That is why many people age the water , to avoid PH swings -as most important amongs other benifits of ageing your WC water.
Wish you good luck with them .

[jmf3460]

may I just say OP that it is refreshing to see a thread where a newbie actually takes the advice of the members of the forum. All too often when we prescribe bare bottom and huge water changes we are met with debate and attitude because we cant possibly know what we are talking about. I am so glad to see that you are listening and learning. your fish will be on the way to healthy lives very soon and already are.

[dghby]

It's only on one side and no it wasn't like this when i bought them.


So maybe he has a nerve damage, i didn't know about nerve damages after trauma such as hitting the glass. Interesting facts. So in case i wanna have brighter and more colorful colors when they are "cured" how do i go about it? i check the water parameters today, and noticed that the Ph has spiked, its on 7.6, do you guys have a god and healthy way to try maintain the ph lvls during these coming weeks?

I would also agree that it is nice to see a newbie actually do what is recommended, bravo to you for that.
just continue to do large water changes as often as possible and you will see continued positive response from your Discus. I keep 16 Discus in a PH of 7.6, that is no biggie what so ever, just keep it consistent.
fluctuation is what they don't like. with more frequent WC's you should achieve that as well, just use a good Dechlorinator.

as for the Pleco, I can vouch first hand that happens. I caught my BN pleco attached to the side of one of my guy's, the tank has no more pleco's...

good luck, keep us posted.

[strawberryblonde]

It's only on one side and no it wasn't like this when i bought them.


So maybe he has a nerve damage, i didn't know about nerve damages after trauma such as hitting the glass. Interesting facts. So in case i wanna have brighter and more colorful colors when they are "cured" how do i go about it? i check the water parameters today, and noticed that the Ph has spiked, its on 7.6, do you guys have a god and healthy way to try maintain the ph lvls during these coming weeks?

Yep, that's nerve damage. Sometimes it clears up on it's own over time, other times it never goes away and the fish acts perfectly normal and healthy. Your fish isn't healthy to begin with, he's very stunted and has bad shape, so even if he recovers from the damage, he will probably slowly get sick. Be on the watch for that and please be willing to cull him.

For your rising pH, that's totally normal if you are now doing daily water changes. pH slowly falls in a tank as the water sits, so that's most likely why yours was lower before. So long as the water changes are on a daily basis, the pH will reach it's normal level (the pH reading from the tap) and then remain there. Steady pH is SO much better for discus, so keep up with the water changes. You don't need to do anything else, no additives or pH adjustments. Just daily water changes.

[rickztahone]

OP, now that you have switched to more frequent WC's, are you seeing tiny bubbles all over the tank?

[hashi0]

OP, now that you have switched to more frequent WC's, are you seeing tiny bubbles all over the tank?
what do you mean? i've been able to see them all the time coming from the pump, but incase you mean something else pls be specific so i can have a look =)

So my pleco has left the tank, and shall not return! =)

And now to a rather sensitive topic, this culling thing, i find it hard to simply "cull" the fish, so in this particular case i'll disappoint some of you, and let mother nature take its own course, i'll put him in a separate tank, and hope he'll be better and grow into a beautiful discus fish in other case mother nature shall do what's fith. I sound rather hippi right now...maybe i'll develop this culling thing within me...

Best regards!

[hashi0]

may I just say OP that it is refreshing to see a thread where a newbie actually takes the advice of the members of the forum. All too often when we prescribe bare bottom and huge water changes we are met with debate and attitude because we cant possibly know what we are talking about. I am so glad to see that you are listening and learning. your fish will be on the way to healthy lives very soon and already are.

well i am new in this field, thus i should follow the expertise of the forum, i have much to learn and look forward to get enlighten.

[hashi0]

Hello Dear forum friends! i'd like to inform that the black spot has vanished from the fish! :) i'm really happy right now and that my fish are slowly recovering, they eat far better, but the large ones are still quite shy and like to stay hidden behind the rots, plus that their color isn't back yet, should i worry about anything? or is it a slow process with the color coming back?

[Filip]

Hello Dear forum friends! i'd like to inform that the black spot has vanished from the fish! :) i'm really happy right now and that my fish are slowly recovering, they eat far better, but the large ones are still quite shy and like to stay hidden behind the rots, plus that their color isn't back yet, should i worry about anything? or is it a slow process with the color coming back?

Hashi , in your second picture they allready look like they got their brightness and colours back .
I would just keep on doing daily WC ,keep water pristine feed quallity foods and they will start to look more and more colurfull and less shy in time . Their appetites will also gradually increase as they recover . But it could take a month or more before they get back on the right track .
Just be patient and hardworking.