Sick discus, possibly worms?

[Rin_89]

Hi Everyone,

I have a 65 gallon tank, lightly planted but I recently got hit with Blackbeard algae so I'm going through a cleanse and not running CO2 or dosing nutrients until I can get rid of the problem. This started last Saturday but all 9 of my discus started to hangout near the top left of my tank and not eating their food. On Sunday this trend continued and yesterday I just did a 40% water change and that didn't seem to help. I lost two of my nine discus yesterday night and one of them had a terrible time swimming and was pointing downwards. I have also noticed that the discus looked like they're shedding their slime coat?I also haven't treated the tank with anything besides Prime when I did the water change and 1 tsp of aquarium salt because I read that it helps to calm the discus and also combats worms. So as of right now the condition of the discus are still the same and I am planning on doing another 25% water change when I get home. Is it worms or some sort of infection? If so, how would I go about treating it? Thanks!

[smsimcik]

How big are your 9 discus? I'm going to guess they are juvies. That's alot to keep in a 65 gallon tank. Are there any other fish in the tank? Do you have gravel substrate? What have you been feeding?

A 40% water change isn't going to help much. If they are juvies, you should be doing 80-90% water changes daily in that size tank. I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that you're not practicing good husbandry for the number of discus you have in that size tank. And now you have stressed discus that are breaking down and have succumbed to a systemic bacteria or protazoal infection. Not to mention gill flukes.

If you have substrate, you need to get it out or transfer your sick fish to a bare bottom tank. Start doing large daily water changes, keep up the salt if you like. It's not hurting anything. You probably need to be treating the tank with an antibiotic like Furan 2 or Kanamycin.
But having said that, from what you are describing, your discus may past the point of help. Sorry, wish I had better news.

[Rin_89]

How big are your 9 discus? I'm going to guess they are juvies. That's alot to keep in a 65 gallon tank. Are there any other fish in the tank? Do you have gravel substrate? What have you been feeding?

A 40% water change isn't going to help much. If they are juvies, you should be doing 80-90% water changes daily in that size tank. I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that you're not practicing good husbandry for the number of discus you have in that size tank. And now you have stressed discus that are breaking down and have succumbed to a systemic bacteria or protazoal infection. Not to mention gill flukes.

If you have substrate, you need to get it out or transfer your sick fish to a bare bottom tank. Start doing large daily water changes, keep up the salt if you like. It's not hurting anything. You probably need to be treating the tank with an antibiotic like Furan 2 or Kanamycin.
But having said that, from what you are describing, your discus may past the point of help. Sorry, wish I had better news.

Thanks for the advice. My discus are about 3-3.5inches, some cardinal tetras in the tank and the tank is mostly bare with white gravel. I usually feed them a mix of flakes and blood worms but I ran out of the blood worms and had to do a quick run to pet smart to get some beef heart. About 3 days ago I did a 60% water change and that's about it. Other than that I've had these discus for over a year now with no real problems. I will try and do a bigger water change and see if that helps.

[Neptune]

You've had these discus for over a year and they are only 3-3.5 inches? You've got some real issues if that is really the case.

[Rin_89]

You've had these discus for over a year and they are only 3-3.5 inches? You've got some real issues if that is really the case.

sorry, it's 3-5. I started with 4 discus and added a few more through time but the tank has been up and running for over a year.

[smsimcik]

Thanks for the advice. My discus are about 3-3.5inches, some cardinal tetras in the tank and the tank is mostly bare with white gravel. I usually feed them a mix of flakes and blood worms but I ran out of the blood worms and had to do a quick run to pet smart to get some beef heart. About 3 days ago I did a 60% water change and that's about it. Other than that I've had these discus for over a year now with no real problems. I will try and do a bigger water change and see if that helps.

You can try doing more water changes but it may be too late to make any difference now. Also, go back and read what I said about getting rid of the substrate and using antibiotics.

You're fish are sick because you have too many fish in a 65 gallon tank with substrate. You haven't been doing enough water changes and you have added fish during the year without properly quarantining them first.
To put it mildly, your've done just about everything wrong you can do with juvie discus and this is the end result.

If you will go to the beginner section and start reading stickies, you will learn what you need to do to properly raise juvenile discus to healthy adults.

[Rin_89]

You can try doing more water changes but it may be too late to make any difference now. Also, go back and read what I said about getting rid of the substrate and using antibiotics.

You're fish are sick because you have too many fish in a 65 gallon tank with substrate. You haven't been doing enough water changes and you have added fish during the year without properly quarantining them first.
To put it mildly, your've done just about everything wrong you can do with juvie discus and this is the end result.

If you will go to the beginner section and start reading stickies, you will learn what you need to do to properly raise juvenile discus to healthy adults.

Hey Steve, thanks for all your advice. I was able to quarantine all of my discus to another tank and did a heat treatment with salts. During this time I was going through my main tank and took out all my plants and substrate and pretty much did a fresh tank (with original filter to save all that good bacteria). Once the main tank was up and running again, and water tests were in good parameters, I placed all the discus back into the main tank. I did lose 3 discus but the other 6 are in good health now and eating normally again.

[smsimcik]

That's sounds great Rin!
Just keep up the water changes now (80-90% daily) and hopefully the six left will continue to do well.
Good Luck!