Cove Beach
02-10-2019, 04:21 PM
Lost my first fish today, and like the title says, not sure why other than didn’t act soon enough or did the wrong treatment.
First off display tank parameters were all well within the usual numbers. The tank is 245 gal with system volume of 400 gal and 16 discus. I decided that a would like to add a trio of bushy nose plecos. I set up a 40 breeder with cycled bio filter that was being used for a pair earlier. I added the trio and observed for a week, no illness was observed. I chose a hero fish from the display. It was a 3-4” leopard. This fish I had noticed was eating but had a pinched belly. My thought was that being the weakest, it would show if the plecos were carrying anything bad and would allow for easier treatment in the smaller tank.
I moved the leopard to the qt, the fish refused food for two days and was weakening. I started to elevate temp to 90 deg, to try and stimulate metabolism and hopefully eating. Still no improvement. Since no swelling was visible, it wasn’t blocked up. From what I read Metro might help. I started the treatment. After 2 days in I noticed something coming from its head.122538
I decided to continue the treatment having read improvement may not be noticeable till the end of the treatment. I was doing 50% water changes daily. The discus was not improving,the plecos showed no issues. As of early this morning the discus was extremely weak. I decided to do a 80% water change and stop treatment. During the water change he passed..... the plecos were unharmed. I am reducing the temp to my normal display temp.
I don’t think the plecos were to blame as the leopard was having issues prior.
My wife and I were very sad to have lost a friend...
My next question is what to do with the Plecos, do I add them to display an cross my fingers with 15 currently healthy discus? Or what? Any thoughts or suggestion would be appreciated.
First off display tank parameters were all well within the usual numbers. The tank is 245 gal with system volume of 400 gal and 16 discus. I decided that a would like to add a trio of bushy nose plecos. I set up a 40 breeder with cycled bio filter that was being used for a pair earlier. I added the trio and observed for a week, no illness was observed. I chose a hero fish from the display. It was a 3-4” leopard. This fish I had noticed was eating but had a pinched belly. My thought was that being the weakest, it would show if the plecos were carrying anything bad and would allow for easier treatment in the smaller tank.
I moved the leopard to the qt, the fish refused food for two days and was weakening. I started to elevate temp to 90 deg, to try and stimulate metabolism and hopefully eating. Still no improvement. Since no swelling was visible, it wasn’t blocked up. From what I read Metro might help. I started the treatment. After 2 days in I noticed something coming from its head.122538
I decided to continue the treatment having read improvement may not be noticeable till the end of the treatment. I was doing 50% water changes daily. The discus was not improving,the plecos showed no issues. As of early this morning the discus was extremely weak. I decided to do a 80% water change and stop treatment. During the water change he passed..... the plecos were unharmed. I am reducing the temp to my normal display temp.
I don’t think the plecos were to blame as the leopard was having issues prior.
My wife and I were very sad to have lost a friend...
My next question is what to do with the Plecos, do I add them to display an cross my fingers with 15 currently healthy discus? Or what? Any thoughts or suggestion would be appreciated.