Hunger Strike Discus and White poop

[kim457]

Hello,

so I had a spawning pair that laid a few rounds of eggs, and there was a decent amount of aggression between these two and the other discus. Now I do not have a separate tank for the spawning pair, and I wouldn't have been able to raise fry anyways with my work schedule. A little time goes on and the female ends up with another male! Starts laying eggs with the other one. Now there seems to be a bit more tank equilibrium and even though the female still seems to be spawning with the new male, aggression has stopped. The original male however, basically stopped eating. He'd take bites and would spit everything out. I tried everything: beef heart, black worms, blood worms, and some granules.

Now he just refuses to eat and has long white poops coming out of him.

I don't know what to do. Thoughts?

I do 40-50% WCs every other day. I've got a 55 gallon tank with 5 discus. (The breeder I got the fish from suggested adding more females to decrease aggression but it seems like the aggression has abated)

[Fishworks]

If no separate tank then maybe add a divider? like glass or plastic?

[Filip]

I would start medicating at this point , preferably separated in another QT tank until it fully recovers.

[kim457]

Thoughts on what the ailment is? What should I medicate it with? I heard metro for the long white poops.

[Filip]

Thoughts on what the ailment is? What should I medicate it with? I heard metro for the long white poops.

It's commonly called intestinal flaggelates or Hex(Hexamita ). The flaggela responsible for those symptoms is usually Sironucleus Vortens.
Common treatment is Metronidazole 400mg per 10 gallons of water for 10 days along with an elevated temp. to 94-95 F.

[kim457]

It's commonly called intestinal flaggelates or Hex(Hexamita ). The flaggela responsible for those symptoms is usually Sironucleus Vortens.
Common treatment is Metronidazole 400mg per 10 gallons of water for 10 days along with an elevated temp. to 94-95 F.

Well, I've been treating the tank with Metroplex for the last 10 days or so and increased the temperature of the tank. I still can't get the fish to eat. He seems smaller than the rest now and some of the others have been chasing him around. What do I do? How can I get him to eat? Will he start to eat once the Hex is all gone? Pretty stressful...

[Hardgraf]

Hi did the fish recover for you? I have the same issue.

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi did the fish recover for you? I have the same issue.

You might consider creating your own disease thread so we can help you!
Pat