seam rider

Hi all,

What cause's a discus to swim up and down the seam of a tank fast? What is this a sign of? More importantly what's the cure?

TIA
keanu

[Carol_Roberts]

Agitated and looking for a way out of the tank? Calm discus just kind of hover about. Is the discus being harassed, hungry, lacking oxygen, water different?

Carol :heart1:

Hi Carol,



Is the discus being harassed,

nope, its the biggest one in the tank.


lacking oxygen,

this might be questionable. I have a AC 300 on a 45 gal. i did have a airstone on the side that didn't have no agitation(sp?) on the flip side none of the other fish seem distressed from the lack of an airstone.


water different?

not really the only thing different was an upgrade in volume for the holding tank.

in contrast in what i typed above i did do a treatment for flukes with formalin on the fish in question which at the time was breathing out of one gill and itching itself on the heater and intake strainer of the AC.

keanu

[Carol_Roberts]

You had recently treated that fish for gill flukes? Then there is your answer - it's an irritant.
Carol :heart1:

Ok that's somewhat understandable, but how do i get rid of this irritant? ???

[Carol_Roberts]

Medication removes the gill fluke (for a short time). Water changes removes the medicine. Discus is happy.

How old are these discus - are you sure it's gill flukes and not a bacterial infection or somthing else?

Carol :heart1:

Medication removes the gill fluke (for a short time). Water changes removes the medicine. Discus is happy.

Ok i gotcha ;)


How old are these discus

About 6 months.


are you sure it's gill flukes and not a bacterial infection or somthing else?

The fish in question was breathing outta one gill the other one was clamped shut.

-----Just an update---

did a W/C to try to elevate stress discus responded for 10 min. and went right back to riding the seam of the tank on another note it stopped eating this time around afterwards
the finage turned solid black not the body. I don't understand the concept of this diease(sp?) the only thing i do understand about this is it good at pissing me off :-X any body have any last resort idea's

keanu

[Carol_Roberts]

May not be gill fluke problem in fish that old.

lets start over.

Is this a bare tank?

What other fish are in tank, are they bothered?

Carol :heart1:

Is this a bare tank?

yes


What other fish are in tank, are they bothered?


three other discus all four were similar in size. Nothing to speak except the chase around

[Carol_Roberts]

Symptoms are too vague for me to pinpoint. I'd keep up the daily water changes and add salt @ 1or 2 tablespoons per 10 gallons and watch closely.

4 discus in a 45 gallon bare bottom with an aqua clear 300 and daily water changes of 25% or more is well within normal stocking densities.

Have you been feeding meaty foods such as beefheart and brine shrimp that could impact water quality? It wouldn't hurt to look inside the aqua clear and see what floating inside - wipe down the inside of the tank and heater and heater cord. A few extra water changes can't hurt and may help
Carol :heart1:

Physical condition of the fish
1. visible parasites =none that i can tell
2. stringy feces=no
3. head standing=no
4. bloated/ constipated=no
5. Hole in the head, lateral line erosion=no
6. spots, salt like flecks, velvety appearance,cotton like growths etc.=no
7. excessive slime production=no
8. labored breathing, disfunctional gill=before the formalin yes after no
9. cloudy eyes=no
10.darkened color=only the fins
11. faded color=no
12. other unusual changes...= does not hover flys across the tank and then up and down the seams and stays stressed vertical bars are well pronouced all of this occured after the formalin bath


Water parameters
1. pH?=6.8
2. Temperature…84
3. hardness=?
4. conductivity=?
5. TDS=?
6. R/O (reverse osmosis) filtered, or Tap (well or chlorinated city water), rain water=well
7. Water change regime? ( example .. 30 % daily, weekly monthly etc)=50% daily
8. appearance (cloudy, green , clear, yellowish etc)=no
9. Odor (smells clean or sulfur-lit match smell-anaerobic indicator)=?

Tank parameters
1. Size in gallons/liters?=45 gal.
2. Substrate.? (bare glass, gravel, sand..)=no
3. Planted?=no
4. Drift wood?=no

Filter types
1 Wet/dry?=no
2. Canister?=no
3. hanging box( aquaclear whisper etc)?=AC 300
4. sponges?=no
5. supplimental Peat filter?=no
6. supplimental air?=extra airstone
7. Carbon, resin exchanges, ammo-chips etc=no

General….
1. Diet(what and how often do you feed you fish?=beefheat,krill,tetrabits,flakes feed three times a day
2. Other tank occupants than discus?=no
3. How many Discus in your tank?=4
4. How long have you had them?=6 months
5. Where did you get them (breeder/ Local Fish Shop -LFS)=breeder
6. Tank and filter cleaning schedule?=weekly
7. Medications/ salt treatments recently used or tried to treat this problem?=Formalin did try salt and high temp. before the dip though

[Carol_Roberts]

Has your discus settled down at all or still agitated?
Carol :heart1:

Hi Carol,

The fish seems to have settled down some but not fully recovered. I got intouch with Gabe at JWD last night and i explained to him how everything occured he was most intrested when i mention that i followed Mary Sweeney advice in her book (Discus Keeping & Breeding in Captivity) adding 20 drops of formalin to two gal. of aged water. So more or less i basicly poisoned the fish. :'(

[Carol_Roberts]

He may recover though. Keep up water changes and don't read those old books. While she may know alot about tropical fish in general, I don't know that she ever kept discus. . . .
Carol :heart1:

Hey Carol,

I'm pleased to announce that the book in which i typed of helped start a nice fire in the fireplace tonight ;D although i did save the pic's ::)

And thanks for the help Carol

keanu