Help! Discus slowly wasting away...

[vincy4fish98]

Hi all! I am a new registered user on this forum. I need some help to treat a sick discus. His current state is that his skin color is very dark. Eyes are a bit cloudy. Some tail rot and also seems to be producing lots of mucus on his body. There also seem to be white splotches on his body, looks kind of like cotton or fungus? he is in a 55 gallon tank with 7 other tank mates. The other 7 discus are all fine and in good color, they eat like pigs. But the sick one hasn't touched food for the past 2 weeks or so. He is looking very thin and frayed. Tank is bare bottom. Temp is 85 degrees. Ph is around 7.2-7.3. No ammonia, nitrate or nitrite that my tets kit can detect. I have tried raising temp and adding salt. Also have done massive water changes..

What shall I do quarantine him in another tank and use some medication? Any suggestions or prognosis? does he have internal parasites? I live in Michigan by the way...

Thanks
Vince

[RichieE]

Vince I would move him. You dont want the healthy fish getting what hes got. I would worry about what you can see externally before worrying about parasites he may not have.
It sounds like it might be a bacterial infection. The mucus you describe, does it look like the skin is comming off? This is what I would do but watch for other advice because it could be a number of things.

Move him to his own tank. 10 galls is enough with lots of air. filtration not important. Temp 80-82

Salt 1 Tablespoon
Neomycin. Follow the instructions. The only thing different I do is treat every day vs every other day with at LEAST 50% water change. Dont forget to replace salt.

Keep tank dark. If hes not eating dont feed. HTH Rich

[vincy4fish98]

Thanks for the quick response Rich. I have moved him to his own 10 gallon and placed some salt in and began treatment. Will keep you all updated.

Vince

[vincy4fish98]

Rich and to everyone out there. Unfortunately, my discus didn't make it through this weekend. :'(. I tried everything as prescribed but unfortunately it was not meant to be. I am sure he is in a better place now where there is not more suffering. Well at least he had three good years with me. Thanks for all the advice on treatment.....

Vince

[Carol_Roberts]

Sorry to hear Vincy :'( Are your other discus still OK?
Carol :heart1:

[vincy4fish98]

Yeah my other 7 discus are doing just fine. Thanks for asking Carol. As a preventative measure I did an extra water change in my regular tank just in case last night.

Vince