PDA

View Full Version : my discus are breathing heavily any suggestions?



phillipdoan
06-11-2004, 04:19 AM
hello guys, (sorry for long post)
i have a planted 4x2x2 tank and i am keeping the current fish in the tank: 2x Ghost Snakeskin, 2x Blue Dolphins, 2x Red Rose, 2x Checkerboards, 2x Red spotted green tefe's, and 2x Marlboro Reds. I have been keeping the fish in the tank for a few months now and most are really healthy and happy (eating tetrabits, bloodworms everything) besides the one or two that hate tetra bits but still healthy. My question is that i have not yet known anyone who keeps discus in a 4x2x2 like me and i was wondering if anyone in this community keeps their discus in a tank like this. Becuase I have low aeration from what i can see from my discus as they seem to be breathing quite heavily. Temperature is at 29 degrees celcius and pH is at 6.5-6.8 and i have a ehiem cannister filter.
I am not planning to breed these discus, just to look at the amazing colours of them as display fish. I do water changes every week.
Back to the aeration. Well in my planted tank i do not really want to keep the air hose on because my plants are supposed to produce oxygen if there is lack of o2 in the tank, what i don't understand is why my plants aren't producing enough o2. My plants are mainly anubias and amazon swords, from my research they are able to handle these temperatures. I was told that the lack of o2 was due to the tank being very deep and the temperature is quite high which does not allow oxygen to produced readily. I leave the air hose on everyday coz i don't want to lose my precious discus but even with the air hose on they still seem to be breathing heavily but less than w/o the air pump. I am buying a co2 system soon (for my plants) and because there is already lack of oxygen i am not sure wat to do.
can anyone please help me with my situation. All you help is greatly appreciated.
thankyou

brewmaster15
06-11-2004, 07:42 AM
Hi Phillip,
I'm going to move this to the planted tank section as the experts there can help you better. One quick note though ...Discus are actually pretty tolerant of low dissolved oxygen because of the higher water temps they experience.. Their labored breathing may be from a gill parasite. ...possible gill flukes. Do you have any experience with treating for gill flukes?

-al

phillipdoan
06-11-2004, 09:13 AM
sorry i am very new to the discus diseases is this gill fluke fatal? because they have been like this for about 2 months now and haven't lost a discus yet. thankyou for ur reply

jules
06-11-2004, 09:18 AM
I have a planted tank with Swords ; an airstone and no C02. They grow slowly. I don't turn the lights on until noon otherwise I get algae.

My Discus breath quickly without the added air. How about trying another airstone in your tank?

How big is your weekly w/c? What is your water parameters?

ronrca
06-11-2004, 09:43 AM
Are your discus near the top gasping for air? Maybe lack of 02 or too much C02 (can happen with C02 injection). If they are not typically near the top, may not be a C02 problem. ;)

phillipdoan
06-11-2004, 10:38 AM
nah they aren't at the top, they are swimming normally just that they are breathing heavily at times, mostly after they eat.
i usually do about 25% water p/w and as stated before Temperature is at 29 degrees celcius and pH is at 6.5-6.8. thankyou for helping.
ronrca so u are suggesting it might not be a co2 problem? would anyone know what kind of problem this is? gill flukes as brewmaster stated?
if this is a disease or something that an be cured with medication can u please recommend wat medication. just to say again, the discus have been this way for a while now, maybe 1-2 months and they are healthy and eating.
i might add another air pump as jules said and c how it goes but will be looking out for ur posts on meds because i will be ready to get them tomorrow if neccessary.

ronrca
06-11-2004, 01:57 PM
If it be a 02 problem, the discus would be near the top as that is where the gas exchange takes place and therefore more 02 rather than mid or bottom of the tank. It could be a fluke problem or bacteria.

jules
06-11-2004, 03:32 PM
Do you know what your nitrite and nitrAtes readings are?

phillipdoan
06-12-2004, 03:18 AM
all readings are zero for nitrate and nitrite.

ChloroPhil
06-12-2004, 09:52 AM
Phillip,

My fish also generally breathe a little faster after they've eaten but soon calm down and have shown no ill side effects. Could you please tell us what your Carbonate Hardness/Alkalinity is? That would help us figure out how much CO2 is in the water.

Best,
Phil

phillipdoan
06-14-2004, 09:22 AM
sorry for late replies, i have been a bit busy, i will do a kH test in the morning.
thankyou

phillipdoan
06-14-2004, 09:33 PM
Results:
Just did a kH test and these are the results i got from my discus tank
4 dkH or 71.6ppm KH which seems a bit high for discus but fine for live plants. Do these results help you conclude on wat the problem with my discus is?
if you believe it is dangeriously high can u please recommend me how to decrease the kH.
thankyou

jules
06-15-2004, 09:39 AM
Hi Phillip, here is a link to calculate the amount of C02 in your water:

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

United21Soccer
06-15-2004, 10:46 AM
Hope you fish pull through!
What plants do you have in there? Also, it looks like you got Noah's Ark Syndrome! I'll take two of those, two of those, and two of those...

António Vitor
06-15-2004, 02:03 PM
I believe you don't have that many plants for them to produce enough O2.
If you had, you would get those problems more in the morning and night!

I have a dedicated powerhead working only at night, if I desconnect that powerhead, all my fish would DIE!
hehehe...
Plants do require large quantities of O2 in the night, but only if they can produce enough O2 in daytime!

If you had gill flukes you would see those fishes hitting stuff, like plants or even glass...
I believe it may be lack of O2, instead of having air pumps might be better getting an powerhead...

water agitation is what puts O2 in the water, not air bubbles!


Gill flukes can be treated without any medicine...
I once had that, what I did?
more water changes and cleaner water!
;)
Fish would get immunity, if they are healthy!

Regards!
António Vitor

jules
06-15-2004, 02:31 PM
The airstones create bubbles which rise to the top and create surface agitation; therefore more 02.

António Vitor
06-15-2004, 03:09 PM
yes...
But it's less efficient, and produces a lot more noise!

phillipdoan
06-15-2004, 07:47 PM
thankyou for ur replies i didn't really notice about the airpump and u made a good point about that and i will take that in mind.
here are the list of plants that i have:
blue stricta
wisteria
baby ozelots
baby rubra
baby radicas
super wide leaf
large frilly
super radican
java moss
java fern large
wendelov
cripus
ambulia
twisted val
barteri
barteri broadleaf
infusoria
chain swords
large wide leaf sword

i will be posting a picture of my tank later tonight