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krandrus
08-04-2004, 01:35 AM
I currently have a planted 77 gallon that is fully cycled and has 7 jeuvie discus in it. I do daily water changes and my readings are 0 across the board (but hard water and a ph of 7.8). I have had the discus in there for 2 months now and they are all over 2.5 inches now.

Everything was going fine until one of the fish got hex. Carol helped me with it, it appeared to be on the mend, but it did not leave the tank. I salted, metro'd and increased the temperature.

Now the high temp is killing the plants and the algae is out of control. 4 of the fish have hex with 2 really sick (four are not eating). And 3 appear just fine. I am in a vicious cycle.

I cannot sacrifice my 77 show tank. the discus will have to move, so I went out today and bought a 50 gallon tank with an aquaclear 500 and 2 sponge filters. I will keep it barebottom and follow the clean regime as written about on the site. I have the sponge filters seeding in the 77 as we speak. I cannot run the aquaclear on it as the canopy does not allow for it and the tank is on an eheim cannister.

What else can I do to make the new tank habitable for the discus quickly. I am tempted to use the seeded filters intermittenly and get the discus in there ASAP. If I am managing the ammonia levels though water changes, will it be better than being in this environment that is obviously making them sick. What would you do.

Thanks in advance for your help. You can tell I am serious about saving these fish by the new aquarium purchase. I have a really understanding wife.

Kevin

Tad
08-04-2004, 02:27 AM
krandrus,
IMO, move the 7 juvs to the new 50 along with the enheim (you did not mention if there are other fish in the planted tank)..and start the Metro protocol to deal with the hex. Monitor the water parameters for ammonia as ammonia will cause the loss of appetite and if they are already compromised due to hex you do not need additional problems. You might consider having some cover (plastic plants, driftwood etc) in the new tank as your discus are probably used to some cover and the movement to a barebottom could cause them some stress. Also put the air driven sponges in the new 50 and start seeding them.

HTH,
Tad

Anonapersona
08-04-2004, 09:57 AM
I squeeze out the canister filter sponges into the new tank, makes a heck of a mess, then run the sponge filters in there overnight, vac up the floor in the morning and add the fish.

You will have transferred more than enough bacteria and with big water changes, you shouldn't see any problem.

Carol_Roberts
08-04-2004, 11:11 AM
You could also just take some of the media from the canister and place it in the bottom of the aqua clear under the sponge. You'll be doing 50% daily water changes and feeding very lightly with teh metro anyway.

krandrus
08-04-2004, 08:41 PM
Great feedback all, thank you. I will let you know how it works out.

RyanH
08-04-2004, 10:15 PM
Hey Kevin,

You got good advice from the others here. You are making a wise decision getting a barebottom tank to grow out your babies. As you found out, it is very difficult to have success with baby Discus in a planted tank. Especially if you are relatively new to the hobby. Keep them in that BB tank until they are huge, healthy adults and then think about putting them back into that show tank... :thumbsup:

krandrus
08-04-2004, 11:28 PM
Man I got rocked here, I had had luck with a number of other community species but this is a totally different game. Hopefully I have not done any permanent damage to the fish and I just hope that curing hex in a barebottom is as straight forward as everyone says.

I am using Seachem Metro. The intructions on the tube are only 100mg/10 gallons every two days, should I continue with this? There are so many opinions about dosage on the site, I am confused about it. Keep in mind I have 3 healthy fish, 2 look healthy but are off food and some funky poo, and 2 are dark with funky poo. What dosage regime would you recommend? Please be very specific.

I will also raise the temp up to 92 and go 2 tablespoons of salt per 10 gallons.

Thanks again all. There is not a huge discus community in Calgary, so without you I would be all alone in this. I love this site.

Kevin

Carol_Roberts
08-04-2004, 11:37 PM
I use 400 mg per 10 gallons

krandrus
08-04-2004, 11:54 PM
How often do you treat and how big of a water change between treatments? Does the metro harm the fish?

RyanH
08-05-2004, 12:07 AM
If memory serves, metro only stays active for about 8 hours. You will probably want to repeat your dosage every 24 hours with a 50% water change.

Carol_Roberts
08-05-2004, 12:31 AM
Yes, try treating once a day after a 50% water change with 92 degree water of similiar pH to tank water. Treat for 3 - 5 days

RyanH
08-05-2004, 12:49 AM
Keep us posted Kevin and good luck. Don't hesitate to ask if you have anymore questions.

krandrus
08-05-2004, 08:42 PM
Well I just moved them - not fun getting discus out of a planted tank, but there were no injuries.

Everything is as I expected they are in the back corner of the tank, all white as can be. I took your advice and squeezed the sponge as well as transferring some of the filter media in a cheese clothe. The sponge filters I have in the tank were seeded for about three days. So there is some hope that I will not have monster cycle issues.

Now that there are no discus in the big planted tank - there is an algae crew and some rams - should I try and treat the hex protozoa there as well? Or not worry about it because you can't wipe out hex.

08-05-2004, 09:18 PM
Treat with at LEAST 400 mg/10 gal. Ive always used 500
As Carol already stated....try one dose a day for now...you can go as much as every 8 hrs without a problem though.
Dont worry about treating the other tank...Are you going to put them back into the planted tank once they're healthy?? If so...they'll probably break down again after a while... :-\

krandrus
08-05-2004, 09:30 PM
Nope, they are their at least until they grow out. I don't what I will do once they are nice and big.

RyanH
08-05-2004, 11:03 PM
I wouldn't bother treating your planted tank unless you think you are having problems with your Rams as well. As you said, Hex will always be present.

krandrus
08-07-2004, 12:01 PM
Ok so I have treated for two days in the new tank and they are starting to look better (all but the really sick one). I know that it may take a week for them to start eating again because they have sore tummy's - how do you know when to quit treating with the metro?

I have 4 days treatments worth of metro left and I have already sunk almost $50 into medicating these fish. Not that cost is a concern, but that on top of the new tank is killing me.

Kevin

Carol_Roberts
08-07-2004, 12:04 PM
Treat with metro for 3 - 5 days depending on how long they've been sick and how sick they are.

krandrus
08-09-2004, 07:46 PM
Ok - so I have treated for 4 days now, and I will do a fifth tonight. 6 of 7 are eating now. There is still some funky poo and the really sick one is a eater, but he has still got that dark grey death look and is showing his bars.

What can I do now to help?

Will the dark grey one stay that way until he puts on some weight, or is this a sign of a bacterial infection as well. His activity is good and he is realitively brave now.

Kevin

krandrus
08-19-2004, 06:06 PM
So I am 1 week past my 2nd metro treatment...the one that you read about in my last post.

4 fish are doing great, 1 is still showing some signs of hex, but eating and swimming. I expect it will recover.

The blue diamond has not touched food since I moved him into the bare bottom tank, had a bloated stomach but this has gone down, has normal color, but hides all the time.

The snakeskin who was really sick, is still really sick and is dark grey to black. He was eating daphnia, but is not interested at all anymore. He has serious knife back and is getting weaker.

Should I start another round of metro? Will this have negative effects on the healing fish? Is it time to euthanize poor snakeskin? Please help, I am at a loss as to what to do now.

I change water daily, my water is good, I have the heat up, but I am lost as to how I can help these sick fish.

Kevin

Carol_Roberts
08-20-2004, 12:30 AM
Maybe time for the freezer . . . .