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snoopy8712
01-10-2005, 02:28 AM
Hi

I have recently bought Discus. One of the juveniles (5cm) is breathing more heavily than the rest. It seems to be gulping for air. It is not gulping at the surface. It is eating well and has no visible damage on its body. Now my questions are. What could be the possible cause of the heavy breathing and what is considered normal breathing for discus.

pH = 7.2
NO2 = 0
Temp = 29°C

pikashy
01-10-2005, 03:01 AM
It seems to me like those are gill flukes. I had the same problem when I got my discus home. Treat with formalin.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=21094

snoopy8712
01-10-2005, 03:19 AM
Hi

Thanks for the quick response.Are they life threatening to the affect fish and can it be passed on to the other Discus and fish in the tank.
How do I go about treating the Discus with formalin?

snoopy8712
01-10-2005, 04:10 AM
I have do a bit of research on gill flukes. It mentions that the gill will clamp shut. I would appear that both gills are opening and closing.

Carol_Roberts
01-10-2005, 05:28 PM
Were they shipped? If yes, them may be ammonia burn from bag. If from pet store may be bacteria or flukes. ARe you doing daily water chagnes? Daily water changes are the first line of defense.

Formalin will help either flukes or bacteria on gills. Try 1 cc or 1 ml per 10 gallons. Do 50% water change after 8 hours. See if any improvement, it there is you can wait a day and dose following day.

Eddie
01-10-2005, 09:01 PM
What do you do if the fish have ammonia burns from the shipping?

Carol_Roberts
01-10-2005, 09:04 PM
lots of water changes and maybe a bit of salt :)

snoopy8712
01-17-2005, 01:32 AM
I have treated the tank with Tetra medica Contra spot which is suppose to be a treatment for gill flukes. I start the treatment on Wednesday and as per the instruction did a water change on Saturday. In the mean time some of the Discus far stop eating and have become shy. Where before they would come out and eat now only half are doing this. I have been feeding frozen bloodworm and flake food. Is the lack of appetite a side effect of the medication or is it the start of something more serious?

Barb Newell
01-17-2005, 09:54 AM
Hi, check your water ie. ammonia, nitrites, nitrates. I am not familiar with the med you have used but it may have killed off some of your bacteria.

How old are your discus, what symptoms did they have?

I'd increase water changes to daily.

Barb

snoopy8712
01-17-2005, 10:13 AM
Hi

There are 5 Discus of about 5 -7 cm and 3 are 10 - 12 cm in size. They look as if they are breathing quite heavyly. One is making gulping motions as it is breathing. They where all eating well after being in the tank for a couple of days. Actually coming and eating out of my hand. but over the last couple of days some of them seem to have lost intrest in eating and are now hiding in the drift wood. Thay come out when ther is no movement neat the tank but they are refusing to eat. I also removed the active charcoal when i treated the tank. I also treated the water with a de chlorinator.

The meds contains Formalin for the treatment of gill flukes.

pH 7.2
NO2 = 0
NH3 = 0

I will check these reading again tonight to see if there has been a change in these parameters. I will also do daily water changes to see if this helps.

Barb Newell
01-17-2005, 10:26 AM
Hi, what is your temp and what size is your tank?

The discus shouldn't be skittish from formalin, I'd definitely do some large water changes.

Barb

snoopy8712
01-17-2005, 10:33 AM
The tank size is approx. 550L with sand and decor. The temp is 30 °C

snoopy8712
01-17-2005, 10:34 AM
The tank size is approx. 550L with sand and decor. The temp is 30 °C. When you say large water changes how much would that be.

Howie_W
01-17-2005, 10:45 AM
I have treated the tank with Tetra medica Contra spot which is suppose to be a treatment for gill flukes. I start the treatment on Wednesday and as per the instruction did a water change on Saturday. In the mean time some of the Discus far stop eating and have become shy. Where before they would come out and eat now only half are doing this. I have been feeding frozen bloodworm and flake food. Is the lack of appetite a side effect of the medication or is it the start of something more serious?

Hi snoopy,

Full medication of your tank can cause stress for your fish and ultimately do more harm than good. I believe the active ingredient in the medication you used is malachite green. Like formalin it is a toxic substance and can easily kill off part of your bio-filter. In addition, it can only reduce, but not eliminate gill flukes...if that is in fact your problem.

How often and how much water are you changing in your tank each day? You first defense right now would be large water changes, and salting your tank. I would monitor your ammonia and nitrate levels closely, and reduce feeding.

How is your tank being filtered and how large an oxygen supply are the fish getting? If you are using any airstones, or similar I would turn up the flow rate.

Howie

Howie_W
01-17-2005, 10:48 AM
The tank size is approx. 550L with sand and decor. The temp is 30 °C. When you say large water changes how much would that be.


Aprox. 50% daily.


Howie

snoopy8712
01-17-2005, 11:09 AM
The tank has two power head and a overflow filter box with floss and bioballs, there is also active charcoal in the filter. I have been doing 50 % water changes twice weekly and have an air stone running in the tank.

How much salt should I add to the tank and at what rate should i add it . All at once or over an extended period of time. How long should I add salt to the tank for.

Would you recommend adding peat to thew filter to lower the ph below 7 from 7.2. Would this help reduce stress.

Howie_W
01-17-2005, 12:01 PM
The only thing active charcoal is good for is removing impurities such as medications from your water column. If you have been running charcoal at the same time you are medicating this actually negates the effectivesness of the treatment.


There is no reason to change the pH in your tank...as long as your pH remains constant it's fine. For salt add aprox. 1-2 tablespoons per per 10 gallons of water after completing your next water change. Each time you perform a water change you will be removing salt, so replace the amount you remove with each water change. I would continue this for the next three days and see how the fish look.

For now, up your water change to 50% a day, and monitor ammonia and nitrate levels. Keep a close eye on your fish, and pay attention not only to their breathing, but their gills as well to make sure they are moving normally, versus being closed-up.

Howie

Carol_Roberts
01-17-2005, 04:01 PM
Hi Snoopy:
You need to reread the above posts. What is everybody recommending you do? FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE IS ALWAYS LARGE DAILY WATER CHANGES WITH PH STABLE WATER.

Yes, I am shouting, lol. New discus keepers get an idea in their head that extra filtration or some magic medication will make everything better and they don't listen when the answer is simply more water changes.

Every symptom you are seeing are typical stress reactions in newly purchased fish or to high bioload. Throwing meds in the tank when you don't know what your are treating or messing with the pH only makes it WORSE.

Even if you do ultimately need to medicate, you still have to keep the tank really clean and do daily water changes. IF your discus had gill flukes they should show improvement within hours of medicating. Did that happen?