inactive fish, white slime coat.

[Vicfortier]

Hey all, I have had 5 discus for a little less than a week. have them all in a QT tank, water temp around 84-86, ph around 7.6, dong WC of 30-40% every other day with aged tap water. The fish all seem to pretty inactive, at first it was just one of them sitting at the bottom in a corner, not moving with the group, now several of them are just sitting there. the only symptoms i see is a white slime over their bodies and a lack of appetite. So far the only treatment i have used is 1 tbsp of salt in the 30 gal tank and im on my second days does of QuIck Cure. Please help!

[Second Hand Pat]

There is a sticky with the disease form in this section of the forum. Suggest you copy and paste the completed form into this thread. Is it possible your tank is not cycled or doing a mini-cycle with the extra bio-load of your discus??

[Vicfortier]

Ill complete the form, tank is deffinatley cycled, ive been tracking the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. nitrates staying >10 ppm.

[Second Hand Pat]

Just checking on the tank being cycled...usually is the first question.

[Vicfortier]

1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started

2 of the five are inactive occasionally moving around( one laying on its side/ or atleast not swimming completley vertically most of the time and the other just hovering around it), all have a white smile coat, some with heavier areas of white almost looking like fungus, first fish started about 4 days after buying it and introducing it to my QT tank.



2. Symptoms (i.e. turning dark, excess slime, not eating, clamped fins, flashing, darting, clamped gills, white/yellow/green poop, hiding, headstanding or tailstanding, white on tips of fins, rotting or fungus, blisters/ white zits on fish, bloated, cloudy eyes, wounds)

excess slime, not eating, hiding, possible fungus.




3. What medications/ treatments that you have already tried and results. Include dosages and duration of treatment.

used QuIck Cure, on 2nd day of treatment.



Tank/Water

4. Tank size and age, number and size of fish

30 gallon tank, aged filter from fully cycled tank, 5 discus, 2.5-3".

5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?

WC of 30-40% every other day, recently had a problem with my aged tap water so i have missed WC for last days. tank running for 2 weeks, 1 week with cycled filter, using CaribSea Super Naturals premium aquarium substrate sand, yes i age my water.

6 Parameters and water source;

- temp __84-86___

- ph ___7.6__

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __>10__

- well water __yes__

- municipal water ____

7. Any new fish/plants added recently

QT tank, no plants, one small peice of driftwood, 5 discus been in for a week.

[Eddie]

Finish up the 3 day treatment with Quick Cure, bring your temp down to about 82F, add extra o2 and turn the lights out. Don't feed the fish during treatment. Also, scoop up some Furan-2 from the LFS and be prepared to follow-up. Sounds like a QT issue. You put a new fish in a QT with other already in it?

[Vicfortier]

no, all fish arrived at the same time. ill pick up some furan-2 today. how long should i run the filter with carbon in it after my third day of quick cure before i should start the furan treatmnt?

[jpdevol]

I regret being slightly "alarmist" here, but the symptoms do follow similarities to the dreaded Virus. If so, Septicemia should present itself shortly. When it does, the treatment is slightly counterintuitive; high heat, 2Tbs Salt per 10/gal and Methelyne Blue per label.

If this becomes the case remove all Formalin as it is counterproductive to future treatments (heat and antibiotic, etc.)

As secondary infections show-up you can treat them too - Kanamycin (tissue absorbed) is my choice for Septicemia, but Furan2 works too.

I hope I'm wrong - a lot depends on the source of the fish. Not meant to panic, just keep in mind as things progress. Hopefully, you can call me an idiot later.

[Vicfortier]

just got back home from LFS and eating and all fish are near top of the water. im confused. Does this mean i should stop treatment? they at not laying at the bottom of the tank. i think ill wait for morning to make any decisions and just do a water change for now. BTW I couldnt find and Furan-2 or even methelyne blue between the lfs and petsmart. is there any more easily attained meds that will work? or would you use nothing other than these specific meds?

[jpdevol]

For now, increase aeration and add Salt. If no better in morning, remove formalin (Quick Cure) with WC & carbon. Then raise temp. and find MB and Kanalpex or Furan2. If Virus, this stuff is very contagious and progresses very quickly. I hope I'm wrong, but advice will not hurt regardless.

[Vicfortier]

I have an air stone running in the tank, is this enough aeration? i have some awuarium salt ill add now.

[jpdevol]

Yep & yep.

Best Wishes!

[Vicfortier]

After third day of Quick Cure, and a 50% water change the fish are all swimming, still stayin near top of the tank though. Im going to get a larger air stone and see if maybe the quick cure + heat is causing a lack of aeration and hopefully all will be okay. Just put carbon filters to clear out the cure. I did run into a road block finding Furan-2, Kanamycin, or Methelyne Blue anywhere in the Richmond, VA area. Seems that no one carries it locally.. I did however pick up some Tetra Lifeguard All-in-one treatment tabs though. It treats for fungus, ick, tail/fin/mouth rot, Septicemia, and clamped fins. HAs anyone had a bad experience with this, or should i just order what you have perscribed off the web? I dont plan on using it unless problems continue to arise.

[Xhou]

I used Tetra Lifeguard All-in-one to treat my flashing, darting ,darking body with white slime patch and clamped fins with good resulted.Easy to use ( 5 gallons/ tablet 24 hour intervals for 5 consecutive days.During treatment do monitor the ammonia,nitrite and nitrate reading. The medicine will killed of some of the good bacteria in the filter. Re seed your filter with good bacteria.

[Vicfortier]

How long should i run carbon in my filters before changing treatment. i have been running them since yesterday afternoon and just did a 50% water change.