Poor Little Discus + A sucker

[starsnwings]

Ok so I went to my Local Fish Shop and he has had 5 juv. Discus for about 3 months, I have been seeing every time I went well my tank cycled out. Now I went with my eye on two of them with one being good looking I think and the other Still good but not as great as the first then the littest, sad little guy swam out and I almost cried he was not very good looking really skinny the guy said you can have that one if you want him so I took him cause I am a sucker. My plan feed beefheart and bloodworms 3 times daily what do u think?? And yes i know I am a sucker.

[ockyra215]

Honestly I would of passed on him.Id cull him and work on the other two. Lfs discus beware. You may be able to get him back but if hes a juvie and already skinny most likely he wont grow and be stunted.

[starsnwings]

I know it was bad but I felt bad and I figured heck if I didnt spend any money on him and he could have a good home what the heck.

[ockyra215]

Only problem is you run the risk of everything getting sick. For whatever reason this guy has skinnied out and fell off compared to the others so somethings bothering him most likely internally.I would cull him chalk it up as experience and move on. JMO for what its worth.

[starsnwings]

what do u mean cull him? Also I wonder if he just had to much comp. because he was in a tank with adults also.

[TURQ64]

Free??...And after a wallet-full of cash on drugs, and he's still skinny, and etc...be prepared for a rash of internal parasite information....Gary

[kaceyo]

I agree. Since the little guy is not just small, it's skinny and small, there's a good chance he is deseased in one or more ways, which can infect the other fish in the tank.

[ockyra215]

Cull=Kill put out of his misery humanely ofcourse. Flush him, freeze him etc etc etc. This little guy is only going to cost you in the long run and may turn you off of discus all together. Start with good healthy stock from a good source! Dont waist your time and money for a dreery outcome to begin with.

[starsnwings]

so you dont think it could be possible that he just could not get enough food with the adults being in there?? I know I am trying to be positve : ( It just makes me sad

[ockyra215]

sad to say i doubt it I am not the foremost expert on this but most likely hes a goner.It sucks but just as Turq says after the wallet flush and he would be sub par at best not worth it. IMO concetrate on healthy stock.

[TURQ64]

so you dont think it could be possible that he just could not get enough food with the adults being in there?? I know I am trying to be positve : ( It just makes me sad
Nope, sorry, but it's not about missing a meal; it's health and growth issues at the wrong time of life for the specimen....

[starsnwings]

would it be mean to him in a seperate tank for a while by himself ??

[ericatdallas]

I don't think you should flush him. Not sure that's humane since it'll be dropped in raw sewage and probably aphyxiate.

It's debateable what is the best way but I think feeding it to a larger fish is natural or using a combo clove oil and freezing might be pretty good too..


http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?82881-How-to-dispose-of-dying-discus../page2

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?36181-Proper-way-to-cull/page2

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?72248-Culling-Without-breaking-my-heart&

[strawberryblonde]

Since you really seem to want to try to help this discus, can you post a pic of him and the other 2 that you bought? Once everyone here can see the actual sizes and conditions of the fish they'll be able to tell you more clearly whether there's any chance that isolating him and treating in a hospital tank will save him.

I totally understand wanting to help him. It just will depend on how large he is now, how sick he is and what the prognosis is. If he can be saved and will just be a stunted fish, that might be ok for you.

[starsnwings]

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150170904120873.335780.506740872&l=4fbe47c559

[starsnwings]

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150170904120873.335780.506740872&l=4fbe47c559

[starsnwings]

there are some pictures of him 2 & 3

[starsnwings]

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150170904120873.335780.506740872&l=4fbe47c559

Here are some pictures

[MattV.]

would it be mean to him in a seperate tank for a while by himself ??

That would probably be the best thing you can do for him right now. I call it a hospital tank, use a 10 gal, barebottom, high temp at least 86f, dim lighting, small hang-on-filter w/ NO carbon, use the cut-to-fit polyfiber padding instead. Try treating him w/ 100% pure Metronidazole powder and Trip-sulfa powder. You can order some from DiscusMadness.com owned by a very nice man that will help you with any questions, and he ships very fast. While your waiting for that try the General Cure powder from the local shop. It has metronidazole in it just not as strong as the pure stuff. Good Luck

[TURQ64]

That would probably be the best thing you can do for him right now. I call it a hospital tank, use a 10 gal, barebottom, high temp at least 86f, dim lighting, small hang-on-filter w/ NO carbon, use the cut-to-fit polyfiber padding instead. Try treating him w/ 100% pure Metronidazole powder and Trip-sulfa powder. You can order some from DiscusMadness.com owned by a very nice man that will help you with any questions, and he ships very fast. While your waiting for that try the General Cure powder from the local shop. It has metronidazole in it just not as strong as the pure stuff. Good Luck
If saving this fish is a goal, then you might want to check some of our sponsors that sell meds as opposed to DM, who isn't a sponsor. Nice is nice, but our sponsors keep this site up and running...Gary

[wadewc]

Hi starsnwings, I got a fish like the one you showed in your pics. I had the same feelings as you feeling sorry for the little guy. I had it for a almost two years. I called him Bobber. Sunk in on the side of its head, it always sit there with the head down and the tail in the air. The only time it went horizontal is when it was eating. I got some Discus from Kenny, one of our sponsers, and the colors and shape was the nicest I have every had. I had never seen this nice of Discus in the LFS. [I have never bought from a LFS since.] Long story short is it takes as much work and expense to raise a deformed fish as it does a quality fish. You will find that these fish are with others so if one has a disease the other will get it to if you don't act fast and get it out of the tank with the others. Everytime I go to a local pet store I see if they have discuss and when I see them they look bad but I just say what a shame and go on. I am not saying that there is not LFS that know how to care for discus but there is none where I live. Cull as they say is kill and everyone has there own way of doing it. I don't look forward to it but it is just the thing I do because I am wanting and or looking for a certain type of shape and color in my fry.

Good luck with your fish.
Wade

[strawberryblonde]

Oh what a shame! They look, from their basic shapes, like they had a good chance of being beautiful fish before they were so badly neglected. I might be wrong, and the experts here will tell you if I am, but I think even the blue turq has some sort of disease process going on. His eye looks very bad.

Are they in quarantine now? I hope they aren't in a tank with other fish, because it's likely that they'll pass on their diseases and you'll end up losing a lot of fish that way.

If they aren't in QT, pull them now and put them in a hospital tank. From that point, just give them a LOT of fresh clean water and good food for a few days, then watch to see what symptoms they have (white poop, losing slime coat, etc). Once you've observed them long enough to know what the symptoms are, you can then treat them for the specific diseases.

Quick Cure is a good option if you feel you must do something immediately. I know that Jpdevol always recommends a salt and methelyne blue treatment as an intermediate treatment. It won't cure diseases. It just helps with things like osmoregulation.

And this is the spot where I shush up and let others who are much more experienced give you advice. No matter whether you decide to try to save them, or cull them, you'll be learning from the experience. There's no right or wrong course at this point, only what you feel you want to do.

[russren]

yeah, that's one sad fish. I am as tenderhearted as the next guy, but it seems like such a great waste of your time and money when you could be spending less of both on better fish. Not to endorse LFS fish at all, but you could certainly do better with your selection process even there.

Learn from it, and don't get sucked in by a terminal case.

[ericatdallas]

If saving this fish is a goal, then you might want to check some of our sponsors that sell meds as opposed to DM, who isn't a sponsor. Nice is nice, but our sponsors keep this site up and running...Gary

kensfish.com has some cheap metro if you buy in bulk. If you look at lower quantities, everyone pretty much has competitive prices.