Tailstanding

1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them?

The smallest of my discus group (6) that I have grown out from quarter size has started to become a bit listless over the last few days.


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).

Not eating, Clamped dorsal fin, dark eyes, stress bars, tailstanding, bit of white fin tips.


3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.

Epsom salt at 1tbsp/10g of water for suspected bloat, no improvement.


Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.

55g tank, 6 red turquoise, 14months old, 5" average


5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).

50% waterchange every other day with aged water.


6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?

Tank has been running for just over one year. Barebottom but has manzanita driftwood with some anubias and moss attatched. No substrate.


7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.

Age my water in a brute trash barrel for 48hrs, ph swing is .3.


8. Parameters and water source;

Note: Water Parameters are important in diagnosing problems within a tank. If you don't own test kits for the following information, you can purchase them, test your parameters and post this info as soon as possible.


- temp 87 degrees

- ph 7.4

- ammonia reading 0ppm

- nitrite reading 0ppm

- nitrate reading 5ppm

What type of water or combinations of water sources do you use? If it is an RO/tap/well water mix, please list percentages in the mix.

- municipal water 100%


9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.

No new additions


10. Please tell us what you feed your fish and how often. This can be critical information for solving the problem so be as specific as you can.

Feed them 3 times a day with freeze dried Australian black worms



11. Include any pictures or videos you have which shows the symptoms. If you can't add them to this post, please provide a link to them.

Here is a video of said fish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20lonCwg_zs

Hey Matt, welcome, gorgeous fish first and foremost...

I don't really see much evidence in the video you posted.. Do you have any other pics or video to support what you report? I was going to say the fish looked like it was shimmying or almost doing a mating shake...

You said you see "Not eating, Clamped dorsal fin, dark eyes, stress bars, tailstanding, bit of white fin tips."

From what you post and report, nothing stands out as an obvious issue. You add prime or a dechlor to your water? Can you think of anything that changed or could have happened in recent weeks? Have you kept the same routine up to grow them?

The best advice I could give now would be to increase water changes and see what happens, keep up with the salt it cant hurt. None of the other fish seem to have any issues...

I see some tank mates there, what is the deal with them? When added and all that? Def, no cross contamination or anything of the sort?

The edges of the fins look a bit ragged, as well as on the one in the back of the video maybe? You are def at high capacity with your large growing discus in a 55gal with sand and only 50% wc every second day... I too would recommend increased wc. And if it were my tank I'd remove the sand as well.

Sorry I'm watching on a phone, I see it is BB now

And even the edges of the big finnage looks a bit uneven on a few of them... I think as they have grown in size u r starting to see issues with the weakest ones first because water quality isn't high enough to counter the fish load in the 55gal. I could be wrong but that's my take. Try 80% daily wc and see if there is an improvement?

Thanks guys looks like I am going to have to look into upgrading tank size in the near future. I will definitely up the water changes in the mean time although may be tough as I am only capable of aging 35G of water at a time. Nothing has changed in my recent water changes, and water is always conditioned with prime. The tank mates are a pair of GBR, 4 Cardinals and a few Super Red BNP all of which have been quarantined and in with these growouts for the past 6 months or so, so no new additions which could be causing issues. I have attatched another video showing more of the clamped fins and other behaviour i am worried about. Thanks for all of your advice so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKA9Ef7tVe8

Have you tested your water ? Do you need to age it? Is there a big swing ?

I'd do what you can even daily 35 gallon changes should be good

What do you have in there aside from the sponge filters? It almost looks like he is really trying to swim in strong current

No big swings in water changes. Ph is even closer than I thought at .2 difference but I still age at least 24hrs. Ryan I do have an ac50 hob that creates a bit of current that you might be seeing.

Fish in question has been isolated to a hospital tank with salt treatment but has exhibited a slight eye cloud over the last day and another in the main tank has what seems like some bleeding in the eye. A local discus expert Rick grange has commented that it may be internal bacterial and now with the bleeding eye I am beginning to suspect that it may be. Looking at treating the whole tank now?