Help!! Stringy Pink/Brown Poop

Hi all! I'm new to discus keeping and I've just bought all of my discus fish in three weeks ago. There are 6 sub-adult discus (approximately 4"~4.5"). The fish have survived the acclimation and have been growing noticeably. I feed them 5 times a day (4 times on flakes with an automatic feeder, 1 time on beef heart mix before water change), and I do daily 90% water change since day 1. Just today I found that one of my fish is having a long stringy pink/light brown poop hanging. I know that white stringy poops definitely mean something bad, but should I concern about long pink/light brown poop?

Here is my questionnaire filled out:


DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE


Problem

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

Ans: Stringy pink/light brown poop hanging on fish. I just noticed it today. I cannot think of anything unusual except that I feed the fish heavily on flakes, which is mostly pink in color. The fish also get fed on beef heart mix which is also pink somehow?


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).

Ans: Nothing abnormal. The fish tends to hide a bit but not too serious imo.


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

Ans: I have not tried any medication.



Tank/Water

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

Ans: 55 Gallon with half a dozen 4"~4.5" sub adult fish.


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

Ans: Daily 90% water change.


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

Ans: 1.5 yr old BB tank (just sold all of my previous fish last month, and the discus were introduced three weeks ago).


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

Ans: No, I use tap water with conditioner.


8. What type/brand water conditioner do you use? Do you add it to the tank or aging barrel? How much do you use?

Ans: Seachem Prime. I add 7ml of prime to my 55 gallon tank in every water change.


9. 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 __86___

- ph __6.8___

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __5__

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.

- well water ____

- municipal water __100%__

- RO water ____


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

Ans: No.


11. 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.

Ans: 4 times a day on Colbalt flakes with an automatic feeder while I go to work, 1 time a day on beef heart mix just before water change. Occasionally on frozen blood worms.



12. 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.
Attachment 125573Attachment 125574

That looks like a healthy feces to me, but then again, the colors I see through my phone may be different from the original photo. The flakes you feed is red?

Your tank is not over stocked, and you’re on top of your wc’s. I was an anxious first time discus owner and Medicated for anything. Now, I’m sen as sen can be with my discus. You’ll be fine and just keep close observation if you feel its temperament starts to change.

Looks fine to me as well mate. What is your pH out of the tap? If you have >0.4 swing I would encourage you to age & heat your water for your wc's. Discus are usually very social and up at the front of the glass when they see you. The hiding behavior you're noticing could be stress related to pH fluctuations. Do you get micro bubbles on the glass after wc's? Test your source water, aerate some in a bucket overnight and test again. If the variation is >0.4 in either direction you should get an aging barrel going to help keep things more stable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by danotaylor

Looks fine to me as well mate. What is your pH out of the tap? If you have >0.4 swing I would encourage you to age & heat your water for your wc's. Discus are usually very social and up at the front of the glass when they see you. The hiding behavior you're noticing could be stress related to pH fluctuations. Do you get micro bubbles on the glass after wc's? Test your source water, aerate some in a bucket overnight and test again. If the variation is >0.4 in either direction you should get an aging barrel going to help keep things more stable.

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This is very important and I always forget to ask.

Thanks gents. I'm usually the only one who harps on pH swing. Most new people don't know the importance of pH stability.

Just following your lead Liz my friend :)

Thanks a lot Mando! That's a great relief. After observing the fish over the weekend, I can confidently say that it's acting normal. They are just so precious and I'm in love with so much that any hint of bad thing would trigger my alarm... LOL

Quote:

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Originally Posted by danotaylor

Looks fine to me as well mate. What is your pH out of the tap? If you have >0.4 swing I would encourage you to age & heat your water for your wc's. Discus are usually very social and up at the front of the glass when they see you. The hiding behavior you're noticing could be stress related to pH fluctuations. Do you get micro bubbles on the glass after wc's? Test your source water, aerate some in a bucket overnight and test again. If the variation is >0.4 in either direction you should get an aging barrel going to help keep things more stable.

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Thank you danotaylor! My PH out of the tap is actually the same as my tank water, which is 6.8. However, I do get a lot of microbubbles, but I sorta eliminated that problem with a sponge sticking inside my water changer (another great tip I found here).

Ok mate, sounds good. Glad things are settling and you're observing normal behavior. Pat's e-signature has great advice; "your discus are speaking, are you listening" or something to that effect, lol.