Discus facing up and leaning to the right - swim bladder problem?

Hi, one of my stendkar discus stopped eating about two weeks ago. Normally, he is a very good eater and very active and alert. Noticed the bigger discus occasionally chasing him so guessed it was just a little scared but upped the temperature in my tank to 32c from 30c to increase metabolism and appetite.

A week later, still not eating and noticed one side of the gills not moving so guessed possibly gil fluke so decided to treat using esha gdex (praziqueantil) as dosed on packet (3 day treatment and water change 5th day) and increased aeration in tank and switched off UV. On the 2nd day of treatment, both gils moving but discus is facing up and very leathargic. On 3rd day of treatment, added one tablespoon of epsom salt / 40 gallon tank dosage. On 5th day (friday gone), carried out 50% water change and vacuumed the gravel and cleaned prefilter, glass and UV back on.

Today, he is still not eating, and swimming facing up and leaning to the right but possibly abit more active than previous days. Cannot see any swellings on body but he looks thinner.

Recently (about a month ago), added 18 neon tetras but one of my other discus attacked one them and over the week, lost 14 tetras. 4 remain now but never saw the ill discus attack or attempt to eat the neon tetras. All other fish have been present in tank for over 6 months.


Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
180l tank with oase biomaster thermo 850 with 5kg of bio media. 5 discus - one fullsize, 2 medium/large, 2 small. 1 large angelfish, 4 fivebanded bards, 4 neon tetras. Tank established for over a year and discus and other fish (except tetras) in tank for over 6 months.


5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
Over 50% water change weekly with vacuuming gravel. Prefilter cleaned fortnightly.


6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
Tank running for 15 months with gravel substrate only 1cm deep.


7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
Tank filled with tap water - no aging. No ph swing


8. What type/brand water conditioner do you use? Do you add it to the tank or aging barrel? How much do you use?
API water conditioner and 20-25ml dose based on size of tank, not water being changed. Also use API stress zyme - same dosage.


9. Parameters and water source;

- temp _____30c normally, currently 32c

-ph _____7.6 to 7.8

- ammonia reading ____zero

- nitrite reading ____zero

- nitrate reading ____20ppm

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.
Neon tetra added recently - as mentioned above. Also have pothos plant growing out of tank but this has been in tank for almost 2 months


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.
Feed three times a day using sera discus granules and first and last feed also have half a blister of stendkar beef heart



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. - having problems inserting so will try again in next post

Plan now is to carry out 50% water change every other day - don't know what else to do.[/B]Attachment 132945Attachment 132946Attachment 132947Attachment 132948

This does not appear to be swim bladder related. Tail standing can be a result of some deworming meds, high bioload, nitrates, etc... Cross contamination should produce different symptoms, although I wouldn't rule it out since you do have some new fish.

Increasing your water changes is an excellent start. Once per week water changes can create swings in ph and bioload, so maybe your new schedule will help. I would try to get those nitrates down to 5. Some intestinal blockage could be present. This usually makes them head stand, but I've seen it cause tail standing in the past. 1 TBS epsom salts per 10g for a couple of days won't hurt a thing. As long as no infection is present, turning the heat up to 90 can help speed up metabolism and feeding.

Another option is to place it in a hospital tank and treat with clean water so you can give it more personal attention. I don't know what's in it so I don't recommend this very often, but the makers of Bactocide 2 claim to have great success with issues like this.

This isn't a very common issue, but I'll ask around for some more specific recommendations and check back...

Hi.

Thank for the quick reply

Water temp is already at 90f (32c).

I’m based in the UK so no access to antibiotics. Also, I have no other tank to transfer this discus too. Possibility to use storage box but I have internal filter which came with this tank and that would cause too much current and stress my discus out more.

All I can use right now is API Melafix which I have started and hope the water changes will clear the problem.

I’ve read somewhere that dosage for Epsom salt is 1tbs per 40gallons. Can I up it to per 10gallons? - and just to confirm the salt is only removed via water changes so I can add back in?

How long to keep salt in tank because I thought it would be one off dosage to make them all poop.

Thank you.

Epsom salts can be used at 1TBS per 10g without concern. Just remove it during regular water changes after 24-48 hours. It's not the same as regular salt, so they can be used at the same time. Regular salt can be added at 2 TBS per 10g along with the Epsom. You can add back the percentage removed during the water change. It's a very low dose so you don't have to worry about being exact.

Melafix is pretty much useless although it may make the tank smell good :D

Another product I've used with positive results is Microbe Lift Artemis. It's not a drug and I know it's available in UK although I'm not sure who specifically sells it there.

Being in the UK leaves you at a disadvantage because of the medication restrictions. If you do suspect an infection, I would reduce the temp because bacteria thrives in higher temps.