Cull or Medicate?

So I have 10 fry that I got from AL about 2.5 months ago. They ate very well in the beginning, but there were a few that where bigger and stronger and ate way more. A few that ate ok, but just less and they were not growing as fast. No big deal I thought, they still looked good, just growing less.

About a month ago, my wife forced me to go on vacation for 4 days. I left them with an auto feeder feeding 4 times a day, in small amounts, in total about half what I normally feed. I had a friend come over and do a daily WC. Well I think one of the water changes got skipped, and I'm not sure what else he may have screwed up. When I got back they all looked a little off but not that bad. I gave them a 50% wc and then did at least 90% per day for a few days. I resumed my regular routine after that (one to two quick vacuums per day and and least a 50 - 100% wc per day. Most of them bounced back well and seem 100%. The few fish that were originally smaller have not bounced back though. They are not very active, look darker, have slightly clamped fins, they occasionally shake, and they do not eat, and they have some stringy mucus, pale colored poo. They other fish have normal black looking poo. 3 of the ten are like this and have been for the last month. I was hoping lots of clean water and they would come back, but they just haven't. I've thought about culling them and just keeping the good 7, or setting up a hospital tank for the 3. What would you do? At this point the weak 3 are about half the size of the others.

https://youtu.be/s9HUGECPUD4

Those are not cull candidates. I would bump the heat to 93 and treat with metro. You will be surprised how quickly they will rebound...

The whole tank or just the 3 showing symptoms? I'm worried the metro will mess up my good fish. I've never used it though.

I had a group of fry that had a few that exhibited the exact symptoms you describe. Symptoms developed after a big move and combining 2 groups from the same source pair. I treated the whole tank @ 500mg/10gal for 10 days. All the sickies recovered fully, no losses, and none of the healthy ones skipped a beat during the treatment. Treat the whole tank!

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Originally Posted by danotaylor

I had a group of fry that had a few that exhibited the exact symptoms you describe. Symptoms developed after a big move and combining 2 groups from the same source pair. I treated the whole tank @ 500mg/10gal for 10 days. All the sickies recovered fully, no losses, and none of the healthy ones skipped a beat during the treatment. Treat the whole tank!

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True. Metro and heat won't hurt your healthy fish.

Doing 90% WC each morning and dosing 2 grams of metro in a 40b right after the WC. I'm on day 2 of the metro treatment. Been raising the temp slowly, currently at 88.5°F. The three fish that were showing symptoms are showing some small signs of improvement. One of the fish that was fine before treatment is struggling with the treatment. All others appear fine. Hes turning dark and breathing heavy, and just looks uncomfortable. I have 2 small sponges and an aquaclear on the tank, so I would think thats enough aeration. Hes my favorite fish out of the batch though, dont really want to lose him. Should I keep upping the heat tommorrow or is this guy cause for concern? See video. Thanks
https://youtu.be/ZrP52PHv5GA

I would not assume the treatment is causing your fav discus the problem...it may have been in the early undetectable phase of the same issue the others are facing. I don't have a recommendation regarding the heat increase, but keep at the dosing and wc's and I believe they will all pull through. I had a couple that went dark like yours and they all made it!
http://youtu.be/ZrP52PHv5GA

So my Aqueon Pro heaters will only go up to about 89°. I have one in my ageing barrel and one in my discus tank. I do have one Eheim Jager that will get the discus water up to 93° but then my water from my barrel will be at 89° when I do water changes...I guess I need to go out and get a Eheim for my ageing barrel so the temps can match.. Overall the fish are looking better at 89° and metro, the dark one was eating a few fdbw's today so thats good.

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but then my water from my barrel will be at 89° when I do water changes

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Thats not a problem Ryan.

al

Just a quick outcome update: I didn't keep real close track of the days and accidentally ran the treatment 12 days instead of ten. I tapered down the temp over about 6 days after the treatment. The three fish that were not eating originally were eating by the end of the treatment. At the end of the treatment all fish were eating, but not as much as they should. Their appetites are slowly increasing though and are approaching normal now. Thanks for the help.

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Originally Posted by guggas

Just a quick outcome update: I didn't keep real close track of the days and accidentally ran the treatment 12 days instead of ten. I tapered down the temp over about 6 days after the treatment. The three fish that were not eating originally were eating by the end of the treatment. At the end of the treatment all fish were eating, but not as much as they should. Their appetites are slowly increasing though and are approaching normal now. Thanks for the help.

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12 days is ok. Some people run metro for 10-14 days. Glad they are getting better.

with the temperature drop their appetite would decline a little due to a lower metabolism. increasing water temp increases metabolism & appetite in just the same way decreasing water temp decreases metabolism & appetite.They'll pick back up again now that they're all eating again anyway.