Should I medicate?

[rickztahone]

Yeah I didnt mean add a substrate, just some items to give a sense of security.

Got it. As of right now I don't believe I have anything other than that piece of driftwood. I will boil it first thing in the morning. It is waterlogged already.

Rick, do you have some clay pots or cones. A piece of floating wood maybe not be the best choice. Those fish most likely have never seen a piece of driftwood.

Unfortunately no, I do not have anything else on hand.

Rick when you get a chance you sould get some carbon, just for a day or two, maybe something has change in your water supply.

AL

That is what the supplier mentioned, as of right now I haven't had a chance to get some. I may be able to go tomorrow though if my wife comes home for work soon enough to take over with my son.

nc0gnet0 Rick - might MB help the rapid breathing? Just thinking back to when I had that batch of fry who's air pump died and you had me use MB. What was with the suppliers carbon suggestion? I'm missing something.

OP Ric - really sorry you're having such a hassle with these fish, major bummer.

Bummer indeed. It is not how I wanted to be re-introduced to the hobby. I did wait quite a while to post this thread. I felt I had exhausted all my past knowledge of what may be causing this stress. From now on, I kind of feel like a new member in that I'm running out of options.

Depends on the reason the fish are breathing hard actually. If stress related don't think it will make a difference.

I believe you. From my past experience I know that discus that are healthy can indeed pass white feces, especially after a ship since they are placed on a fast. Seeing as some have yet to eat, they are still passing this white feces. However, will stress alone cause the breathing from one gill only? I do not recall that aspect.

[dkeef]

Hope all goes well rick. Its tough when u got problems from start.

[Chicago Discus]

Here are the exact fish that Rick purchased before shipping to him........Josie

[rickztahone]

Thanks Dave. I hope you take care of your situation over there :-/.

When I got home tonight I turned on the lights, and I fed to see if any would try to eat. Only one did. However, I decided to take the pre-filter off of the left side which is where they usually all hide (90% of the time).

To my surprise, many of them started to freely move around the tank more. Mind you, they didn't eat, but they showed more confidence in moving about the tank.

The main discus I am worried about though was in his own little world. I am uploading a video to show how it looks.

I have noticed the white lips, the pale center mass and dark edges, also, the head looks to be covered in a thin layer of slime. Oddly enough, I thought it looked kind of bloated, even though it hasn't ate in over 2 weeks. Possible bloat?

If you notice anything please chime in:

http://youtu.be/5KSKxiUrWqQ

[rickztahone]

Thanks Josie for chiming in. I didn't want to make this about the supplier, rather, to help me fix this health problem that I am stumped by. I knew full well how they looked before they got to me since I saw that video.

However, they haven't been that comfortable under my care, and I want to pin-point why.

Notice, the discus that starts off in the top right in Josie's video is the one in question here that is now very dark.

[Chicago Discus]

After watching the videos twice your correct its one of the girls thats having an issue not the boy.......Josie

[Chicago Discus]

She is not Happy about something going on in that tank.

[timmy82]

It seems still of reasonable condition and wouldn't think it is a supplier issue at all. From Josie video to yours the tank size is much different and your walls are all clear. I would cover the walls and even reduce the tank size with a divider. It seems more stress related from the new enviroment. Also some epson salt will help out and reduce possibilities of bloat ect. It seems like it isn't happy in the new tank would be like you walking out on a glass platform at 10 stories high with no hand rails or restraint.

[Argentum]

Personally, at this point I would treat.

Even good quality humans get sick, specially when they change environments. I had experience with Forrest with a group order we made and out of 23, only one did not eat until 2 weeks have passed and a round of Metro solved the issue and it has one of the best appetites now.

General cure (Metro + Prazi) is what I would use. Again its only me. However as everyone suggested I would want to make sure it's not the water first (which I doubt it is).

Does your water have any smell or taste in it? is it drinking water? if not I doubt it's the water, because if it had any organics it would taste and smell bad and if it had heavy metals it will taste metallic. And there are strict regulations on the levels of these specially in the US.

The best way I found out to use Metro is to buy a pack of the 500mg tablets from a pharmacy grind them to powder after I know the weight of one tablet. I store the powder and weigh the amount that would give me 250mg / 10 gallons put them in a water bottle with warm water (not more than 40 C) and shake vigorously and dose. I change 50% of the water and re-dose every 2 days.

After 5 doses the usually start to eat sometimes a day or two after the treatment is complete.

[pcsb23]

Ric, how do you prepare your water? Also is the floor of the tank painted?

[PP_GBR]

I would give the fish a gill wash with PP and Furan 2. If it is stress related, the fish does not hang on top of the water but rather in the corner of the tank.

[Chicago Discus]

Ric, how do you prepare your water? Also is the floor of the tank painted?

Rick I agree where is Paul is going with this. Something might be up with that water
How did you fix the micro bubble issue?
The right gill looks damaged which leads me to believe that something is up with the water. We really need to know how you are preparing your water and how much of a water change you are doing. What chemicals did you use in and around the aquarium?

[Allwin]

I suspect the dissolved gases(micro bubbles). I had similar situation with some fishes not everyone. So i minimized the WC% from 90% to 20-25%. And they did very well instead. My few cents. Love the shapes of the fishes, Good luck!!!

And also, give them more hides/turn off the light/feeding twice a day. Reduce the WC, lets say 25% twice a week for now, just imo.

[Disgirl]

Hi Ric, have been following this thread and I am trying hard to think of what the issue could be. I went back and looked over your tank build thread. On post 8 there I notice you have a pic of silicone you used for the tank top re glue. I don't think that is aquarium safe silicone. Probably has mildew resistant in it which would poison fish. I have looked at the various silicones in Lowes and most say not for use in fish tanks. Can you go read what yours says? Just trying to help here...
Barb

[rickztahone]

She is not Happy about something going on in that tank.

You are telling me...

It seems still of reasonable condition and wouldn't think it is a supplier issue at all. From Josie video to yours the tank size is much different and your walls are all clear. I would cover the walls and even reduce the tank size with a divider. It seems more stress related from the new enviroment. Also some epson salt will help out and reduce possibilities of bloat ect. It seems like it isn't happy in the new tank would be like you walking out on a glass platform at 10 stories high with no hand rails or restraint.

While I see what you are metaphorically getting at, I have seen discus stressed due to BB and this is far worse than ever. The others do not show advance forms as stress as this one, or the rapid breathing that it did on day one which I believe all of this stems from.

Personally, at this point I would treat.

Even good quality humans get sick, specially when they change environments. I had experience with Forrest with a group order we made and out of 23, only one did not eat until 2 weeks have passed and a round of Metro solved the issue and it has one of the best appetites now.

General cure (Metro + Prazi) is what I would use. Again its only me. However as everyone suggested I would want to make sure it's not the water first (which I doubt it is).

Does your water have any smell or taste in it? is it drinking water? if not I doubt it's the water, because if it had any organics it would taste and smell bad and if it had heavy metals it will taste metallic. And there are strict regulations on the levels of these specially in the US.

The best way I found out to use Metro is to buy a pack of the 500mg tablets from a pharmacy grind them to powder after I know the weight of one tablet. I store the powder and weigh the amount that would give me 250mg / 10 gallons put them in a water bottle with warm water (not more than 40 C) and shake vigorously and dose. I change 50% of the water and re-dose every 2 days.

After 5 doses the usually start to eat sometimes a day or two after the treatment is complete.

I will keep this in mind in case I want to treat with Metro. Thank you.

Ric, how do you prepare your water? Also is the floor of the tank painted?

The water is straight from tap. I never had an issue with my water when I had discus before. The tank floor is not technically painted, but it does have some form of bottom insulation from manufacturer that you can not remove. See here:

I would give the fish a gill wash with PP and Furan 2. If it is stress related, the fish does not hang on top of the water but rather in the corner of the tank.

I will keep this in mind. I honestly didn't want to use strong meds, especially in the main tank as I do not want to recycle.

Rick I agree where is Paul is going with this. Something might be up with that water
How did you fix the micro bubble issue?
The right gill looks damaged which leads me to believe that something is up with the water. We really need to know how you are preparing your water and how much of a water change you are doing. What chemicals did you use in and around the aquarium?

Well, I have all that info on the OP, but here goes again, the water is straight from tap. It is treated with SAFE. I do 90-100% WC's every 2 days. The parameters are all good. The micro-bubbles were completely taken care of by using a micron sock and a pre-filter. I reduced the flow of the water when doing the fill up as well.

I suspect the dissolved gases(micro bubbles). I had similar situation with some fishes not everyone. So i minimized the WC% from 90% to 20-25%. And they did very well instead. My few cents. Love the shapes of the fishes, Good luck!!!

And also, give them more hides/turn off the light/feeding twice a day. Reduce the WC, lets say 25% twice a week for now, just imo.

I can definitely try this. In all honesty, it was never my custom to go more than 1 day without a WC, and it would always be a really large one at that. I will reduce the water change percentage again and see if it helps.

Hi Ric, have been following this thread and I am trying hard to think of what the issue could be. I went back and looked over your tank build thread. On post 8 there I notice you have a pic of silicone you used for the tank top re glue. I don't think that is aquarium safe silicone. Probably has mildew resistant in it which would poison fish. I have looked at the various silicones in Lowes and most say not for use in fish tanks. Can you go read what yours says? Just trying to help here...
Barb

Thanks Barb. It is the GE Silicone I. I have used this silicone in the past with no problems, and I know many others have as well. Thank you for trying to pin-point what this may be.

To all, as of right now, I went ahead and did a salt dip, which is the only thing I have on hand currently. The discus rolled over after 10 minutes and I moved him to a QT 5g bucket. I will keep an eye on it and see how it does. I will wait a couple of days to put him back in the tank so it isn't so exposed after the dip.

In all honesty, I have pretty much given up on this fish. If it keeps deteriorating I will have to euthanize it and put it out of its misery.