Discus breathing through only 1 gill

[g1bbo]

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

about a couple of months ago i got a new discus fish i quarantined him for a couple of days, then introduced him into my aquarium. After about a week or so he started breathing through only one gill. Thought that what ever the problem was it would go away on its own. i raised the temp to 30 degrees from 28 and left it. the problem hasnt gone away and it has spread to the rest of my discuss in the tank. every now and again the discus will pump his gills and white stuff come. this is happening to almost all of my 9 discus fish

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).

- breathing through one gill
- occasionally see 1 or 2 white pimples on them

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

added salt to the aquarium and raised the temperature. didnt work.

Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
280 liters. 9 discus range from 6 cm - 11 cm

5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
40% twice a week

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


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

add water condition to the water from the tap and pour it in.


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 __30___

- ph __7.2___


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.

just use water from the tap


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


10. 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.

[pcsb23]

Sorry we seem to have missed this one ...

Initial observation is that 2 days qt isn't qt - ideally six weeks, minimum ime is 4 weeks.

The white pimples you see from time to time are indicative of the water quality not being quite good enough. Upping the frequency of water changes and wipe downs will help resolve that, even one more 40% change in the week may be all that is needed.

You can drop the temp a little too, 28C is fine for discus and will save a little on electric bills.

As for the one gill, I'd see how the increased water changes go for a couple of weeks. If it gets worse, or other fish start to show the same symptoms then let us know.

[nc0gnet0]

It sounds like a bacterial gill disease. It could be this or parasites, or a combination of both. How long did it take from the introduction of the new fish before the other fish began to show symptoms? I agree with Paul on upping the water changes but might start with one good large one (80%+) first. Can you post some pictures?

[g1bbo]

It sounds like a bacterial gill disease. It could be this or parasites, or a combination of both. How long did it take from the introduction of the new fish before the other fish began to show symptoms? I agree with Paul on upping the water changes but might start with one good large one (80%+) first. Can you post some pictures?

the symptoms started almost straight away have been doing 50% water changes each day now for the last week and have been cleaning the sides of the tank every second day. nothing seemed to change mayby im being impatient

[nc0gnet0]

Can you post some pictures?