Modealings first group

[modealings]

Hi all - I wanted to start a tank journal to document all the happenings (good and bad) with this first serious attempt at keeping discus. Thanks for looking!

Introduction:
I've kept fish off and on for 20 years with my father. Always freshwater - firemouths, oscars, dwarf cichlids, african cichlids. I always thought discus were just the ultimate and tried them twice with very poor success. Haha I think it was for one of my middle school birthday's that my dad and I went to a breeder. I put 4 blue diamonds in a planted 55 gal tank - they sank to the bottom and never came back up. (I was doing maybe a monthly wc...). Anyway now I'm back at it - although I definitely jumped in without reading enough first. But I guess trial by fire is one way to learn too!

My major impression so far is that large wc's like this are just so foreign to keeper's of most other kinds of fish. Just understanding the importance of them was the biggest barrier I've had to get over.

The tank is a 75 gallon (now bb) running an AQ110 and 2 sponge filters. I got a group of 5 discus from a lfs who buys them from Vietnam. Ive definitely had some ups and downs, but since I'm posting this 3 months after getting them I'll just go through the timeline.

TIMELINE:

Early Nov 2015 - Buy 5 discus from lfs. To my very untrained eye they all looked good. When I saw them eat from the store owner's hand, I was hooked. The pic below was my idea of a good quarantine tank...yikes. (All the local pet store folks said don't wipe the glass and add some gravel to keep the good bacteria growing...still shouldve read more). Shortly after, found out the tank was nuked. Finally started to up my wc's to 50-75% 2x daily. Unfortunately didnt measure them.
Discus1.jpg

Dec 2015 - Moved fish to 75 gal tank with just potted plants. Wc's 50% daily. They definitely looked better. Honestly I dont know how they lived through this first month though. By what I'm now calling a stroke of luck, my plant light broke. Took over a week to get it repaired, so I just tossed all the plants and went full bb. Also attempted to deworm them with Prazi. Measured them - smallest was 3.5in and biggest was just over 5in from tip to tip.
IMG_0020.jpg
IMG_0021.jpg
IMG_0023.jpg

Jan 2015 - Things were going pretty well. Then I'm gifted a full 125 gal set-up with african cichlids. I vaguely knew the risks of introducing different bacteria and other pathogens so I at least tried to keep things separate (hoses, etc). I moved the discus into a 53 gal tank and put the 50+ african cichlids in the 75 gal while I resealed the 125. Shortly after the biggest discus (Big Red) starts to look sick (turns dark, stress bars, hides in corner). (Pics below). Poop looks fine for a week or so, then starts to turn white, stringy, sometimes looking like an empty/clear casing. I've now rehomed the african cichlids, sterilized, and moved the discus back to the 75. I'm 1 week into aging my water (seeing a 0.5-0.7 pH swing). I measured again while moving them back. Biggest is now 6in and smallest 4in.

IMG_0121.jpg
IMG_0123.jpg
IMG_0125.jpg

[modealings]

And finally, here they are today. (Sorry the pics are a little darker, I actually got this new light with an actinic blue bulb that is nice in person just not with the iPhone apparently...). I've crept up my temp (90F today up from 83F normally). I'm also adding metro. The poop is continuously white, stringy, with an empty shell casing appearance (been trying for a photo of it). He is coming out more with the increased heat but no major appetite. Just keeping up with the 80% daily wc's for now.
IMG_0139.JPG
IMG_0134.JPG
IMG_0135.JPG
IMG_0140.JPG

(Oops, images are sideways. Maybe an admin can help me out here? Thanks.)

[rickztahone]

Fixed the pics for you.

It is good to get a backstory for your discus. I remember seeing these 2 days ago? Or maybe yesterday. Considering you got these from an LFS, I don't think you did that bad. Many here get horribly stunted discus, while these still had a chance. I do remember you posting about your Africans tank and having possibly subjected your discus to something bad. The good news is that you seem to be taking care of it, and it seems like you are willing to do what it takes to make this time a positive outcome one with your discus.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

[modealings]

Thanks Ricardo! Yea I think I did read somewhere that both African cichlids and discus are commonly affected by hex. That being said, it's still just a guess as to what's wrong with this guy. Here's a feces pic.

IMG_0142.JPG

[rickztahone]

I don't actually see feces there?

[modealings]

Can you see that almost clear casing coming from the anus? Maybe our screens are different - I'll try for another shot.

[modealings]

Here is hopefully a better shot... I've got to think Hex. Although it's starting to have a yellow tinge to it.

IMG_0151.JPG

[rickztahone]

That may just be stomach lining. Has it been eating anything at all? Have you tried enticing it with blood worms?

[modealings]

Actually hasn't eaten anything in close to a week. Been trying garlic in the bh mix to entice w no luck. will try some bws

[rickztahone]

Actually hasn't eaten anything in close to a week. Been trying garlic in the bh mix to entice w no luck. will try some bws

Try FDBW or last effort BW

[modealings]

OK so long time without any updates here. Unfortunately this likely do to the fact that its been a rollercoaster ride with this first group. Of the original 5 I had, only 2 remain. It's unfortunate because there have been periods where things seem to be going exceptionally well, but then one will stop eating and just refuse to start back up. I tried both metro for suspected hex and formalin for suspected flukes. The formalin seemed to help. It wasn't until I tried Prazipro that it seemed to really make a difference.

I've kept up with 50-90% daily wc's using aged water as well. This has turned out to not be anywhere near as grueling as I thought initially! I actually really enjoy it. The few inches of growth that I did see started after I began doing this. I just hook up a small pond pump to the end of a python and pump the water out. Then pump it back in from an aging barrel. Takes all of 20-25min/day. The slowest part is probably refilling the aging barrel bc the water is so slow out of the tap haha.

Here are some pics of the surviving 2. I measured recently at just about 6in including tail.

[modealings]

*Man sideways again! Sorry I can't figure out how to fix this.

[modealings]

So here's my question: What to do with these fish?

The initial experience definitely has me hooked. I want to get a new group from one of the sponsors here (and hopefully buy one of their cycled sponges as well) and do things right this time around. But even though these 2 have been acting healthy for awhile I don't want to risk it. I've read a lot on here about parasites living symbiotically with their hosts and it seems quite reasonable that these 2 may have just adapted to the disease. So I'd like to get rid of these two, sterilize everything, and start from scratch in a few months. Now is actually the perfect time bc we are moving.

My current city really only has 1 lfs outside of the big chains like Petco. And that one store is not too receptive on taking them. I think probably the best bet is to drive them back to the original lfs where I got them. It's a 2 hr drive but likely necessary.

[Dhavalsp]

I am sorry things turned that way...

The remaining too look nice!

I think you should not mix these old fish with new ones, especially if you are planning to start with juvenile...if you are getting grown fish, even then avoid mixing them just to sleep well at night...

I am sure some experienced folks will be aware of some total TLC method for such situations...

[modealings]

I am sorry things turned that way...

The remaining too look nice!

I think you should not mix these old fish with new ones, especially if you are planning to start with juvenile...if you are getting grown fish, even then avoid mixing them just to sleep well at night...

I am sure some experienced folks will be aware of some total TLC method for such situations...

Thanks Dhavalsp. I won't be getting new ones until I get rid of these two and sterilize everything. For the time being though I might keep them for awhile. They don't fight too badly and I'm continuing to learn quite a bit about their care - better to do it now than with a new batch.

What do you all think of the dorsal fin on that 2nd one? It looks deformed to me. They are probably both stunted (coming from a LFS combined with the poor husbandry I put them through), but the dorsal fin on that one looks like it starts out too shallow. Im wondering if this fish should have just been culled by the breeder.