ChicagoDiscus.com     Cafepress Store

Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Only breathing from one gill, face turned dark

  1. #1
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    28

    Default Only breathing from one gill, face turned dark

    Wow, wish I wasn't posting this only 3 days after receiving my beautiful discus from Kenny. Two discus are seemingly having problems. The fiamma Rossa has acted strange from the start, hiding out, and breathing fast. That fish also seems to move her fins faster when just staying in one place compared to the speed of the others.

    Now today I've noticed that both that fish, and my golden diamond have suddenly had their faces darken. The golden diamond also has one gill shut. It is only breathing from one side. What is going on here?? I do daily water changes of 50%, and these fish are from a quality source. Also, tank is fully cycled.



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

    See explanation above


    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).

    One fish has clamped gill on one side. Both have dark faces, one has faster than normal breathing and maybe a faster "treading water" fin movement.

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

    None



    Tank/Water

    4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.

    110 gallon, 6 4-4.5 inch discus


    5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).

    50% daily

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

    1.5 months-fully cycled with bacterial starter and ammonia


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

    No


    8. Parameters and water source;

    Ph 7.2, ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrAte 5

    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 ___86__

    - ph ___7.2__

    - ammonia reading _0___

    - nitrite reading __0__

    - nitrate reading _5___

    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.

    Municipal water only.


    - well water ____

    - municipal water ____

    - RO water ____


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

    Discus all added Tuesday. Started showing face darkening and one side clamped gill today


    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.

    IMG_1715.jpg

  2. #2
    Administrator and MVP Dec.2015 Second Hand Pat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Central Florida
    Posts
    31,727
    Real Name
    Pat

    Default Re: Only breathing from one gill, face turned dark

    Hi OlympiaDiscus,

    The two fish with the darken faces, sounds like they are either pushing each other to establish a peaking order or perhaps forming a pair and defending against other fish. I would give these fish a good week and see if every thing resolves it's self. Let the fins and gills heal from shipping. How did you acclimate the fish to the tank; drop and plop or drip? Also are you aging your water?

    Pat
    Your discus are talking to you....are you listening


  3. #3
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    28

    Default Re: Only breathing from one gill, face turned dark

    Hi Pat,
    Thanks a lot for your reply. Let me start by saying that within ten minutes of me posting for help Kenny called me and told me that he suspects the fish are just setting in, peppering because of plants, and possibly mating behavior from the yellow diamond. What a great seller to take such immediate action with his clients! I am going to do 75% daily water changes for the next week and monitor.

    To answer your questions; I acclimated the fish by floating bags, and adding a forth of a cup of tank water every ten minutes for an hour. The fish were all looking perfectly fine for the first three days, so I was really surprised to see all of the sudden these changes (darkness literally happened over night along with the one gill breathing). I thought perhaps there was an issue in my tank, since the fish clearly arrived in great condition.

    The yellow diamond and neon sapphire seemed to be pairing the last two days, although the blue sapphire isn't exhibiting any of these symptoms. The fiamma rosa has been hiding since arrival and has been at the bottom of the pecking order. But the face just made the dark change overnight.

  4. #4
    Administrator and MVP Dec.2015 Second Hand Pat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Central Florida
    Posts
    31,727
    Real Name
    Pat

    Default Re: Only breathing from one gill, face turned dark

    Kenny is very attentive to his customers. Keep up the daily water changes as it will help with the mini-cycle the first week. If you speak to Kenny again ask him his acclimation procedures for newly arrived fish.
    Pat
    Your discus are talking to you....are you listening


  5. #5
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    28

    Default Re: Only breathing from one gill, face turned dark

    Will do. I haven't noticed any mini-cycle this far. Nitrite and ammonia both always at zero.

  6. #6
    Silver Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Miami, FL
    Posts
    882
    Real Name
    Armando

    Default Re: Only breathing from one gill, face turned dark

    hey, Olympia. How are the fish holding up?

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Cafepress