A One Stop Shop For A Fish, That's About To Flop!

[remy554]

This story starts A few months back. When I was still wet behind the ears. I wanted to give my Discus some live food. To encourage growth and breeding. I had looked online at different live foods (blood/black worms) and A few others. I think I told myself that one live food is as good as another, I was sorely wrong.

I got the bright idea on my way home from work. When I saw A bait store, with A big sign that said "LIVE BAIT". So I pulled over and went inside to see what they had. The first thing I noticed was the smell. I think they were making their own stink bait in the back(new recipe). Anyway, I asked the old man that owned the place, what he had along the line of small worms. I told him what I would be using them for. He said the smallest worms he had were red wigglers. I bought A few dozen for about $4.

I took them right home, gave them A bit of A chop, rinsed them off and tossed them in the tank SMART I KNOW! The funny thing is, my fish went nut for them like A real feeding frenzy. I feed my fish the worms A few times with their normal food. Not even A week goes by when I started seeing changes in the water and my fish. Flashing, food strikes, fighting and white spots in the fishes slime coat to name a few. I mean you it name it they had it.

I have A microscope that really comes in handy. So I took A water sample to see what was up and in just four drops of tank water there were tons of creaters. I could see at least THREE types of small worms other than the "red wigglers",four or five types of protozoa and not to mention all the different types of bacterias and funguses.

I had to do something quick! So I started hitting the books hard and by books I mean YouTube of course.

Here is A breakdown of how I turned everything around and haven't had any problems since then!

Step 1: Water Changes!
Doing water changes will dilute anything in the tanks water, from parasites to toxins.

After picking A part everything I have learned about water changes and testing it. Here is the fasted and safest way I have come up with to do A 50% water change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q10E0G_CT2E

I make something for my fish called "ready water" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktW3mO7Jgkk

(WARNING WATCH ALL THE VIDEO FIRST!!!) If you use "ready water" then you can do two 50% water changes which is = to A 100% water change https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3LDwJhul6M

In order to fully clean the infested tank. I first transferred the fish into A holding tank/hospital tank.

I then cleaned the infested tank, breeding cone, filters etc. with Methylene Blue http://amzn.to/2h4KDqV which will kill Fungus and Bacteria(BOTH GOOD & BAD). If you kill off all your "good bacteria" you will need to replace them http://amzn.to/2gYmuyt in order to have A health system.

I used A steam wand on the tank and rinsed the out the tank with really hot water A few time, to kill off some of the worms and protozoa around the edges.

Step 2: Salt Dip!
Before I moved my fish back into their CLEAN MAIN TANK. I gave them A salt dip. Salt dips can be useful at many different times in A fishes life. A salt dip can repair damage done by lack of oxygen, bacteria or parasite infections; ammonia, nitrite, nitrate poisoning and reduce stress.

A salt dip will cause you fish to rapidly regenerate their slim coat. The slim coat protects the fish for many forms of infection.

Also the salt will help kill some external parasites and knock them lose.

Use salt that (DOES NOT) have an anti-caking agent. Also iodine will be harmful in long term use. You want A salt that contains no additives!

Recommended salts are:
Aquarium salt http://amzn.to/2gYcx45
Kosher Salt http://amzn.to/2gLNjGA
Natural Sea salt http://amzn.to/2gRslsV

This is how I do a salt dip for my discus.

You will need: A holding tank/hospital tank, A small container with A lid that can hold at least one gallon of water, ready water, air stone, 10 tbs salt, fish net, timer.

Make sure the water in the holding tank, one gallon container and the main tank are as similar as possible i.e.(temperature and PH) to avoid stressing the fish.

I first transfer my fish into my holding tank. Then I give the main tank A deep cleaning.

Dissolve 10 tablespoons (or 30 teaspoons) of salt into your one gallon container of ready water. Stir the water until the salt is fully dissolved.

Add an air stone to the one gallon container. You want the bubbles to come up very gently so the fish doesn't have to fight against them.

Now, net the fish out of the holding tank and gently place it into the salt water solution. Leave the fish in the salt water solution no more than five minutes.

Keep A close eye on your fish. If the fish lays over on its side for more than 5 seconds in A row and can not right itself, you need to remove the fish from the salt water solution. You can put the fish back in to the holding tank and try again after one hour. Only try it once more, if your second attempt fails. Return the fish to the clean water in the main tank.

If your fish makes it the full five minutes which it should, then good. Move the fish to the main tank and proceed to (Step 3).

Step 3: Medication!
It's time to deal the final blow!
If you feel like you want to repeat Steps 1 or 2. Do it before you start using any Meds or you will just be pouring them down the drain.

I used two types of Meds from Seachem.

My fish were having problems with their fins tearing and rotting. So I started using Sulfaplex http://amzn.to/2fWfa5p which treats for external problems such as Fin Rot, Mouth Rot, Fungus, Fur Coat Syndrome.

Do to the behavior and eating habits I was sure that there were problems unseen inside the fish. I started using Metroplex http://amzn.to/2gYuXBx to treat for internal parasites. I used the Metroplex to make Medicated Fish Food https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xWq-oOa7Kc

To treat successfully with these Meds you have to follow the instructions/dosage and treat for the full recommended length of time.

Step 4: Repeat steps 1,2 and 3
If at first you don't succeed, try try again.
Even after doing all this problems could still come up i.e.(new infestation, cross contamination from A dirty fish net, splash of water from A nearby tank or A drop of water off your hand).
Repeat as needed, until your fish are back to 100%.

[Akili]

Jeremy, your thread is on information as to what you did so I am going to move it to Medicine Cabinet and Disease info from the Emergency Room

[Jenene]

That is awful Jeremy. What an nightmare. A good warning to remember when we think we are doing the best for our fish. A very well meaning act could have been tragic had you not taken immediate action. One wrong move and you could have lost everything. A great reminder to stick with proven, known safe foods for our fish. Thanks sharing your experience- you may have saved someone else from having to go through all that with maybe not such a good outcome. Hope your tank continues to remain parasite, fungus and bad bacteria free. Al's FDBW and FDBW with spinach are the bomb. A safe, clean, nutritious bomb that the fish adore with no unwanted hitchhikers.

[remy554]

Thanks for checking it out. I hope it really does help someone.

[Pompadour Discus]

Wow! Thanks for all the information, I learned something new once again. I will be printing your post and probably laminated it with some other great post on here to keep up in my new fish room.

[remy554]

Wow! Thanks for all the information, I learned something new once again. I will be printing your post and probably laminated it with some other great post on here to keep up in my new fish room.

That is a great idea, making a kind of "play book".
It is easy to harm your fish even if you have the best intentions. I want others to learn from my mistakes, to save time, money, and maybe a fishes life

[adrian31@outlook.com]

Thanks for posting this. This is good information and also a warning. I was recently brain storming on what other foods I could give, and was came across red wrigglers. Good thing we don't have any in my area.

[Second Hand Pat]

I would like to make some suggestions and address some issues I see in the videos referred in the first post.

First lets talk about red wigglers. I raise my own red wigglers and have never had an issue with them. I get them from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm. The worms from the bait store could have caused issues with the fish I suppose but I would suggest to you Jeremy to take a sample of your tank water and check it out under the microscope. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw the same critters as when you checked before.

As discus keepers we become water changes specialists. Some of us change directly from the tap and/or age our water. In the "ready water" video the guy uses prime (which is fine) but he also uses regular salt, Epsom salt and discus buffer. I would not recommend using salt in the WC water as a regular practice. It really is not needed. Our discus are not marine critters. Also domestic discus do very well in tap water. However if the ph is too high or the water needs to be soften for breeding best to use RO water added to the tap water to the desired TDS. Using products like discus buffer can lead to an unsteady ph which can be a stressor for the fish.

Another note on salt. Generally any salt can be used. No need to buy expensive aquarium salt etc. Please read this thread http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...highlight=salt.

For doing a salt dip read this thread http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...light=salt+dip.

Lastly on the use of meds best to know what you are treating for. Also best to use pure metro when needed.

Jeremy, I am not trying to be hard on you but feel some of the information and practices shown in the video's is misleading or not best practice.

Pat

[pitdogg2]

I would like to make some suggestions and address some issues I see in the videos referred in the first post.

First lets talk about red wigglers. I raise my own red wigglers and have never had an issue with them. I get them from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm. The worms from the bait store could have caused issues with the fish I suppose but I would suggest to you Jeremy to take a sample of your tank water and check it out under the microscope. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw the same critters as when you checked before.

As discus keepers we become water changes specialists. Some of us change directly from the tap and/or age our water. In the "ready water" video the guy uses prime (which is fine) but he also uses regular salt, Epsom salt and discus buffer. I would not recommend using salt in the WC water as a regular practice. It really is not needed. Our discus are not marine critters. Also domestic discus do very well in tap water. However if the ph is too high or the water needs to be soften for breeding best to use RO water added to the tap water to the desired TDS. Using products like discus buffer can lead to an unsteady ph which can be a stressor for the fish.

Another note on salt. Generally any salt can be used. No need to buy expensive aquarium salt etc. Please read this thread http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...highlight=salt.

For doing a salt dip read this thread http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...light=salt+dip.

Lastly on the use of meds best to know what you are treating for. Also best to use pure metro when needed.

Jeremy, I am not trying to be hard on you but feel some of the information and practices shown in the video's is misleading or not best practice.

Pat

I'm in agreement with this it is OK to use salt at time of need but not on a regular basis.



I have also used red worms and earthworms from bait store for years with never a problem. 99.99% of the time terrestrial critters cannot affect aquarium inhabitants.

1. when I get home from buying I rinse all my worms off and toss out all the dirt or whatever they came in and put them into paper or peat based worm bedding.

2. I also feed them good worm food to help gut load them, When they are going to be ate i rinse them again and strip their poop/casting as much as I can.

Stripping the castings or poop just help keep the AQ cleaner not that I'm worried they will transmit anything.

The great part about red worms(red wigglers) is there is no need to refrigerate them. putting them in the fridge can shorten the life.