Discus with scales coming off

[Dnelson]

Problem

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

My discus fish's scales appear to be falling off. There are smooth, white patches that are growing larger almost as I watch. He also seems to be itching himself on one of the plants but not in the same exact spot as the patches. These white patches appeared today very suddenly. He was fine this morning and when we got home from being out this afternoon, there was one and now there are more. I have not had anything unusual happen with my tank.


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).

White patches from eye level to dorsal fin level on the front of the head. He's not moving his right fin very much. He looks like he's itching himself on a plant every now and then.

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

None. This has only developed in the last two hours.


Tank/Water

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

48 gallon planted tank, 2 months old
All 1" or less:
5 rummy nose tetras
3 silver tip tetras
1 albino glow light
3 glow lights
2 cardinal tetras
1 bushy nose pleco (added last week--tiny baby)

Between 3"-4":
2 dwarf blue gouramis
4 glass cats

2 assassin snails (added last week)

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

20-30% once a week (I just changed it yesterday)


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

Tank has been running for 2 months. Flourite substrate about 2 inches deep

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

No. I treat the new water with Proper-pH before I add the new water to the tank. No pH swings.

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 _82.6____

- ph _6.8____

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading _0___

- nitrate reading _0___

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.

- well water ____

- municipal water __x__

- RO water ____


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

baby bushy nose pleco and 2 assassin snails added a week ago

10. Please tell us what you feed your fish and how often. This can be critical information for solving the problem so be as specific as you can.

tropical flakes once a day

11. 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.

zeus 1.JPGzeus 2.JPGzeus 3.JPGzeus 4.JPG

[bluelagoon]

How many discus in the tank and how old?Just curious because the tank seems well socked without the discus for it's size.Water quality is probably one issue.Try daily 50 - 80% WC's to begin with.Once a week is not nearly enough.The substrate will also need cleaning on a regular basis especially where it's deep.

[Dnelson]

Thank you. I only have the one discus in there. I have had him a month. I don't know how old he is, if that's what you mean. It's so strange--when I went back to check on him later in the night, all the white spots were completely gone and covered with blue. If I hadn't had my husband see both the spots and the then the no spots I would have thought I was crazy. He was fine this morning and now he's got a little above his mouth. I wonder if he's getting burned on the heater? Is that possible? It's only set to 82 and I wonder why he would be doing that now all of a sudden when he never did it before.

[bluelagoon]

Have you decided to do daily or every other day WC's and did you do your WC and substrate vac?

[nc0gnet0]

Those white spots aren't missing scales.

[bluelagoon]

They look like blemishes of some sort.Most of the posts in this section usually starts with water quality issues.One is a lonely number when it comes to discus;another stressor.

[nc0gnet0]

They look like blemishes of some sort.Most of the posts in this section usually starts with water quality issues.One is a lonely number when it comes to discus;another stressor.

Well, OP's could stand to do more WC's yes, but those spots I believe are just a variation in pigmentation.

[Kyla]

Well, OP's could stand to do more WC's yes, but those spots I believe are just a variation in pigmentation.

but OP said the spots have disappeared? and they appeared very suddenly... OP do u have a current pic?

[Kyla]

i am concerned you may have issues with this discus moving forward. discus are typically kept in groups of 6+, and dont tend to do well alone. in addition to this, your planted tank with deep substrate and infrequent water changes will very likely lead to water quality issues, which could result in a failure to thrive and eventual illness.

your approach is almost exactly like mine, when i first kept discus. ive posted a pic below of my original tank. at first everythig was fine, but over time i had nothing but problems. i started reading up on discus care (a lot of great info on the beginner stickies here) and realized i was making all the common beginner mistakes. just hoping u can avoid the hassle and stress i went thru... i eventually removed all the substrate, potted the plants, added more discus, and really increased my water changes (# and %), and started aging my water. over time i eventually sold all the plants too. discus are SO much happier now, but would have been much larger if i had done all this from day 1 (plus i prob wouldnt have lost any to sickness)

[bluelagoon]

Well, OP's could stand to do more WC's yes, but those spots I believe are just a variation in pigmentation.

+1