Dark and new tail pattern

[rellik]

Problem

I wanted to post this here both for input from the forum and chronological story for myself to be able to reference.

1. Please explain the problems with your fish.
I have had the fish for about a month when I noticed the problem. Nothing new happened that I am aware of.

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).
I have 6 fish and one of them turned dark over a few days. Started turning a little dark the first day, then seem to go back to normal, same thing the next day. Day 3 he stayed dark and stopped eating. Thought this was off so I watched him for a couple days more and once I was sure he was not eating and remained dark I moved him to a hospital tank. I would have moved him sooner, but was in the process of moving tanks and didn't have it set up. None of the other fish have shown any symptoms to date. All still eating and moving around like happy little discs.

3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results.
The first day I moved him over to the hospital tank I added salt, 20gal tank and 4 tsp of salt. I left him in the salt water until I changed the water and then didn't add any more. I raised the temps after chatting with Kenny in hopes of increasing his metabolism and getting him to eat. Day 3 in the hospital he began eating, but remained dark.


Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
55 gal tank, 6 fish. Ranging in size from 3.75 to 4.5. Got them from Kenny a little over a month ago.

5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
Daily changes, at least 75% sometimes more never less. The hospital tank has been getting 2 x daily changes of closer to 90% and I increase the main tank changes as well.

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, a little over a month with fish, 2 months before getting it cycled and ready. Total of about 3 months running.

7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
I dont normally age my water as the PH from the tap and tank are very similar. I have tried aging it for the hospital tank to see if it helped at all. No change in PH, but figured it was worth a shot.

8. Parameters and water source;

- temp 84 (Hospital tank is at 88)

- ph 7.0

- ammonia reading 0

- nitrite reading 0 or very close in both tanks

- nitrate reading 0 - 10 ,my eyes arent what they used to be so hard to get an exact.

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 Tap water. Clorine and Chloramines added, I use Prime to counter this.


9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
None.

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.
FDBW once a day, discius gold Pellets 2 x 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.


Before anything(He is in the middle of the Picture and he hardly ever left this spot):


When I first saw him go dark(Bottom Fish):


After a week in the hospital, sorry for the zoom the dark semi circle was not showing up on camera for some reason and the zoom helped:




He is still darker than he started, but he is eating again and moving around. I plan to continue the more frequent water changes and watch him unless someone sees something I don't, which I am open to but hoping you dont :P Thanks everyone and a special thanks to Kenny for helping me out and talking me down as I was freaking out.

[rickztahone]

That is typically nerve damage but it's difficult to imagine how it got hurt there but this isn't the first time I've seen this. I say keep the water clean and keep observing

[rellik]

Thanks Rick. I had wondered about that, but wasnt sure if I could tell one way or the other. Seems to use the fin just fun, feathering it out and flap[ping about. Will keep an eye on him

[rellik]

I am starting to think there is something wrong with him in the neurological area. I was watching him last night and out of no where he started darting around the tank hitting himself on all the walls and nearly jumping out a few times. Stunned himself and started floating. He recovered, but I have to wonder if that may have been what set this entire thing off in the first place. None of the other fish in the room reacted when he went all spaz and there were no shadows, or movement or noises that I, the other fish, or the sleeping cat in my lap reacted to. Is this something that could be? Maybe he just took one too many hits to the head? Going to google a little, but results there are usually just scary

[rickztahone]

I am starting to think there is something wrong with him in the neurological area. I was watching him last night and out of no where he started darting around the tank hitting himself on all the walls and nearly jumping out a few times. Stunned himself and started floating. He recovered, but I have to wonder if that may have been what set this entire thing off in the first place. None of the other fish in the room reacted when he went all spaz and there were no shadows, or movement or noises that I, the other fish, or the sleeping cat in my lap reacted to. Is this something that could be? Maybe he just took one too many hits to the head? Going to google a little, but results there are usually just scary

Do you happen to have a QT tank?

[rellik]

Yes he has been in there since I noticed this start.