Lump with wound

[jmf3460]

I think if he has any of these parasites, the levamisole will help

[jmf3460]

you may want to add an air stone to the tank while treating with levamisole, its a harsher medication and extra oxygen can never hurt

[undel]

So as an update, I did the Levamisole treatment for 24 hours on the 4th. He turned greyish and shed his slime coat during the treatment. 2 days after it was removed from the water he's now back to his original coloring with slime coat intact. We'll see if this nips the problem in the bud!

Meanwhile, holes in fins still closing, main lesion still closing, lesion on gills PROBABLY healing, but it looks like a mess, much like his original lesion did. I'm gently scooping him up while in the aquarium, exposing just his bad side, dabbing the wound a bit dryer, and swabbing with betadine. No reason to take him out of the tank and risk dropping him again, and this is probably better for retaining his slime coat. At this point he's either weaker, or he's just used to me scooping him up, as he's pretty docile during the entire fiasco.

Tank has been runnign at 84 degrees. No meds in water, with daily water changes 75%. Eyes are clear, and I don't see signs of NEW lesions. Still not eating. Color is good, but bars are up all the time.

[jmf3460]

You are doing a great job Undel. Keep up the good work, we're all cheering for this guy. Are you planning a second 24 hour levamisole treatment? Doesn't it say to do three treatments?

[undel]

As an update, he's looking great. Thank you so much for the advice. I feel like I've learned a lot from this experience. The original wound is scaling over nicely (I can still tell where it was) and the gill wound is on-the-mend for-sure. The holes in his fins are all closed or nearly closed, and no further wounds are appearing. I think that parasites were the underlying cause of everything. I'm still in shock that he's looking so great. Discus (at least 5" adults with some reserves) are pretty darned hardy, all things considered!

He's due for his second round of levamisole.



165 gallon: substrate switch!
I moved all of his friends to the 72 gallon spare tank today and removed all of that substrate from the main 165. I apparently kept the substrate pretty tidy. There was only the finest dusting of mulm underneath! I did a 100% change on the tank while I switched out the substrate. I switched from 2 inches deep of the black ecocomplete to 1/2 inch of white pool filter sand. I'm excited to see what this will do for everyone's colors! I took a before picture, because I'll bet it'll be dramatic.

I'm going to let the sand switch stand for 24 hours empty, then do a 90% water change, then 24 hours later I'm moving everyone (including our patient) back to the main tank. I'll post the before/after for colors, and also to show you how the patient is looking in his new home. I do think he'll have scars, but I'm just so pleased that things are mending!

[White Worm]

Great news. There isn't enough positive posts like this after treatment. Post some pics.

[jmf3460]

So glad to hear Undel, this fish was definitely worth saving, and in my opinion the learning experience is worth it too. pictures??

[Ryan925]

As an update, he's looking great. Thank you so much for the advice. I feel like I've learned a lot from this experience. The original wound is scaling over nicely (I can still tell where it was) and the gill wound is on-the-mend for-sure. The holes in his fins are all closed or nearly closed, and no further wounds are appearing. I think that parasites were the underlying cause of everything. I'm still in shock that he's looking so great. Discus (at least 5" adults with some reserves) are pretty darned hardy, all things considered!

He's due for his second round of levamisole.



165 gallon: substrate switch!
I moved all of his friends to the 72 gallon spare tank today and removed all of that substrate from the main 165. I apparently kept the substrate pretty tidy. There was only the finest dusting of mulm underneath! I did a 100% change on the tank while I switched out the substrate. I switched from 2 inches deep of the black ecocomplete to 1/2 inch of white pool filter sand. I'm excited to see what this will do for everyone's colors! I took a before picture, because I'll bet it'll be dramatic.

I'm going to let the sand switch stand for 24 hours empty, then do a 90% water change, then 24 hours later I'm moving everyone (including our patient) back to the main tank. I'll post the before/after for colors, and also to show you how the patient is looking in his new home. I do think he'll have scars, but I'm just so pleased that things are mending!

You will be quite happy you did. I swapped 120# of black eco for 50# of pfs in my 75. What a difference it made with the fish

[undel]

Here's the poor little fella, back in the main tank. I probably shouldn't have said that he looks "great". He does not look great, but he's a fighter!

Despite how ragged he looks, I'm hopeful because things are on the mend. All of these issues present are no longer spreading or worsening, and are healing up. Here's the rundown:

• He's been in treatment since July.
• Since that time, he's eaten very little.
• While he has some severe hole in the head going on, the ones patch his gill are actually the healing of a lesion much like the one that erupted after the first post. The gill lesion looks SO MUCH BETTER. The hole in the head above his eye I suspect developed because he hasn't eaten much (if at all) since July and he's nutritionally deficient.
• You can see his scar where his lower fin meets his body, right in the center. It's nearly fully scaled over!
• There are still pinpoint circles in his fins, but these are no longer holes. They are filling in.
• He used to have a smoother profile, but he's now got a nose bump. I read this can happen after a major sickness and will likely be like this for the rest of this life.
• He's my thinnest fish now. He's not razor thin, but he's not the fleshed out happy fat discus the rest of my tank are. Hoping now that he's eating again he'll flesh out and the HITH will go away.
• This is his bad side. His other side has no defects aside from one small HITH circle and the fin issues, which are visible from both sides.
• No cloudy eyes!
• No more hiding!
• Now that he's with his friends, he's going after food again. He'll even peck them away from food he's after!

feesh.jpg



Everyone is now in the main tank with the new substrate. I'm going to wait a week to take my after picture so everyone will look their best, because some of the fish have roughed up scales from the netting. If the color change is dramatic, I think it'll be fun to start a new thread to show off how the substrate can change the colors of a fish. With my dark background, it may not be a huge change though. We'll see what happens!

[jmf3460]

So you opted not to go with the 3rd levamisole treatment Undel?

[undel]

So you opted not to go with the 3rd levamisole treatment Undel?

I didn't realize a third treatment was necessary. The medication says two treatments, one to wipe out the parasites, one to wipe out the eggs after they hatch. Do you think I should take him out in another 3-4 weeks and do a third if I think he can handle it? I'm worried about the poor guy's kidneys, but equally I don't want him to have to have gone through this whole ordeal, only to have the underlying problem still present.

Before he went into the main tank he got his second round of levamisole. For good measure I also treated all of my other discus in the 72 gallon, and treated the main tank while it was empty. My reasoning behind this was that if our patient got parasites from the snails or some other source, chances were good it was still present in my main tank and fish and I want it gone.

[jmf3460]

no I think you are good Undel, I thought levamisole was a 3 time treatment but I must have been wrong. I think you are on the right track and keep a sharp eye on him and on everyone else.