RE: digestive issues

[Davidzil]

What is the difference of the discus digestive system, compared to other fish.
I am talking about blockage and bloating...

[Clawhammer]

Since discus are laterally compressed, so is their digestive tract, making it shorter than most fish.

Blue diamonds and those related to blue diamonds tend to have issues with blocking and bloating moreso than other strains.

[Davidzil]

Yes Eric, see that a lot with the blues.
That comes with the nest questions, how do we solve that problem (as an example Epsom salt, soaking dry food...), what else?

[Ryan925]

Yes Eric, see that a lot with the blues.
That comes with the nest questions, how do we solve that problem (as an example Epsom salt, soaking dry food...), what else?

There was a recent post of a NS or BD that had a huge lump like a tumor. They treated with salt and it finally passed a MASSIVE load

[Davidzil]

Thanks Ryan, any other tricks of the trade.

[ssevasta]

For me I've found the best way to bust a discus blockage is a 7 day treatment with Epsom salts, 89 degree water temperature, and I throw in a few of the algae wafers throughout the day. This usually clears em out really good.

[Davidzil]

Sean, some of them are not too crazy about algae wafers

[ssevasta]

My fish aren't particularly crazy about them either but after an hour or two they eventually pick away at the wafers. It almost seems as if they wait until I look away before they start to eat the wafers. I know that they're eating them though because I can see the difference in the color of their poop.

[Davidzil]

I use them from time to time because I have a couple BNs, just see my dominant male play with the wafers.The rest not really interested, just keep waiting for Al's worms lol

[ssevasta]

lol yeah mini plecos can be a riot they have a lot of personality for such a small fish. I have 5 L134's in my 75 gallon and 4 L134's in my 55 gallon, they're still babies at 4cm but they're already starting to develop a pecking order and territories in my tanks. I still need to order a few pieces of cholla wood off of amazon for them in case they decide they want to rasp on it. I've read that even the carnivorous pleco species like my L134's will each wood sometimes because it aids in clearing out their digestive tract. I would definitely have a few pieces in my tank if I had BN's though because they 100% need it. The cholla is cheap too, it's only $15 for six 4 inch pieces. I got an awesome deal on the L134's from Bryan Weiss at discus N more, the L134's were only $33 each and he gave me 10% off for being a Simply premium member because he's a sponsor here. Most other online sellers are getting $75-125 per L134 nowadays. That's why I bought all 9 that he had left. I used to have a group of L134's years ago that I got from Apistomaster's breeding program. He used to have a spring sale on the forum here every year with a few species of fancy plecos that he bred before he became ill and had to sell his fish. It was really sad and a huge loss to the hobby because he was the primary breeder of L134's in the US. I hope I'll be able to establish a breeding group with the 9 I got in a year or two when they get big enough so that more hobbyists on the forum can enjoy this amazing pleco at an affordable price.

[Davidzil]

Yes, love the plecos, but they can make a mess.

[ssevasta]

Yes, love the plecos, but they can make a mess.

That's actually another thing I loved about the L134's cuz they didn't poop all over the place like a lot of other plecos and their poop is so small I just vac it out with the discus poop when I see it. My discus definitely poop at least three times as much as my L134's.

[gimmpylady]

Yes Eric, see that a lot with the blues.
That comes with the nest questions, how do we solve that problem (as an example Epsom salt, soaking dry food...), what else?

how much salt for soaking food and how much for tank? is the fish put in as a bath or can I add the salt to the aquarium for a week?

[ssevasta]

how much salt for soaking food and how much for tank? is the fish put in as a bath or can I add the salt to the aquarium for a week?

I just add one teaspoon of Epsom salts per 10 gallons and replace any that I remove with my daily water changes for seven days.

[Second Hand Pat]

I would be careful with adding heat. If the fish has a bacteria infection the heat will make that 100 times worse.
Pat