AquaticSuppliers.com     Golden State Discus

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 16

Thread: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

  1. #1
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    45

    Default Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Hi,

    I have total 4 discus in my 40 gallon tank.

    -->From last couple of days i have been noticing that two of my turquoise discus (+2.5") are not eating /showing no interest in food and staying at the corner of my tank facing the rare side of the aquarium.
    -->The third discus is roaming around the tank but eating nothing / less even when his favorite beefheart flakes are fed.

    I'm planning to treat my entire tank with 4 discus.(its been four to six weeks on average these discus were added to the tank). Based on my online research I have found following two possible treatment's but would like to check your inputs / best suggestions on how to start with,

    1) Would like to start with adding "Epsom Salt"(1 tbsp for every 10 gallons of water) + rise the tank temperature to 92 F and let the fish in it for 24 hours with 75% water change following day.
    2) If the above tratetment didn't help I will go with "Treating Hexamita with Metronidazole". Method two from following suggested link,
    http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/...itiasis2.shtml

    Question: Shall i start with (1) treatment or shall i directly go with (2) without any harm. (or) should i wait for few more days before starting any of these treatments?


    Below is the questionnaire filled as per my knowledge,

    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?
    It's been couple of days since i have noticed the discus are facing the tank corner. Its first time I have seen like this & strange to me.


    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).
    -turning little dark sometimes
    -not eating
    -eyes are little dark
    -listlessly swimming


    3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
    -None so far except water changes.


    Tank/Water

    4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
    - Tank size 40 gallons
    - 4 discus fish of various sizes between 2.5 to 3.5 inches.


    5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
    -10% water change every other day.
    -50% water change on wednesday
    -75% water change on sunday


    6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
    -It's been 3 months the tank has complete setup.
    -It has sand substrate(half inch depth)

    7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
    -No


    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 __86F-88F___

    - ph __6.8 to 7.2___

    - ammonia reading __0__

    - nitrite reading __0__

    - nitrate reading __20__

    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 __Tap__

    - RO water ____


    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.
    -Beefheart flakes
    -Frozen beefheart
    -Freeze dried bloodworms
    -Omega chichlid flakes

    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.
    -I will try to get the pictures & add by EOD.

    Note: I have attached the water metrics i got from petsmart for reference.

    water_readings.jpg
    Last edited by dvsrk; 10-17-2017 at 05:05 PM.

  2. #2
    Registered Member Ryan925's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    SF bay area
    Posts
    2,917

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Start with changing more water. 10% is not really doing anything for you.
    Im not illiterate...only my phone's auto correct is

  3. #3
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    45

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Sure, thank you Ryan.

    I'm starting with more water changes ... will keep the thread updated if any progress after a week.

    Attached are the pictures of the two turquoise discus.

    IMG_2098.jpg

    IMG_2093.jpg
    Last edited by dvsrk; 10-17-2017 at 11:59 PM.

  4. #4
    Registered Member Ryan925's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    SF bay area
    Posts
    2,917

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Quote Originally Posted by dvsrk View Post
    Sure, thank you.

    I'm starting with more water changes ... will keep the thread updated if any progress after a week.

    Attached are the pictures of the two turquoise discus.

    IMG_2098.jpg

    IMG_2093.jpg
    You would be surprised at what increased water changes will do in many cases. Feeding a messy food like beefheart requires you to provide them with lots of fresh clean water. At the size your fish are the more water you change the better it is for their growth.
    Im not illiterate...only my phone's auto correct is

  5. #5
    Homesteader Filip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Macedonia-Europe
    Posts
    3,639
    Real Name
    Filip

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Increase your temperature to 92 gradually in 2 day course and leave it there for a couple of days to a week or two .
    Increase the WCs and maintenance to daily large WCs .
    Epsom salt is only used for full belly / bloated fish so you might as well go straight to metro treat if discus do not start to eat 4-5 days after you raised the temp./ increased Wcs.

    Good luck .

  6. #6
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    45

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Thanks Filip. I have set the temp to 90F (will increase it to 92F tomorrow) & started more water changes as suggested by Ryan aswell.

    I will update the status in next 5 days ...

  7. #7
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    45

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Hi Ryan / Filip ... here are my observations since last 4 days...

    Both turquoise discus are eating well with more water changes & increased tank temperature to 92F.

    But one of the albino strains i have is still not eating well & symptoms that i noticed,
    1) Noticed white poop hanging this morning. (attached the picture)
    2) The fish was more yellowish & thick when I added it to the tank & now it looks more pale color especially near mouth to head part.

    FullSizeRender.jpg

  8. #8
    Homesteader Filip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Macedonia-Europe
    Posts
    3,639
    Real Name
    Filip

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Sorry for my late response Dvsrk .
    I would start treating the tank for" Hex" with metronidazole 400-500 mg/ 10 gallons redosed every day after a > 50% WC for 10 day treatment .
    That should help in getting its poop and appetite in normal again . Leave the temp . elevated during the 10 day metro treat .

  9. #9
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    45

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Thanks Filip.

    Could you please suggest if i have to treat my entire tank or should I treat just one fish in my separate hospital tank. I have never treated my tank for Hex, so just want to check if it is good to have clean tank by treating my entire tank now & moving forward any such symptoms can be treated separately for the infected fish alone in my hospital tank.

  10. #10
    Homesteader Filip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Macedonia-Europe
    Posts
    3,639
    Real Name
    Filip

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Quote Originally Posted by dvsrk View Post
    Thanks Filip.

    Could you please suggest if i have to treat my entire tank or should I treat just one fish in my separate hospital tank. I have never treated my tank for Hex, so just want to check if it is good to have clean tank by treating my entire tank now & moving forward any such symptoms can be treated separately for the infected fish alone in my hospital tank.
    You can treat the non eating fish separately in a QT tank , but I would advise you to treat the whole tank this time because you already had others that were slow on appetite and had white poop.
    Metronidazole its an easy med. that can help other discus too , without making too much harm on the rest of your healthy discus .
    Also , the affected fish will feel much more comfortable and secure in the main tank with the rest of discus than being alone in a new QT environment .

  11. #11
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    45

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Sure, Thank you.

    My metronidazole order is on its way. Will start the treatment once it is arrived and will post the progress after completing the course.

  12. #12
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    45

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Progress:

    The yellow discus / albino strain is doing a lot better with few days of treatment. It is eating well & the poop turned to be dark now & all other discus are doing great as well. I will update again once I complete the course of treatment.

    Thank you.

  13. #13
    Homesteader Filip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Macedonia-Europe
    Posts
    3,639
    Real Name
    Filip

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    Quote Originally Posted by dvsrk View Post
    Progress:

    The yellow discus / albino strain is doing a lot better with few days of treatment. It is eating well & the poop turned to be dark now & all other discus are doing great as well. I will update again once I complete the course of treatment.

    Thank you.
    Great news Dvsrk .

  14. #14
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    45

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    I'm done with my metro treatment today & all the discuss are eating well, in fact they are looking very healthy.

    As I'm a first timer having discus and worried a lot before starting the treatment.

    Thank you Filip & Ryan for guiding me through the process.

    recovered_pic.jpg

  15. #15
    Homesteader Filip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Macedonia-Europe
    Posts
    3,639
    Real Name
    Filip

    Default Re: Discus hiding at the corner not eating / showing no interest in food.

    You are welcome Dvsrk. Im glad they responded so well to the treatment and everything is back in order again .

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Cafepress