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Thread: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

  1. #1
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    Default Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    I've had this discus for about 3 years, On Saturday he/she very suddenly showed signs of illness. He turned dark, had clamped fins, stopped eating and had this sort of blotchy appearance, perhaps do to excess slime coat but I'm not sure. Pictures are attached along with a picture of two other discus that have the same coloring as him so you can see what he looked like when healthy.

    Again this happened very suddenly - one minute he looked fine and the next he wasn't. I started treating with Paraguard which is a broad spectrum anti parasitic and also treats bacterial infections. I'm 5 days into treatment but don't see much (if any) improvement. I added salt at 25% recommended dose two days ago and another 25% yesterday so I'm at 50% recommended salt to kill parasites.

    Aquarium is 75 gallons with about 10-15 gallon sump. There are several other discus who so far are not showing symptoms. The tank also has cory cats, a ram and several other fish. All other fish seem fine so far.

    Ammonia -0
    Nitrite - 0
    PH - 6.5
    Nitrates - 20

    Any ideas what is ailing this discus and treatment options? Should I just continue the Paraguard? Increase the salt to the full recommended dose? I really want to save this fish and also make sure the others don't get sick.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #2
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    Exclamation Re: Help Requested!

    My discus looks worse now - updated picture attached.

    Any opinions from any one?
    Attached Images Attached Images

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    When I am in doubt I do 50% water change twice a day. Can't hurt to try is my thinking.
    Ron

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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    Thank you Alron2.

    Your response is very much appreciated.

    I did do a 50% water change today and will do again tomorrow. Also added another treatment which was highly recommended for Discus illness ( I will share if it works). I will also share progress and hope my discus will recover.....there is a second one in my tank now showing symptoms...

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    Any change? Anyone else want to chime in?
    Ron

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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    Thank you for checking Alron2.

    I put the second dose of the new treatment this afternoon which is Mardel Quick Cure. The discus appearance wise looks slightly better (he is still dark and blotchy) but he is acting better. His fins are no longer clamped all the time, he is swimming around a bit more and he ate today. So I'm very cautiously optimistic. My other discus that showed signs of this illness did not get worse and looks ok today.

    The instructions for the medication say the maximum dose is thee days. Based on what I've seen so far I think I will need the third dose but will make a judgement call tomorrow.

    I'll post another update tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    Update: My discus is doing better but not completely recovered. I did do the three dose treatment over three days - no action since so the medicine could work. He is eating and swimming around more but is not back to his normal self yet. I'm planning a big water change tomorrow and will add another dose of the meds.

    I'll continue to post updates in case someone is having a similar issue and is interested.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    So my discus was doing much better but not 100%. I left the first three dose regimen of Quick Cure in for four days (four days after the last dose) with no water changes. He looked so much better. Since he still had symptoms (still come cloudy eye and a small grey patch on either side but otherwise color was good and eating) I did a big water change and started another course of treatment. He was doing ok but today looks terrible again. Fins clamped, color darkened again and is now leaning against things in aquarium. I'm starting to lose my optimism. In addition, my smallest discus is showing signs of an internal parasite. I was so focused on the original sick discus I wasn't paying enough attention to this one not eating and getting so skinny. He was very small to start - only about an inch or so not counting fins. So I researched this and have Wormer Plus arriving tomorrow. I contacted the Mardel manufacturer and they aren't sure if running both meds is ok. The Wormer Plus manufacturer said it can be run with other meds but it seemed to be a very general statement.

    It's hard to believe I may be on the verge of losing two vital fish (one I had for years) after doing everything I could think of, researched, asked about, etc.

    I'm now wondering if the treatments are going to make a difference and if they are having a negative impact on the other discus.

    Water paramours are still ok.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    So my small discus didn't make it. The original sick one is also not doing well after looking so much better but has regressed substantially. Did a big water change and added Wormer Plus yesterday (Tuesday) but no change so far.
    So far I've used ParaGuard for the first week
    After that did Marcel Quick Cure for two cycles with water changes in-between
    Added Wormer Plus after another big water change

    Any ideas? I've now used multiple meds with no success. Any feedback would be appreciated.....

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    I think the big wc you did caused the sick one stress....
    It is very hard to diagnose because several illnesses have similar sumptuous...
    I think you should think doing treatment for bacterial infection...
    DocxiTetraChiclin or try Bactapor Direct pills....

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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    Thank you Osherak. I appreciate your response. The water change could have caused more stress, I agree. I did the one in-between the two Mardel treatments because the manufacturer recommended it. I did the one before adding the Wormer Plus because the original sick fish got worse one day after the second dose of the second course of the Mardel treatment and I was concerned adding the second med would be too much. At this point I'm not sure what to do.

    I looked for the medications you recommended but it doesn't appear I can order them in the US. Maybe I can try to find a different bacterial treatment that is available here

    The fish does not look good at all - he is very dark again but without the blotchy appearance of the first time. His fins are very clamped, he isn't eating and is just hanging in one part of the tank. Thankfully so far the rest of the fish look ok.

  12. #12
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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    I am by no means any expert but I will offer you my opinion. Is your fish currently in a hospital tank? It looks like bacterial infection to me. I would search bacterial infections on this site and look for treatments. I know kanamycn and furan2 could possibly be choices. Sorry but your outcome is bleak. You have treated with a lot of medications already. I know it's difficult because you want to save your fish but throwing a bunch of medications in there when your not sure what is wrong does more harm then good. Hopefully he will pull through.

    - Mark

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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    Thank you Mark. I know the outcome is bleak ( I was so hopeful when he first seemed better after the first Quick Cure regimen). The discus is not in a hospital tank. I've been treating the entire tank with other discus (and other fish) so I'm also keeping them in mind throughout this mess. I'm looking into hospital tank options and I will go find kanamyn and furan2 (have heard of that one and know it's widely available. I'm not going to treat the entire tank again since I've put so many meds in - it will jeopardize the rest of the fish.

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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    Wanted to send an update: the sick discus is still hanging in there. Some of his color came back the day after I posted last so I started to add Metroplex (which treats bacterial infections) into food with Focus as a binder. He is eating some and I think it helped. He also started swimming around more. Today I did a water change and added SulfaPlex which also treats bacterial and other infections. I'll send updates....

  15. #15
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    Default Re: Help Diagnosing Discus Illness

    you are treating with a lot of meds. Hope your fish recover. I lost 3 Marlboros before figuring out what was wrong with my tanks. Almost lost my 5" female.

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