Dark Discus

[JosephDones]

I have a snakeskin Discus who seems to be darker then its partner, It occasionally looks upwards while shaking its head. Its only one fish out of my seven.

DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE


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?
The Discus turned a dark color three days ago

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 Dark, Head Shaking

3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
None


Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
75 Gallon 7 Discus (2-5")

5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
45% every other day

6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
4months, Thin layer of rocks

7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
I do not

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: 82 F

- ph 6.5

- ammonia reading: 10

- nitrite reading 20

- nitrate reading 0.5

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 (x) -Using Prime Conditioner

- municipal water ____

- RO water ____


9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
Nothing New

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.
Frozen Blood Worms, Flakes, and Brine Shrimp


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
IMG_7436.jpg
The Snakeskin at the top is the color I got them both, The darker one on the bottom is the other Snakeskin with the issue.

[JosephDones]

I did some research and a lot of it tends to bring me to breeding behavior can this be a possible answer? The discus is around 7-8 months of age isn't this too young?

[RuinerM3]

Do you have ammonia in your tap water? The ammonia and nitrite readings are worrisome. What are you using for filtration? Are you possibly overfeeding?, or maybe your filtration can't keep up with the waste.

[JosephDones]

I got my tap tested and theres no ammonia readings in it, I have two filters running both are tetra 45-60 gal recommended filters. Not sure if im overfeeding, usually I feed them twice a day either one cube of brine/blood worms or three pinches of flakes per feeding.

[RuinerM3]

Dude, you're from Palmdale too?! Where'd you get the discus from? Feeding seems fine for a 75 gallon, just wanted to help you rule that out. I work the next 3 nights at the Hospital, but am more than willing to come help you out on my days off, I'm in the Rancho Vista area. Do you have an airstone/pump in the tank? A quick fix would be to add a sponge filter, some tetra safestart to help bring those readings down.