White cottony looking sore on my discus

[warbird99]

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?

I have a discus that has a 'sore on his back that come up and grown over the last 3 or 4 days. It started as a small white 'cottony' looking 'pimple' about the size of a pin head and has now grown to several times the origional size.

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).

The fish is eating and pooping normally. Other than the sore described above, he is acting normal. He is maybe a little less active but still up and swimming with the other fish.

3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.

I began treatment with ParaGuard (recommended by my lfs) the day after i noticed the spot and have been continuing it for about 4 days now. The sore is getting bigger.

Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.

This is a 125 gallon lightly planted tank. I have a total of 6 discus...all about 5 inches. Along with those, i have 6 turquoise rainbows, 9 threadfin rainbows, 5 rummy nose tetras, a few cory cats, and two very small bristlenose plecs

5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).

I do 50% water changes 2 to 3 times a week. Since i noticed this spot, I've done 50% 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?

The tank has been up and running for about a year. It is lightly planted with black sand and rock substrate about an inch and a half deep

7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.

I use RO water that is made into barrels and sits for two to three days before use

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 ___84__

- ph ____6.8_

- ammonia reading ___0_

- nitrite reading ___0_

- nitrate reading __20-30__

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 ____

- RO water ___X_


9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.

No new fish or plants in the last 2 months

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.

I feed live black worms, frozen blood worms and shrimp. I feed the other fish in the tank Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef 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 have tried several times to load the pictures to this post and it won't allow me to add them. It keeps saying that the 'upload failed'. I will keep trying to add them.

[jmf3460]

It sounds fungal but I can't be sure without pictures. Do u have salt (non ionized) if so I would either give the fish a salt bath or add one tablespoon per 10gal to your tank. It may cure your problem and won't hurt anything else if it doesn't.

[Cosmo]

Nitrates look awfully high