Woke up with 1 dead juvie

[snxtif]

Hi all,

I woke up this morning and found one of my juve head standing still... for too long,
then I realized that actually he was dead!

So I scooped him out.

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- I kept this batch of 2" x 6 juveniles in BB 30g for 2 months.
- QT for a month, treated prophylactically with a dose of metro and prazi.
- Cycled media.
- 80-90% WC every day.
(not aged though, I live in a condominium with 6 tanks, the biggest is 150g,
can't age that much water in my room. But the tap quality is surprisingly ok,
pH 7.0-7.2, no NH3, NO2, NO3. No trace of chlorine. I use carbon/resin
drinking water filter.
If anything, in a sense that no apparent toxin in the water, my red cherry shrimps also use this tap water.)

- Tank NH3/NO2/NO3 = 0/0/<10 (if that's matter, since I 80-90% WC every day), pH 7.2
- Temp 84-86F. (No heater, I live in hellmouth, avg room temp 90F)
- Fed them with Hikari fry pellets (twice a day), frozen daphnia (twice a day), frozen beefheart (twice a day).
- Daily poop clean up

Judging from size at time of dead which is 3", I think I did an ok job keeping them so far?
and this guy is one of the smaller in the group (3 are quite bigger, 3 are about this size or smaller)

This is the first discus I've lost...

1. Any ideas of death causes? Judging from the body etc.
- No visible wound/trauma.
- Ate moderately. Not the biggest eater but not the least either.
- Moderate to non bully in the tank. (as far as discus standard. This guy maybe is the 4th in hierarchy rank of 6.)
- No white poop. (I didn't see this particular guy's poop though, no sign of such white stringy poop in day-to-day clean up.)
- Black color at tip of the fins was there from the start (not from color change)
- if anything, from my untrained eyes, stomach seems a bit bloated. but not sure if that's a postmortem thing

2. Linked with no.1, do I have to do anything with the rest? Like, with the tank as well.
Since I have no clue of the cause, dont want to do anything blindly.

3. There are 5 juves left. Would that effect their social behavior/hierarchy thingy?
Should I add some more?
If I should... HOW MANY?


Thank you in advance!

[snxtif]

Oh my god... Just posted and saw this guy's pics...
His eyes are still so clear/beautiful as if I put him back in the water, he might just swim normally.

[Filip]

I'm not really sure what could have happened here TBH .
I think that bloat don't kill overnight and they seem too small to die from dash and smash .
I would advise you not to medicate unless you notice any clear symthoms of a disease .
I would also advise not to buy more discus at this point . 5 is still a good number for spreading aggression and the risk and QT period for introducing just 1-2 small discus isn't worthed IMO.

I'm a bit sceptic about your daily 80% wcs with straight tap water . Microbubbles and pH swings can affect their health on the long run if not taken care properly .
I would also add a heater and set it to your day time temperature to avoid day / night temperature swings of 2-3 C .

[Mattgoanna]

No way to know what happened. If you are feeding pellets that swell with water it could be one possible cause.

[snxtif]

I would also advise not to buy more discus at this point . 5 is still a good number for spreading aggression and the risk and QT period for introducing just 1-2 small discus isn't worthed IMO.

I would also add a heater and set it to your day time temperature to avoid day / night temperature swings of 2-3 C .

Filip, Thank you for your reply.

That's why I am thinking about 5-6?
or maybe 3-4 3.5" to match the biggest one in the group.

Btw, just curious, would 2-3 degree temp change in a day affect the well being of fish?
I mean, I get the idea of Amazon river size/volume/heat capacity and such,
but wouldn't in nature, the temp on day/night are few degrees different, well, naturally?

[Filip]

Well , for 5-6 new fish , 6 weeks QT procedure would be well worthed I guess .

About the temp . change of 2-3 C on a daily basis I'm not really sure how compromising it is for a discus immune system on a long run , but I wouldnt risk to test them either .
I also wonder if they experience this daily temp. shifts in their natural habitat ?

[brewmaster15]

Sorry you lost one Cyrus.Its the part of the hobby that is really a bummer to deal with. Hard to guess the cause but the fish is bloated. Its pretty developed too. I wouldnt expect it like that overnight. Maybe it had something going on that slipped by you.

I would add more right now 5 in a 30 is going to get cramped soon.

Al

[snxtif]

Al,

Thank you for your reply.
Yes it's a real bummer, but I try my best to keep it cool.
And this "Cold Hard Fact for the Hobbyist" really helped me a lot, since it listed on no.1.

Anyway, it's especially bummed when the dead one is more or less still looks pretty nice.
I mean, there are plenty of sick(er) fish out there that look totally wasted but somehow still survive.

I guess that's how unfair life is sometime...