Sick discus, or just the runt?

[danomoseley]

I have six checkerboard discus in a 55 gallon planted tank that has been up and running for about 6 months.

Five of the discus are all doing great, but one has been the runt since I got it about 4 months ago. It hides in the corner most of the time, has much less vibrant colors than the others, and has not grown as much as the others. The runt is an extremely picky eater, but during feeding time of freeze dried black worms does come out and swims quickly to eat.

Filtration: Eheim Pro 4+ 350

• I have NOT noticed any white stringy poops, no fin rot, or obvious external issues.
• 30% water change weekly with RO water and Kent Liquid R/O Right
• pH - 6.9
• Temp - 83.5
• Total Ammonia - 0
• Nitrite - 0
• Nitrate - 5 ppm
• ~75 ppm TDS
• KH - 4 degrees dKH
• GH - 6 dGH
• Phosphates - 0 ppm
• injected co2 and seachem flourish added weekly

Is there anything that I can do to make him better?

IMG_20190203_160826 (1).jpg
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And the overall tank
IMG_20190125_190450 (1).jpg

[danomoseley]

Bump? I'm not sure what to think about this guy? He does move around some, doesn't have stringy pool, but is definitely not as bright or active as the five others.

Thank you for any ideas!

[LizStreithorst]

He's for sure stunted. There's no changing that. Have you seen his poop at all? If it's black I don't think that anything can be done. He may just be the low man on the totem pole.

[danomoseley]

Thank you for the reply! I have not specifically seen the poop, but I have never seen the signature white/clear stringy poop, I try to observe him as often as I can looking for things like that.

I have noticed recently some minor red streaking around his mouth (which you can see if you look closely at the photos), but that's the only difference I've noticed besides the fading of color.

[danomoseley]

I have noticed that he hides in the corner more during the day, in the morning before the lights come on he will be part of the pack hanging around with the others.

[danomoseley]

PS, here's a live stream I have setup for my tank.

https://youtu.be/rQHQlnaidi0

[LizStreithorst]

It could be that it pics up food and spits it out. If so, you will see no poop. Spend some time in front of the tank after feeding what he seems to like best and wait for him to poo. It needs to be black.

[danomoseley]

It could be that it pics up food and spits it out. If so, you will see no poop. Spend some time in front of the tank after feeding what he seems to like best and wait for him to poo. It needs to be black.

Thank you, I will watch him closely tonight!

[danomoseley]

I watched him for a while after feeding a freeze dried blackworms cube and he has very little interest in food and didn't even pick up and spit out any that I saw. I even placed a second cube in the back where he sits thinking he might be avoiding the main cube because of bullying, but he had no interest in that cube either. I also added a tiny bit of garlicguard and nothing.

All six were extremely picky when I first got them, picking up and spitting out everything. Could not get them to eat color bits or any sort of flakes or granules, the one thing they would eat was frozen bloodworms. After a few months of trying seemingly every food possible I found the freeze dried blackworms which they love. I have loose worms in an eheim auto feeder fed a few times throughout the day and also give them a cube every few days.

The runt used to enjoy the blackworms too, he would eat the extras that end up floating around in the water column but sometimes making runs into the cube and taking big bites. That must have stopped sometime recently and I just wasn't watching closely enough while feeding..

[LizStreithorst]

My advice to you would be to treat all of them with Metro at the rate of 400 mg per 10 gallons for 10 to 12 days. Raise the heat to as high as 93 during treatment. Do huge WC, as much as 90% daily if you can. While the heat is high it's best to add more air since warmer water uses up more O2 than cooler water.

[danomoseley]

My advice to you would be to treat all of them with Metro at the rate of 400 mg per 10 gallons for 10 to 12 days. Raise the heat to as high as 93 during treatment. Do huge WC, as much as 90% daily if you can. While the heat is high it's best to add more air since warmer water uses up more O2 than cooler water.

Is there a specific reason that you would recommend treating all of them? Could I treat the one with this regimen in a hospital tank? Thanks!

[LizStreithorst]

some people would advise treating just the one fish showing symptoms. My thinking is that the fish have been swimming around together so they are all infected even though it's just the weakest one that shows symptoms.

[danomoseley]

some people would advise treating just the one fish showing symptoms. My thinking is that the fish have been swimming around together so they are all infected even though it's just the weakest one that shows symptoms.

That does make sense.. I'm just worried about excess stress on the others because they are all doing seemingly very well, and affecting my main tank water params since they have been so nice and stable. Do you think the Metro or high temp would be hard on my plants or plecos? The plants are a mix of monte carlo and dwarf baby tears.

I am purchasing Metro from Jehmco, is there any other common meds that you would recommend I order while I'm at it?

I'm planning to set up a 20G hospital tank in a plastic container, no filter, air stone, heated to 93. Treating with 400mg/10G Metro dosed once per day after a ~90% water change for 10-12 days.

[LizStreithorst]

The plants may object to the high temp. I think that the plecos will handle it alright.

Don't worry about stressing the others. Metro is a very gentle med and the high temps will just get their metabolism working faster.

[danomoseley]

The plants may object to the high temp. I think that the plecos will handle it alright.

Don't worry about stressing the others. Metro is a very gentle med and the high temps will just get their metabolism working faster.

Ok it does make sense to just treat them all to be safe and I think I can handle some possible die back with the plants. Should I run the canister filter during the treatment? I think I read Metro isn't harmful to helpful bacteria?