Discus constipation?

[Paul_ds1985]

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?
I had a 52 gallon tank with 10 discus, I bought 3 new discus without quarantining them, but because they were from the same supplier i "assumed" things would be ok. About a week later I had an Ick issue which has almost disapeared now. In the last 2 weeks, I've upgraded to a 118 gallon with a new Fluval FX6. I took across the old media but going through a mini cycle atm (will show in parameters) but controlling with prime. I have 1 fish who looks to be constipated. Discus get fed 4/5 times a day beef heart mix


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 discus in question has not lost any colour, it pooped white 3 days ago and since then i havent seen any poop come from it, it flashes it's fins by the anus quite often but theres no poop there, fins are not clamped, The discus in question gets involved in the feeding but either circle's round abd does nothing it or as i saw today take some and spits it straight out (I know discus generally spit food out, but this one spits it all out). All the other discus are ok,. It does hide occassionally, but seems alot more active when i switch the lights off. Stomach is not bloated, i suspect some sort of constipation issue? I've ordered some Epsom salt


3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
Currently been treated for Ich and prime to get the nitrite to 0, As above, all other discus are fine it's just 1.

Treated with the below, on second course as the first didn't quite get it all

https://www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/waterlife-protozin/


Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
118 Gallons, 13 discus and sub adults


5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
30% 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?
Take has been running nearly 3 weeks, silca sand substrate 1 inch deep with some rocks and wood

7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
No i don't age my water, i've never had any issues with my water. I run it through a HMA filter


8. What type/brand water conditioner do you use? Do you add it to the tank or aging barrel? How much do you use?
Prime or Fluval water conditioner


9. 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 _____86 degrees

- ph _____ 7.6

- ammonia reading ____0

- nitrite reading ____0.25ppm

- nitrate reading ____10/20ppm

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.

-Tap water - 100%


10. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
Yes, 3 new discus 5 weeks ago and upgraded to a larger tank


11. 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.
Beef heart 4/5 times per day


12. 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.?
https://cvws.icloud-content.com/B/AZ...QDBCkhhLo&cd=I


https://cvws.icloud-content.com/B/AW...5MyVFVDSA&cd=i

[Sturiosoma]

Looking at your food I would say that is the problem, you have to vary their diet just as you do your's I would try the Epsom salt and start feeding a quality veggie flake such as omega one veggie flakes

[cooper666]

My discus love peas, peel, cook, mash and drop them in. It goes straight through them. "Blocked" fish seem to find them especially appealing.

If they won't eat, go the epsom salts, not that I have any experience using them. Peas have been enough for me so far.

If you look at some of the beef heart recipes, you will see that there is a large proportion of greens in them which the fish like/need.

[Paul_ds1985]

Thanks for the replies, the beef heart mix I buy does have vegetables mixed in, but I think I've been overfeeding perhaps? I forgot to mention that I also have been feeding "discus Bio-Gold" and "Hikari Tropical Sinking wafers" but not that often. I took the liberty of reading the ingredients on the bio gold and wafers and it has magnesium sulfate. So before I fed the discus any beef heart, I threw these in. They ate it all up and all the discus just "let rip", the constipated discus gushed out poop, and was really hungry afterwards. Now I know what to look for, I think there are two discus that are stil possibly constipated. I'm going to try the peas for a few days and see if that helps, if not got the salt coming today! I'll keep you posted.