Pimples and Not Hungry

[DiscusDish]

Hi there, I’m new on this forum.

Here is the disease questionnaire I was supposed to fill out:
1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them?

Hi, two weeks ago my female 6” red melon stopped eating. A week later she began to develop pimples. I started doing more water changes. She is still not hungry.

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).

Not eating, pimple

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

I cleaned 50% daily for the past few days.

Tank/Water

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

55g Overstocked

5x Discus: 2x 4”, 1x 5”, 1x 6”, 1x 7”.

2x Angelfish: 2x 4”

12x Gold Rams: 12x 1.5”

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

25% twice a week, now 50% daily.

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

Tank running for 1 year, bare bottom, discus that isn’t eating in for 2 months, used to eat super aggressively.

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

No, just condition it with Prime and match temperature.

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, add it to the bucket and then add bucket to tank

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 _30oC____

- ph ___7.6__

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __15-20__

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 __yes__

- municipal water _no___

- RO water _no___


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

Rams added last week after 2 weeks qt, the discus stopped eating 2 weeks ago.

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.

I feed flakes twice a day and a 1.5”x1.5” block of thawed frozen bloodworms daily.

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

Sorry can’t post any images right now, maybe later. She is the light orange one, the male is red.

[Mando]

Welcome to the forum!!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but 2 weeks qt is not nearly enough time for QT. It's recommended to do 6 weeks qt and then introduce a sacrificial fish to the QT fish for another 2-3 weeks. Does he/she have white feces?

Since his issue just seems to be the pimple and a closed gill, you don't necessarily have to move him to the QT tank, however, all the commotion from the tank mates may make it harder for him to go for food. Just up the heat and add 2-3tbs of salt per 10 gallons for everyone in the tank. Rams do good up to 85 degrees and I don't think a few days at 88-90 will affect them.

[DiscusDish]

Thanks, I also think I will wait till tomorrow because I’m moving her and her mate to a 36g breeding tank. I want to breed them, I have tried with a young pair before but they kept eating the eggs and got stunted so, oh well. These guys are 6-7” so the fry will be nice big and red. So I will use the salt in the 36g once I move them in. Thanks so much for your help. She just lets the bloodworms float past her, pays no interest, she isn’t hiding or darkening just not hungry. I will buy beef heart tomorrow. And prepare a mixture. �� No white feces.

[LizStreithorst]

With that stocking level you are not changing near enough water. You're nitrates should be at 5. 15 to 20 is way too high. I would change at least 50% daily all the time.

I would also raise the tank temp to 90 and treat with 100% metronidazole for 10 to 12 days. Don't move the pair yet unless you want to treat both tanks. All your fish have been exposed so they should all be treated.

[danotaylor]

I would guess that overcrowding and poor water quality are the culprits. Way too many fish, way too little water changes for the bioload.
If you move the pair I would do a 50% daily water change with the salt and temp increase that Mando suggested. I think they will come good.
The 55 gal will need min 50% daily water changes until you can reduce the bioload permanently. There is a lot of viable detritus on the floor of the BB tank in the pic you posted. I reckon your bacterial count is off the charts.
1 adult discus/10gal water is recommended, and would still require 50% at least twice a week for optimum health.
If you see even 1 fish with white feces I would dose the metro as Liz recommended.

[DiscusDish]

What are they sick with? I thought Metro was for parasites? I will start doing more water changes. One today actually. Just raised he temperature to 89, added salt. Why metro? It’s not Hole In The Head, it’s just a pimple... please let me know what you meant ASAP. Thanks

[DiscusDish]

Ok, thanks danotaylor. I am currently rehousing my angelfish fry that I bred, hey should be gone in the next week, and I will move all my angelfish and rams to the angelfish fry grow out tank and will only keep discus in my 55g. Maybe a few Cories in the late future.

[DiscusDish]

Oh and btw, she ate two bloodworms as soon as I put them in right now and then went away. I’m guessing that she is shy. I will keep discus only and hopefully she will feel more secure.

[danotaylor]

What are they sick with? I thought Metro was for parasites? I will start doing more water changes. One today actually. Just raised he temperature to 89, added salt. Why metro? It’s not Hole In The Head, it’s just a pimple... please let me know what you meant ASAP. Thanks

Metro is for hexatemia, an internal parasite, that causes them to stop eating, become shy, and shed their intestinal lining (white stringy feces). With stress (overcrowding/poor water quality) the dishes immunity cannot keep the present hex in check and they multiply and make your fish sick. I think Liz suspects Hex due to the conditions the fish are living in.

[DiscusDish]

Oh, okay. I will move them out right away then. This is not good. I will get a sponge filter ASAP for my tank to work along with my canister. I am taking down my 10g and moving my discus pair to a 36g. I will advertise my fry as free to get rid of them ASAP. That’s a shame, they are so cute and I raised hem by myself without the parents.


Aqadvisor is not happy...


Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 38%.Help on Filtration capacity
Recommended water change schedule: 50% per week. (You might want to split this water change schedule to two separate 29% per week)
Your aquarium stocking level is 149%.
Your tank is overstocked. Unless you are an experienced aquarist who can meet the maintenance/biological needs of this aquarium, lower stocking levels are recommended

[LizStreithorst]

Oh, okay. I will move them out right away then. This is not good. I will get a sponge filter ASAP for my tank to work along with my canister. I am taking down my 10g and moving my discus pair to a 36g. I will advertise my fry as free to get rid of them ASAP. That’s a shame, they are so cute and I raised hem by myself without the parents.


Aqadvisor is not happy...


Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 38%.Help on Filtration capacity
Recommended water change schedule: 50% per week. (You might want to split this water change schedule to two separate 29% per week)
Your aquarium stocking level is 149%.
Your tank is overstocked. Unless you are an experienced aquarist who can meet the maintenance/biological needs of this aquarium, lower stocking levels are recommended

Thanks, Danny. The fish may have eaten 2 bloodworms today but until now he said that she hadn't eaten in 2 months. With that amount of time since she has eaten she would have no poo to shed, either black or white and stringy.

DiscusDish, metro is also an antibiotic as well as an anti-parasitic. Although the pimple might well clear up with decent water quality, the metro might help. If you don't know where to get 100% metro, it's available at Jhemco. The dose we use for Discus is 400 mg daily for 10 to 12 days with large WC before re-treating. You can't do this if you will be out of time but the high temps alone will help. Is there nobody who can do WC on that single tank while you are away?

What the hell is aquadvisor? If they recommended less water changed they don't know what Discus require.

[DiscusDish]

Oh okay, thanks Liz. I meant 2 weeks not 2 months. My bad. I am moving them tomorrow. The fry tank will be empty by tomorrow. Hopefully I can give my pair a nice environment. And I actually have metronidazole, I used it to treat hole in the head with parasites sticking out of it on one of my other discus. I raised he temp, hopefully that’ll help. When did I say that I would be gone? I am here every day so am able to do water changes. I will start 50% daily water changes until I can move the rams and angels out.

I didn’t know that so little people knew about aqadvisor, the other forum I’m on uses it a lot to determine stocking, though we all agree that the water change regimes it recommends is terrible. He stocking calculator is good though. The website is aqadvisor.com

[DiscusDish]

Oh no... Please Hep Me Out. I don’t know what I’m doing to cause this. I started more water changes, raised the temperature, and added salt.

Anyways my other discus of the pair seems to have these weird spots on his head and I can see little worm like things under his skin. Maybe it’s my imagination but please confirm and help me out. I will post some pictures shortly... Thanks

[DiscusDish]

Here is a photo.

[danotaylor]

I don't see anything unusual on the pic your posted. Are you talking about the black peppering? If so, that is merely peppering that confirms it is in the pigeon blood family. PB commonly get the black peppering, though these days it is usually mild on well bred fish such as yours seems to be.
When the discus pimples "pop" they look like white worms protruding from the fishes skin. Once the pores are evacuated, there will be small pock marks, like small openings in the skin. Be patient now, it is just the outworking of being over crowded and having less than optimal water conditions. Super important to keep the water clean and salted with 2-3tbsp/10gal until the holes close up again.