Discus continues to deteriorate

[Mando]

Hi Armando, I do not have specific suggestions except perhaps this fish is just getting old. Also Danny may be onto something with the sight issues. I would suggest not adding this fish in with any fry in case it is carrying something which may be harmful to the fry.
Pat

I will take a pic of the eyes, they are clear. Just a bad angle. I was thinking the old age being "THE" factor. I can call Gabe @ JW to see exactly how old this fish is. I purchased him 3 years ago and he was already 2+yrs old. I remember him clearly saying that the female was just over 1 yr old but that he was an older guy already.

[Sturiosoma]

Armado in looking through your report I believe your fish are malnourished, a lot of people here are sticklers in different areas, I am a stickler when it comes to food, about 10yr. When I was more active in breeding of fish for what ever reason I read the ingredients label on some of my fish food and I thought what fish is going to access to this stuff, well that led me to do extensive research on fish food, and if I come across a bit harsh, brash whatever, but here's what I would do, get rid of the raw beefheart I will not use this in my tanks because of the issues with beef I can't help but think that if it's harming humans will it not harm your fish I instead use freeze dried beefheart, I also will not feed frozen food, and i would also get rid of the tetra the quality is just not there my regimen is to feed all tanks in the morning with nls optimum flakes ,live blackworms once a week and then a freeze dried meat different everyday, bloodworms, fdbw, and so on, I also feed omega one veggie flakes twice a week and Nori seaweed once a week, if you vary their diet I believe your fish will improve, and with all this I guess it's more than my 2cents, but anything is worth a try.

Jeanne

[bluelagoon]

Seemed like worms and the treatment was done. I agree with Pat, it coud be a sign of aging. There seems to be a bit of eye/brain damage "maybe". Did you ever hear of a disease called wasting disease/mutant protein called prion. Fish can be affected by this.

[Mando]

Armado in looking through your report I believe your fish are malnourished, a lot of people here are sticklers in different areas, I am a stickler when it comes to food, about 10yr. When I was more active in breeding of fish for what ever reason I read the ingredients label on some of my fish food and I thought what fish is going to access to this stuff, well that led me to do extensive research on fish food, and if I come across a bit harsh, brash whatever, but here's what I would do, get rid of the raw beefheart I will not use this in my tanks because of the issues with beef I can't help but think that if it's harming humans will it not harm your fish I instead use freeze dried beefheart, I also will not feed frozen food, and i would also get rid of the tetra the quality is just not there my regimen is to feed all tanks in the morning with nls optimum flakes ,live blackworms once a week and then a freeze dried meat different everyday, bloodworms, fdbw, and so on, I also feed omega one veggie flakes twice a week and Nori seaweed once a week, if you vary their diet I believe your fish will improve, and with all this I guess it's more than my 2cents, but anything is worth a try.

Jeanne

I also feed freeze dried black worms @ 2 cubes a day. I think I do offer a varied diet. I just started offering the beef heart about four weeks ago which replaced the blood worms. It's just one fish that is skinny, the others are perfect. I feed the same things to my growout and they are doing wonderfully and growing well. The beef heart has a ton of ingredients in it and its Brian's special recipe. The tetra color bits have worked in this industry for years and at one point it was the goto food. I can always offer discus d50 granules as I have a huge tub at home. I've been feeding live black worms about twice a week for 2 months as a treat. This problem has been on going for about 6 months if not longer. It's just him, not my other fish. At first he was eating just losing weight so I figured worms, but I did full treatment and never seen any worms being expelled. I truly believe it's old age. but I'm open to suggestions. I can feed more live black worms or move him to grow out tank that eats about 8-10 times a day.

This feeding routine is different on weekends. When i'm home, they get more granules and more FDBW.

My blue diamonds are so fat they look like damn bull dogs. They are very thick.

Thank you for your suggestions on the foods though. I will look into them.

[Mando]

Seemed like worms and the treatment was done. I agree with Pat, it coud be a sign of aging. There seems to be a bit of eye/brain damage "maybe". Did you ever hear of a disease called wasting disease/mutant protein called prion. Fish can be affected by this.

Never heard of it in fish. Is there a way to combat this?

[fljones3]

Since we are all guessing. I would go with the aging that Pat suggested. On another thought, for adult discus I only feed 2-3x a day. Usually, Wild grans in the morning. They are always waiting for Al's cubes at noon. 1 cube per 2-3 adult discus. Then the late afternoon I might throw one cube in my tanks or a very light feeding of grans. Perhaps if there were less feedings, the this particular fish might perk up. BTW, this is not to say you are doing something wrongly.

Just another wild suggestion.

[bluelagoon]

Never heard of it in fish. Is there a way to combat this?

I have had this wasting in one discus; it was about a 5 year old wild. Thought it was worms and treated for such. And many times this is the most likely for weight loss in fish. But nothing seemed to bring back it's weight, even tho it was eating like the rest of the discus. They is no cure. I'm not sure what went wrong but they are so many things that can go wrong with a fish or any living thing. They have endocrine systems like us and the disease sometimes is not what we think it is. We age and sometimes things go down hill too. Thyroid problems can also lead to blindness too as does weight loss. I think out side the box.

[Mando]

I have had this wasting in one discus; it was about a 5 year old wild. Thought it was worms and treated for such. And many times this is the most likely for weight loss in fish. But nothing seemed to bring back it's weight, even tho it was eating like the rest of the discus. They is no cure. I'm not sure what went wrong but they are so many things that can go wrong with a fish or any living thing. They have endocrine systems like us and the disease sometimes is not what we think it is. We age and sometimes things go down hill too. Thyroid problems can also lead to blindness too as does weight loss. I think out side the box.

Sounds like the issue my fish is going through. He eats but no gains in weight. Now, at its worst, he misses the food as if he has trouble finding it.

Since we are all guessing. I would go with the aging that Pat suggested. On another thought, for adult discus I only feed 2-3x a day. Usually, Wild grans in the morning. They are always waiting for Al's cubes at noon. 1 cube per 2-3 adult discus. Then the late afternoon I might throw one cube in my tanks or a very light feeding of grans. Perhaps if there were less feedings, the this particular fish might perk up. BTW, this is not to say you are doing something wrongly.

Just another wild suggestion.

Originally, this tank was only getting foods in the mornings and in the afternoons. Because of this one guy, I started feeding everyone more often and I added the auto feeder. But, nothing is working. I always fed and ran off to work, never sat there to watch them eat. I started to monitor him to make sure he ate and I can confirm that he did eat, but no gains. And they are always begging for more including him. I go to the opposite end, and they rush to me. I run the other way, and they rush to me. I can be laying in bed and raise my hand and they all come to the corner thinking they are going to get fed.

If we are ruling this down to just wasting away to old age, do you see any harm in adding him to my growout? He has a better chance of eating there.

[fljones3]

If we are ruling this down to just wasting away to old age, do you see any harm in adding him to my growout? He has a better chance of eating there.

Personally, I would not take the chance. Your growouts are beautiful.
If it is old age, then at some point you will have to make a decision.

[danotaylor]

+1 with Frank on that mate. Because it is still not absolutely certain I would not take the risk if it was me.

[Mando]

Personally, I would not take the chance. Your growouts are beautiful.
If it is old age, then at some point you will have to make a decision.

Thank you, Frank. Ok. I agree. Poor guy, I’ve grown so attached to him. Here you can see the right eye and it’s super clear.

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[snxtif]

If you can clear internal/parasite, behavioral/bullying then it might be old age.
I just lost one few month ago with exactly the same progression.

[Mando]

If you can clear internal/parasite, behavioral/bullying then it might be old age.
I just lost one few month ago with exactly the same progression.

Both are definitely cleared. My poor old guy . He actually bullies the others when he is around his partner. I'm waiting to collect feces but I have yet to see him defecate in front of me.

[snxtif]

Both are definitely cleared. My poor old guy . He actually bullies the others when he is around his partner. I'm waiting to collect feces but I have yet to see him defecate in front of me.

I can feel the love when someone is eagerly waiting the other to sh!t on their face..., that's dedication.
You did well. It happens. Hope you embrace the memory and journey.

My condolence...

[Mando]

I’m not sure if this is a sign of relief or not, knowing that my discus has a fighting chance. Are these worms? If so, I’m not sure how they lived through the deworming cycle. Should I run the same deworming cycle including dose or extended by one more treatment for a total of 5 and/or increase dose?

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