Exposed gill filament

[BrendanJ23]

Hi Everyone,

After lots of research I still cannot find a definitive answer of a cause/treatment for this above. All my fish are still eating fine, good colouration and behaviours. Not all my fish have it, but others are starting to develop it now too. Most don't seem bothered by it, apart from visibly larger opening of the gill plates/slightly harder breathing. There is no scratching against objects. I have also removed the fish and inspected inside the gills, and cannot see any brown rotting gill or any other abnormal things with the plain eye.

1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them? A couple months ago. Not sure, read up ^^

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).
heavier breathing, gill filaments hanging out the gill plates. All normal behaviour otherwise - eating well, pooing normal etc.

3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
None


Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish. 650 L, about 6 months old and 10 5-7 inch discus.


5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often). 30-50% daily


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


7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing. yes and no. Read my recent thread "ph swings". No PH swing if I age my water for a couple hours.


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,double dosed sometimes one or the other.


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 __27-29C___

- ph __8.2___

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __5__

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 ____

- municipal water _X___

- RO water ____


10. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently. NO


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. FDBW most of the time, Ocean Nutrition Discus Pellets, occasional bloodworms.



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.

Pictures aren't the best, but its the closest I could get. I tried to upload a video but it must be too large.

[BrendanJ23]

It seems I've got everyone stumped lol. Anyone want to have a wild guess?

I have 2 guesses: #1 This could be as a result of stress or something from Ph swings over time, and is some sort of scar tissue, but doesn't affect the fish much/if at all
#2 This could be a result of stress or something from doing large waterchanges, with ammonia in my tap water and the prime hasn't locked it up quickly enough, so they are in fact being exposed to ammonia for a period of time. Not sure how quick prime actually acts.

Edit: My next move will be to contact the supplier and see if he is aware of anything like this.

[bluelagoon]

#3 birth defect?

[seanyuki]

Short gill plates is usually a genetic problem.

[bluelagoon]

Prime will bond to ammonia up to 24 hours. Which gives it time enough for the BB in the filter to break it down. It bonds right away.

[danotaylor]

I think it's a short gill plate as well, nothing to worry about as it cannot be corrected and won't harm your fish.
I read here somewhere that it can be genetic or the result of missing some key minerals in the fry development stage.

[seanyuki]

I think it's a short gill plate as well, nothing to worry about as it cannot be corrected and won't harm your fish.
I read here somewhere that it can be genetic or the result of missing some key minerals in the fry development stage.

Lack of calcium in their diet......The Naked Truth by Andrew Soh page 24.

Quote

This is non congenital.it could be a case of insufficient calcium in their diet resulting in weaker bone composition.but this cold be only part of the story.the other part could be the work of pathogens.many species of pathogens flourish well in fish water high in bio waste.
Unquote

[BrendanJ23]

Thanks all for the replies and insight. Much appreciated!!