Sick Discus Fish - Fin rot and red gills

[Bryanna5894]

Hello! I am looking for some help with my discus fish ! I have gone ahead and answered the normal questions you usually request for a new thread

1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them?

My fish is experiencing lethargy, always swimming at the top but not gasping for air. She is not eating as much, the coloration is less bright than a few months ago. Bottom fin and tail are dark round the edge and appear to have some fin rot, and the gills have redness behind them. I noticed the fin rot about a 6 weeks ago but everything else in the past 2 weeks. I did have 2 neon tetra's in my tank that died and in the tank about 2 months ago.


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).

slow/ no movement. edges of fins are dark. red gills.

3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
Salt ar 1tblspn per gal for 2 months now. No change

Salt increased by 50% - 2 TBLS / 10 gal - 2 weeks
Melafix - 10 mg - 2 weeks

Tank/Water

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

36 gallon tank

2 discus - 5.5 inches in diameter
1 molly -2.5 inches
1 ghost fish
1 bristlenose plecco


5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
I used to do 50% every other week
I have been doing 50% every other day since sickness


6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
Tank running 1.75 years
Gravel bottom -1 inch

7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
No - just add discus buffer to slightly lower pH

8. 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 ___82__

- ph __6.8__

- ammonia reading ___0_

- nitrite reading _0___

- nitrate reading _0___

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 __100%__with prime + discus buffer

- RO water ____



9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
No

10. 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.
1 tsp flakes plus frozen blood worms (about 1/4 cube) 2x per day

11. 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.

Please help! I don't want to loose Coral! Pictures of now vs. 6 months ago

sick2.jpgsick1.jpghealthy.jpg

[coralbandit]

Welcome to SD .
I think your 0 nitrate is wrong ..Usually people get zero from not doing the test properly .
Are you shaking the living daylights out of the #2 bottle when testing ..Sometimes it needs to be hit on a hard surface as the chemicals in the reagent settle to bottom of bottle and get hard thus skewing the test results ..
0 nitrates means an uncycled tank but yours has been up long enough to be cycled and with the fish you have even if you did daily water changes you would likely have 0.
So water quality first might be an issue.
Next what are your water parameters [pH /GH /KH ]and why are you adding the discus buffer?
Those things usually don't work well and just cause pH swings that are worse for the fish then just leaving it the way it comes from tap..
What is the ghost fish ? A ghost knife ?
Has the tail been split for long ?

[Iminit]

Is that fish eating? Doesn’t look like it is. Does it eat the flakes and what type are they? Blood worms aren’t a good food source. 50% water changes every 2 week won’t work for discus. These fish need clean water. 50% daily now that they’re ill and raise the temp to 86+. Unfortunately these fish have numerous things wrong with them. A lot could just be from the water quality and they may have worms do to the blood worms. First thing to do is raise the temp and keep the water clean. If they’re eating you could start a dose of metro for 10 days. That may clean them out. Or a pp treatment may work. Coral knows more about that and if it would work. Remember your fish are allready weakened so any treatment may kill them.

[Bryanna5894]

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for the responses much appreciated. I redid the nitrate test and the water seems to be at 20 ppm after checking and vigorous shaking of the tube for about 3 minutes. The PH of my normal tap is about 7.2. I was lowering it from recommendation from the pet store when I purchased the first discus. I am not aware of my GH or KH but I could purchase a test kit if necessary. I did mean a knife fish yes. The tail was split when I got the fish almost 2 years ago but I didn't see it as a big issue.

She hasn't been eating much the past week, no. They eat tetra pro tropical crisps, the blood worms, and I alternate that with brine shrimp. I did not know frozen blood worms would be an issue I was recommended to feed them that. I did order some furan online, not sure if I should use that when it comes. I will keep doing the water changes daily. Do you have any other suggestions?

[captainandy]

Start broad spectrum antibiotic like furan II

[Bryanna5894]

Thank you everyone for the help and suggestions. Unfortunately she didn't make it, but I appreciate all of your help.

[jeep]

Sorry for your loss. And sorry I just saw your post. For future reference, I suggest reading through the beginner section, as well as the water section. They will help you for future issues you may experience... I don't meant to be harsh or offensive, but I see many things about your tank that are not good for discus and could be the underlying cause of this issue...

[Iminit]

Sorry for the loss. The other guy is still going to need the clean water. They are beautiful fish but not a beginner fish. And as a beginner for success you really have to follow the rules. Not your fault unfortunately pet stores just want to sell fish. Money first. As stated read the beginners advice here. Once you get a routine going they are easy to take care of. Clean water is 90% of the solution!

[14Discus]

“The PH of my normal tap is about 7.2. I was lowering it from recommendation from the pet store when I purchased the first discus. I am not aware of my GH or KH but I could purchase a test kit if necessary.“

First, 7.2 is fine for Discus. Trying to mess w PH is dangerous.....don’t lower it. Today’s Discus are unlike 40 years ago and will do just fine w reasonably higher PHs. Yes...do get KH and GH test kits and check. KH is directly related to PH issues. Again this is only my opinion, but 82 is the absolute lowest acceptable temp.......I’d suggest increasing to 86 degrees. Others may disagree.....I’m just sharing my thoughts so as to help.

Second, I’d suggest you set up an water aging barrel and age it w heat and an air stone. Also, check to see that no chlorine or chloramine is in the water from the tap.

In summary, imho, any of these might contribute to your situation.......PH lack of stability, KH and or GH issues, Temp, chlorine/chloramine in water or a combination there of.