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Thread: Discus freak out/ seizure.. help

  1. #1
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    Default Discus freak out/ seizure.. help

    I’ve previously been having some issues with two of my other Discus which were detailed in this thread - http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...09#post1343809

    It’s a bit soon to say with them but I think they might be improving. Unfortunately I’ve since had a different discus develop a new and way more acute issue so thought I’d start a separate thread (I hope that’s alright).

    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?

    Last night during my evening water change one of my Discus (One of the original batch of four) which had previously seemed absolutely fine and strong suddenly started freaking out swimming erratically around the tank bashing into the sides and the sand. It was swimming in a horizontal position in circles during and immediately after this freak out but then after a couple of minutes it seems to recover fairly well. It’s almost like it has a seizure for a minute or two.
    This happened again tonight which I managed to film a bit of it. The one this evening was so bad I thought it might have jumped out of the tank.
    Both times I was there for it it happened a few minutes after the light went off and while I was doing my evening water change. However my girlfriend told me it had another couple of episodes during the day so I’m not sure if the light or water change are linked to it.

    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).

    I can’t see any physical issues. The main problem is the complete freak out which only happens sporadically. The rest of the time it seems fine.

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

    5 days ago I dosed with 4.5ml of AquaCare Anti-Fluke and Wormer and have been adding 4tbs of API Aquarium Salt per 50L of water.


    Tank/Water

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

    240L set up four months ago with 8 juvenile Discus and 19 Cardinal Tetra


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

    At the moment I’m doing 25% twice a day (morning then evening). Before the issues I had which I discussed in the thread above I was doing 25% daily.


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

    Tank is four months old and has sand substrate. Now it’s about 2.5cm deep but it used to be much deeper until about a week ago when I removed the majority of the sand.


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

    Based on the advice in the previous thread I’ve started to age my water. But am only really able to leave it for about 4 hours in order to do my 25% twice a day.


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

    Seachem Prime

    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 _____30c

    - ph _____7.4

    - ammonia reading ____0 ppm

    - nitrite reading ____0 ppm

    - nitrate reading ____10 ppm

    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 ____25%

    - RO water ____75%


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

    4 new Discus 1 week 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.

    Mussel Mix 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.

    Managed to film its most recent episode. I missed the first 10 seconds which was the most violent. You don’t need to watch the full thing, but I just recorded until the fish started acting more normally.

    https://youtu.be/fCbKdL1TdhI



    I desperately want these fish to live and am doing as much as I can. Please if anyone can offer any advice I’d really appreciate if.

  2. #2
    Moderator Team LizStreithorst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Discus freak out/ seizure.. help

    I thought I posted this earlier but I must have pushed the wrong button because I have no good outcome for this situation. I know how painful to see your lovely Discus loose it's mind and smash around. I'm tough and it was hard for me to go through. What I read here a long long time ago was that it was something with the fish's brain and cannot be fixed. I hope someone else has something more encouraging to give you.
    Last edited by LizStreithorst; 07-25-2020 at 08:00 PM.
    Mama Bear

  3. #3
    Registered Member 14Discus's Avatar
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    north Illinois
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    Bill G.

    Default Re: Discus freak out/ seizure.. help

    My guess is based on your statement suggesting you do your water change when the lights are off.
    “ Both times I was there for it it happened a few minutes after the light went off and while I was doing my evening water change.”

    My suggestion would to do the WCs with the lights on. I’ve never even tried doing a WC in the dark or w reduced light. That’s my best guess. Sudden light changes can be stressful, let alone while doing a WC. I’ve had a fish go nuts if I started my WC too soon after the lights come on in the afternoon. Now I wait 30 minutes or more to start off w a WC.

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