AquaticSuppliers.com     Cafepress Store

Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Inflamed Tail on Red Cover

  1. #1
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    130

    Default Inflamed Tail on Red Cover

    Hi All, I've had my current lot of discus about 7 months. All large, adult discus around 6-7 inches. One of two of my red covers has some inflammation in his tail, at the high and low points of the tail. I assume it's some sort of sickness or issue, but I'm not sure what. I've been lucky and haven't had to really deal with much sickness in the past with discus. On one side it bulges out slightly.

    It was really hard to get a good pic. Hopefully you can see what I'm describing. He's still very active, swims fine, eats very aggressively and still bullies other fish in the tank. Also, no other fish has any issue or anything similar right now so hopefully it's nothing contagious. I usually do water changes every other day, but I have upped it to daily, turned the heat up to 90 degrees and have added some salt just for stress, even though he seems fine. Any idea what this is? And what I should treat it with? I do have plants in the tank, but can relocate them for the time being if needed for medication. Nitrates are at 10ppm, fyi. Thanks in advance for any help!!

    Also having issues uploading them, but here are links (should mention, the side pictured isn't as inflamed, the other side that I couldn't capture is actually bulging out a bit):
    https://ibb.co/2hG0HcJ
    https://ibb.co/pnhYj3V
    Last edited by number1sixerfan; 03-19-2021 at 12:52 PM.

  2. #2
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Posts
    626

    Default Re: Inflamed Tail on Red Cover

    Looks more like trauma than infection of sort. My fish “argue” from time to time and I occasionally see lesions like this. Most true infection of fins are usually accompanied by redness

  3. #3
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    130

    Default Re: Inflamed Tail on Red Cover

    Quote Originally Posted by captainandy View Post
    Looks more like trauma than infection of sort. My fish “argue” from time to time and I occasionally see lesions like this. Most true infection of fins are usually accompanied by redness
    I don't know why I didn't think of that possibility, that's usually all that ever happens to them. 3 of them do bully pretty regularly, and he happens to be one of them. That's probably it, and it doesn't look like any sickness I've ever seen or heard of. Feels like I had a brain fart lol, but thank you so much for the post and mentioning that!

  4. #4
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    130

    Default Re: Inflamed Tail on Red Cover

    Just a quick update. The bulging 'lesions' turned into small holes in the fin in each the top and bottom area of the fin. The rest of the fin is very healthy. I know the fin should* repair itself over time, but is there any reason I should try to proactively trim the damaged area myself? I really rather not just out of paranoia. Again, the fish looks fine, is really active and is the greediest eater still. I'd hate to stress it, taking it out of the tank and trying to trim it.

    Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

  5. #5
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    130

    Default Re: Inflamed Tail on Red Cover

    Never mind, can already tell that it's beginning the natural healing process! Will revisit if it doesn't heal fully in the next 3 or so weeks.

  6. #6
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    130

    Default Re: Inflamed Tail on Red Cover

    Just wanted to update here. The Red Cover is doing really well and is actually one of the top two most colored fish of the group. His tail is growing back but it is literally the longest process I have ever seen lol. (although I've never had a tail issue before). The two inflamed areas caused the tail to rot away and the entire tail is regrowing, but very slowly. It's about 1/4th to 1/2 of the way back.

    Unfortunately, I think I have to remove the rocks in my tank. I love them because they're natural and look really good with the plants around them, but I think they're the culprit here. I'm only seeing an issue when the fish are rarely and randomly spooked. Either remove them or bury them with plants so they aren't an issue. Again, thanks for the help!
    Last edited by number1sixerfan; 05-04-2021 at 06:55 PM.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Cafepress