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Thread: 5 Fish with various problems

  1. #1
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    Default 5 Fish with various problems

    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 winter we had a variety of problems with our discus. Being new to discus last October, we made a lot of beginner mistakes at once including improper quarantine, mixing fish from various sources, and large water changes with a big pH swing. After many months of working to correct our problems, we still have 5 out of our 15 discus who are not thriving. These 5 are together in a 55 gallon bare bottom tank. The other 10 discus in the display tank are now doing very well.

    As you will see below we have tried deworming, salt, metro, etc. While none appear to be near death I feel like they are on their way to a slow painful death. I'm open to any suggestions to try as a last resort, or maybe there is nothing more we can try.

    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).
    Fish #1 (red turquoise) Stopped eating in March/April, color appears dark sometimes, pale sometimes, eyes seem lifeless. Will eat live blackworms a little bit.
    Fish #2 (Albino) Does not eat well, seems excited to eat but spits almost everything out. Have tried a variety of foods, including live blackworms. Is now very emaciated after about 4 months of not eating much. Have tried hand feeding, using stick on the glass FD Blackworms, and pretty much everything I can think of but she has a lot of trouble eating.
    Fish #3 (Blue Cobalt) Stunted fish got fin rot in late February, fin rot mostly healed but fins still ragged. Is off & on with eating.
    Fish #4-5 Wild discus - seem healthy but hide in main tank and don't eat. Moved them to this tank because they do not seem to like the rambunctious domestics we have in the display. We don't think they're sick (sold dark poop) but think they would be better in a tank dedicated to wild discus.


    3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
    All fish had three doses of Levamisole in March (Day 1, Day 5, & Day 13). They have had a dose of Wormer Plus at the end of April and again about 3 weeks ago. They also had a 10 day course of metronidazole with temps around 90.
    The fish with the severe fin rot had salt in the tank for two weeks in addition to and daily water changes.

    The albino & cobalt had a course of Kanaplex in late March.

    I purchased a microscope and can find no obvious parasites in their poop. I sent my videos to a few experienced discus people and posted them on this forum awhile back and haven't had a clear answer of seeing anything obvious.

    Tank/Water

    4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
    Hospital tank - 55 gallons - 5 discus between 2.5-5 inches. All purchased between October 2020 and January 2021.


    5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
    Daily water changes, anywhere between 25-75%

    6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
    Tank has been set up 7 months, bare bottom.

    7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
    Yes. Although we were not aging it at first which is when all the fish started getting sick. We have been aging it since March 2021. Out of tap 7.4; after 6 hours it settles at 8.4 which is what our tanks run at.


    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 added to aging barrel. We use the dosage for the gallons being treated in the aging barrel.


    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 87

    - ph 8.4

    - ammonia reading 0

    - nitrite reading 0

    - nitrate reading 5-10ppm; usually closer to 5 because of frequent water changes and I also net out waste a few times a day.

    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%

    - 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.
    They are offered food 3-4 times a day; however, they don't eat much of it so I typically manually remove what is uneaten. Food offered:
    -Frozen beefheart
    -Frozen seafood blend (from Exotic Discus)
    -Prime Reef Nutrition Flakes
    -Pellets
    -Freeze dried black worms
    -Frozen brine shrimp
    -Live blackworms


    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.
    Link to tank video:
    https://katietheringphotography.smug...rM/i-BgfQqKS/A

    Link to gallery with photos & descriptions of each fish:
    https://katietheringphotography.smug...lon-/n-JxsTrM/

  2. #2
    Registered Member seanyuki's Avatar
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    Registered Member seanyuki's Avatar
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    Registered Member seanyuki's Avatar
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    Default Re: 5 Fish with various problems

    Not necessary to add Prime to the aging barrel, only add Prime while filling the display tank with aged water.

    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 added to aging barrel. We use the dosage for the gallons being treated in the aging barrel.
    Grasshopper
    Francis

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    Default Re: 5 Fish with various problems

    Thanks for the reply! So are you saying add Prime directly to the tank while being filled or to the aging barrel right before pumping it into the tank?

    Could this be a reason for the fish that are sick?

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    Registered Member seanyuki's Avatar
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    Default Re: 5 Fish with various problems

    Adding Prime directly tank while being filled......if adding water to the tank before treating, it is best to treat for the volume of the entire aquarium. This ensures that there is enough of the conditioner available to remove any chlorine or chloramine, without being effected by any ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate currently in the water. Think of it this way, when treating water before adding it to the tank, there are less harmful compounds to be detoxified. When adding it to the tank first, the conditioner will have more than just chlorine and chloramine to detoxify and therefore will require a larger dose. With Prime and Safe being as concentrated as they are, this typically requires little product but, is a great way to ensure your fish are safe.



    Quote Originally Posted by klthering View Post
    Thanks for the reply! So are you saying add Prime directly to the tank while being filled or to the aging barrel right before pumping it into the tank?

    Could this be a reason for the fish that are sick?
    Grasshopper
    Francis

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    Registered Member seanyuki's Avatar
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    Default Re: 5 Fish with various problems

    Converted

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    Moderator Team LizStreithorst's Avatar
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    Default Re: 5 Fish with various problems

    Does your water contain chloramines or just chlorine? Either way since the other fish are doing well with dechlorinator added to the aging barrel I don't think that's the problem with these. What dosage of Metro did you use and for how long? Picking up and spitting out food is a classic sign of hex as is not eating at all. If it's not hex I don't have any other ideas. You seem to be doing everything right.
    Mama Bear

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    Default Re: 5 Fish with various problems

    Quote Originally Posted by LizStreithorst View Post
    Does your water contain chloramines or just chlorine? Either way since the other fish are doing well with dechlorinator added to the aging barrel I don't think that's the problem with these. What dosage of Metro did you use and for how long? Picking up and spitting out food is a classic sign of hex as is not eating at all. If it's not hex I don't have any other ideas. You seem to be doing everything right.
    Thanks for the reply, Liz. I used 1/4 teaspoon per 20 gallons for 10 days. Temp at 90 and water change before each dose.

    Our water has chlorine but not chloramines. We have non-discus tanks that we use the aged water on as well and everyone is fine.

    The Albino does seem to have a hard time seeing food sometimes, but even when he does get some in he will spit it out.

  10. #10
    Moderator Team LizStreithorst's Avatar
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    Default Re: 5 Fish with various problems

    How many mg. of pure metro is that per 20 gallons? You may have under treated.
    Mama Bear

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    Default Re: 5 Fish with various problems

    Quote Originally Posted by LizStreithorst View Post
    How many mg. of pure metro is that per 20 gallons? You may have under treated.
    I just did an online conversion and it seems I used 1.25mg per 20 gallons. I used the dosage recommendation on the bottle. It is pure metro that I got from Discus Madness.

  12. #12
    Moderator Team LizStreithorst's Avatar
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    Default Re: 5 Fish with various problems

    The dosage we use here is 1000 mg per 20 for 12 days. I use 1/2 teaspoon per 20 go get that dosage. You may have figured wrong. The label directions of every metro I've ever bought call for 1/2 that much or 500 mg per 20. Discus need a higher dose for longer to be effective.
    Mama Bear

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    Silver Member Iminit's Avatar
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    Default Re: 5 Fish with various problems

    You’ve got a lot going on. To me your wilds look fine. How long have you had them? Where did you get them? I’d put them in their own tank. The other 3 do seem to have problems. With the fin rot that sounds like a water condition. So those 3 I’d leave in the tank and keep up with the salt heat and water changes.

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    Default Re: 5 Fish with various problems

    Quote Originally Posted by Iminit View Post
    You’ve got a lot going on. To me your wilds look fine. How long have you had them? Where did you get them? I’d put them in their own tank. The other 3 do seem to have problems. With the fin rot that sounds like a water condition. So those 3 I’d leave in the tank and keep up with the salt heat and water changes.
    We've had the wilds for 7 months. Got them from our LFS who often gets wilds in. I am unsure how long they were in captivity before we got them, but they've been dewormed several times now and their poop is generally solid & dark (when they're actually eating).

    I'll keep up the water changes. I added salt back to the tank yesterday. Thanks for taking the time to reply!

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    Default Re: 5 Fish with various problems

    Update. The red turquoise didn't make it

    However, I upped the temp to 90, added salt, and fasted them three days. One of the wilds and the albino are now eating flakes pretty well. The other wild and the cobalt are starting to seem interested. The fin rot on the cobalt has also improved. So sad that we lost one, but it is nice to see the others improving.

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