Adult discus head standing kind of

[Froffy]

Hi I had a pair of discus delivered just under a week ago , today the male, is doing a wired thing where he is just hanging around the top of the breeding cone on a 45 degree angle, if I disturb him with my hand he swims fine but then goes back to it.......should I use Epsom just to make sure? Also I haven't seen him eat since getting him last Friday, the female just started eating today.......water is fine, bit hot here today though......also when I got him inside notice his Gill membrane sticking out a bit, but breathing fine with a few flicks along the breeding cone......and ideas thanks

[LizStreithorst]

Have you contacted the supplier? This is not normal.

[Froffy]

Yeh, private supplier, been treating with epsom for 2 days, no result, and we cant get alot of the meds here in australia, looks like my $400 fish is going to become a floating ornament or worse.

Had about 2 inches of water in the bag when it arrived, id say it was doomed on arrival.

[LizStreithorst]

The supplier won't make it good? I always make my shipping mistakes right.

[Froffy]

I have tried epsom with no luck, now on to prazi to make sure I have covered it all, he is swimming more but still head standing..,should I continue prazi ?

[Chicago Discus]

I have had to treat head-standing occasionally over the years, and quite frankly have not had much success. Recently I had a case where the fish arrived in little water, and went head standing the next day. I placed him in a hospital tank with 2 tbsp aquarium salt/10 gal, and treated with a combination of Kanamycin and Maracyn2 (minocycline) for 5 days, The discus was completely recovered after 5 days. I kept him in the hospital tank a few more days, but now he is back with his buddies... completely normal. I know that meds are difficult to get in Australia, but if you can possible get them it would be worth a try. Prazi will not help.

[jeep]

I'd like to see a quality photo that shows a good angle of the body and midsection of the body, and the angle it's pointing at. Is there a bulge in the rear center of the body?

If it's an infected swim bladder there may be a chance. If the bladder is ruptured, this type of condition is not curable.

If there's an internal infection, I've treated with nitrofurazone because there was an external condition at the same time. It's the only success I've had with a head stander related to the bladder and I caught it very early on.

Kanamycin and minocycline would be my first choice as well.

[Froffy]

Thanks he looks like he has a bit of a buldge , i get some better pics and post them, ive found some meds called bactocide , ive treated for 3 days, he is looking a bit better, and swimming correctly more, and for longer, swims horizontal for a mins at a time, and has gone from just sinking to the bottom head first to floating up higher and is eating.

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[Froffy]

Ill try to get some better pics of my parnters phone tomorrow as mine is bad quality

[jeep]

Seeing that bulge concerns me. It's exactly where the swim bladder is. I have never been able to correct this and I've never known anyone who has. It may continue eating and socializing for quite some time (I've even had one continue spawning and raising fry), but in the end it will exhaust so much energy trying to right itself that it will lose weight and wither away. I have one right now that has been struggling for 2 years. He's still eating but he's struggling, he's skin and bones and I will be forced to cull him soon.

It's still early on so I would try the bactocide 2. They claim success with this issue, although all the reported success has come from the people selling it. It may work and I would love to see an unbiased report of success using this product!!

Another thing... You may try lowering the water level to just over the dorsal fin so it doesn't fight so much and give the bladder a rest. This itself may show some relief but it won't last. Hopefully in combination with the bactocide it could do some good.

[Froffy]

Thanks for the reply, most of yesterday he was swimming like there was nothing wrong, and looked almost cured, today he is pointing down a bit , but not for long, I did lower the water when I treated with epsom, but might try lowering again, I still have a few more days with the bactocide, so fingers crossed

[Froffy]

Just looking at the fish again and as I've said he was swimming fine the other night, .....when not swimming though he is on a angle but like 45 degrees and not all the time but could be anywhere in the tank

Looking at the gills again they still look extended, a few white circles and a bit seratated.

Now as I've treated with prazi and now bactocide , and he is better but still not right I'm wondering if it's ammonia poisoning?

My thereoy is he was overnighted, not much water left in bag, I acclimatised him but floating the bag then adding tank water ....but have now read that U should break the bag and into a net then tank to avoid ammonia poisoning from the new oxygen entering the bag if overnighted .

I also just read that ammonia poisioning symptoms include , unbalanced swimming, scraping against objects (hence me thinking flukes) .

Any thoughts?

[Froffy]

From the Google "f you put aquarium water in the transport bags, the fish could die of ammonia poisoning under unfavorable conditions or at least suffer considerable damage to their gills"

[Froffy]

Google again " ammonia builds up in the bag water (ok reasonable) but when opened a chemical reaction occurs whereby the ammonia spikes dramatically or somehow becomes more toxic when the bag is opened & water is exposed to fresh air."

[jeep]

It's possible, but if this were ammonia poisoning you should see burns on the fins as well. I've also heard stories about discus shipped with little water getting air trapped in the swim bladder. Carefully aspirating the bladder can relieve this.

Am I correct in thinking this is a bulge or it is a distortion in the photo?
bulge.jpg