Discus eating again

[Aquaman218]

I have had a problem with one of my discus. At one time he was the largest and prettiest in my tank (Red Snakeskin). He grew quickly when I first got him from Wattley and was the Alpha of the tank (George). One day he just stopped showing up at feeding time. He was usually hanging out in the middle of the tank, but showed no aggression toward the other discus and they never bothered him. Close examination showed no outward signs of problems. Fins were good, well formed. No indication of gill flukes or breathing issues. No signs of internal parasites. He just wouldn't eat. Without some indication of what was wrong, I was reluctant to shotgun treat with medications. I have not had success with this approach in the past.

The Other five discus have continued to eat and thrive, most are now larger than he is (except one runt Blue Diamond). On a couple of occasions the one of the other discus would show signs of internal parasites, flukes or quit eating for a day or two (usually caused by a change in social structure in the tank). When indicated I treated with Metro, Pure Praziquantel or Levamisole. In all cases the other five discus have recovered and continued to thrive. In fact I have one confirmed pair and a second showing signs of spawning. The medication had no apparent effect on George.

Surprisingly, this has continued for several months. By this time George is looking pretty emaciated and grey, not a lot of color. No changes in foods or water temp or water change regimen has induced him to eat, until now. A few weeks ago, I set out a bucket I was using with my Bonsai Trees. It filled up with rain water, and going neglected, started breeding mosquitoes and Daphnia. I collected a large quantity of them and put them in my Discus tank. The 5 healthy discus showed little interest in them, but almost immediately the non-eating discus started chasing them down and eating them. The others will eat them opportunistically, if the mosquitoes swim close to them. Over the last several weeks I have been feeding Mosquitoes whenever I can gather a reasonable number (it's surprising how quickly you can deplete a bucket). I started collecting the Daphnia separately and putting them in a 10 gal tank full of algae green water. I hope to start a colony and used them to feed.

I am happy to report that George is now eating, and his color is returning nicely. He is still looking a little emaciated, but is eating beef heart as well as pellet food. Not much, but it is a start. He is now trying to take back his position as the Alpha male. he is a little smaller than the others, but has a lot of spunk. Now that he is eating his feces look normal, no signs internal parasites or other problems.

I'm not sure what started this, but am optimistic it is coming to a successful conclusion.

Robert

[Tinzo]

I can almost garantee you if you separate him in a BB tank and set the temp to 93f it will start to eat after 3 weeks or so. 50%WC a week. It will eat anything you give him. Give him what he likes first then change it. Once put back in the show tank it will be back to normal for couple of weeks. But then it will stop eating again.
I have this issue for a year now. I just gave up. we'll se what's gonna happen. Mine like artemia shrimps. Frozen.

[jeep]

Good job! Another great food for finicky eaters is live blackworms. Be careful not to feed too much because they will become addicted and can shy off other foods...