AquaticSuppliers.com     Golden State Discus

Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Dead discus

  1. #1
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2022
    Posts
    4
    Real Name
    Taylor

    Default Dead discus

    DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE

    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?

    Fish stopped eating a week ago after I dosed the aquarium to try to address a diatom spike. Realized I made a mistake and did a 75% water change the next 2 days. Followed by another 75% change last night. Since the fish stopped eating I have been adding 1 TBSP of aquarium salt per 5 gallons with each water change. Ageing water for a few days, heated to 86F, and also treating with Prime. Woke up to find 1 dead discus this morning.

    I have a piece of manzanita driftwood in the tank and sand substrate. Noticed some weird black droppings around the driftwood over the past few weeks. It’s not fish poop. Wasn’t sure if something was growing on the driftwood or if it had something in it that was being expellend.

    I routinely vacuum out food and poop off the sand with an electric cleaner.


    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).

    Discus coloration is darker than usual. Not eating. One of them breathing faster than usual (not the dead one)


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

    Did a treatment of Algaefix a week ago using dosage on the bottle. Wish that I had not.

    Until today thought that this was a minor issue.

    I put towels on top of the aquarium, have lights turned off for the day, added air stones today to help them to feel more relaxed and make sure the water is well oxygenated.



    Tank/Water

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

    75 Gallon. 7 (now 6) discus at roughly 3” from USTropicalFish.com added roughly 3 weeks ago to an established tank. No other tank mates other than some nirite snails that were added to address the diatom issue a week ago.

    Fluval cannister filter.


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

    75% weekly. Aged water 86F.


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

    November 2021. Sand Substrate roughly 2” deep.


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

    Age for roughly 2-3 days. Unsure of ph swing.


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

    1-2 Capful of Prime added to tank before filling.


    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 __86___

    - ph __7.8___

    - ammonia reading _0___

    - nitrite reading __0__

    - nitrate reading _5-10___

    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 __0__

    - municipal water _100___

    - RO water __0__


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

    5 nirite snails


    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.

    Typ feed 3-4x per day. Mix of freeze dried bloodworms and brine shrimp.


    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.

    See attached.

    9/3 Shows coloration when happy
    9/9 Shows black rice shaped stuff around driftwood. Likely not poop as fish do not hang out here.
    9/23 Coloration today is darker
    Video shows rapid breathing of light yellow discus. Gill does not appear to be fully formed. Has been that way since he arrived. One of his eyes is also slightly deformed but has not changed. Will post separate Youtube link below.

  2. #2
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2022
    Posts
    4
    Real Name
    Taylor

    Default Re: Dead discus

    Youtube of rapid breathing. The rest of the discus appear to be breathing at a normal rate. https://youtu.be/S1ZQOSS3D_U

  3. #3
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2022
    Posts
    4
    Real Name
    Taylor

    Default Re: Dead discus

    I am debating ordering an RO system. Seems like opinions are mixed on if RO water is needed. Don't want to create extra work with minimal upside but am happy to do it if better for the fish. Please advise.

  4. #4
    Homesteader jwcarlson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Location
    Iowa
    Posts
    955
    Real Name
    Jacob

    Default Re: Dead discus

    Pretty sure the poop is from your nerites. Do you see the discus eating any of the snail poop?
    I don't feel qualified to comment on anything else, but I'm sure someone more experienced will be along.

  5. #5
    Silver Member Iminit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2020
    Location
    Long island
    Posts
    2,900
    Real Name
    Tom

    Default Re: Dead discus

    Are there any shrimp in the tank? If not than it’s nerite poo. Yes do die and it may have been stressed. Hard to say.

  6. #6
    Administrator jeep's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    O.P. KS
    Posts
    6,607
    Real Name
    Brian

    Default Re: Dead discus

    Thanks for providing such detailed information. Let's address them in order -

    Your discus stopped eating AFTER treating the tank with Algaefix. Is this API? You said you made a mistake, did you use too much?

    The amount of salt you used is very mild. I would use 2-3 TBS per 10g and replace the amount removed during water changes for at least a week. I don't know how this will affect your snails. Can you move them while treating your discus?

    You age your water. Excellent! However, I would increase water changes to 50% daily until the situation is resolved as this seems to be a water related issue. Do you use a transfer pump? If so, use it to circulate the water through the holding tank to age it quicker. I can age my warm water in about 3-4 hours. RO should not be needed so I wouldn't stress over that.

    How old are the discus? You got them from Uncle Sams? Not my favorite supplier. All of the 12 discus I bought from them were weak and died within a few weeks to 2 years from suspected organ failure.

    Prime is good and won't cause issues.

    How long ago were the snails added? Could they be a source of cross contamination?

    I would maybe include another food in their diet like granules or freeze dried blackworms, although this doesn't seem to the source of your problems. Frozen Hikari brand (only) bloodworms are great as well.

    I agree the black stuff is probably feces from the snails although I don't know what snail poo looks like, lol... Can you maybe use some surgical gloves and pick some up to feel the texture? If soft it's probably from the snails.

    If you're not going bare bottom, it's good to use sand. You could imagine what would be missed during cleaning if it sank into larger gravel.

    Your tank looks spotless! But, I still think this is water related. Even though you've probably removed all the Algaefix, they may be suffering from side effects. Maybe run some carbon filtration to make sure. The ingredients on the label look pretty harsh. Clean water and salt will hopefully clear this up soon as long as there's no internal organ damage.
    Last edited by jeep; 09-23-2022 at 01:48 PM.

  7. #7
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2022
    Posts
    4
    Real Name
    Taylor

    Default Re: Dead discus

    Thank you very much for the detailed response. The yellow fish with breathing issues is acting strange now but the other 5 look healthy. Hopefully this is short lived. Not sure what else do do other than keep on the water changes!

    My comments added after your questions below:


    Quote Originally Posted by jeep View Post
    Thanks for providing such detailed information. Let's address them in order -

    Your discus stopped eating AFTER treating the tank with Algaefix. Is this API? You said you made a mistake, did you use too much? - No, I mean that I wish I hadn't used it. The diatoms were annoying but not hurting anything. I should have left it alone. API Algea Fix.

    The amount of salt you used is very mild. I would use 2-3 TBS per 10g and replace the amount removed during water changes for at least a week. I don't know how this will affect your snails. Can you move them while treating your discus? - I can put the snails in the kid's glowfish tank and increase the salt.

    You age your water. Excellent! However, I would increase water changes to 50% daily until the situation is resolved as this seems to be a water related issue. Do you use a transfer pump? If so, use it to circulate the water through the holding tank to age it quicker. I can age my warm water in about 3-4 hours. RO should not be needed so I wouldn't stress over that. - I use a python to clean the sand and an aquarium bilge pump with suction cups to dump water and refill.

    How old are the discus? You got them from Uncle Sams? Not my favorite supplier. All of the 12 discus I bought from them were weak and died within a few weeks to 2 years from suspected organ failure. - Discus were purchased about a week ago and were all the small size range. Estimated 3". Price was really good but fish don't look as clean as the photos. Still think it was a good overall price and there aren't many local options.

    Prime is good and won't cause issues.

    How long ago were the snails added? Could they be a source of cross contamination? - Snails added a few days before the AlgeaFix, taken out during treatment, and reintroduced. The Glowfish tank held the snails for a week and don't seem to have any issues there.

    I would maybe include another food in their diet like granules or freeze dried blackworms, although this doesn't seem to the source of your problems. Frozen Hikari brand (only) bloodworms are great as well. - Roger that!

    I agree the black stuff is probably feces from the snails although I don't know what snail poo looks like, lol... Can you maybe use some surgical gloves and pick some up to feel the texture? If soft it's probably from the snails. - Really not sure on the black stuff. There would be 30-50 of those 2x daily. They stopped appearing after I boiled the driftwood last night. I was worried something bad was growing on / or coming out of the wood. May never know.

    If you're not going bare bottom, it's good to use sand. You could imagine what would be missed during cleaning if it sank into larger gravel.

    Your tank looks spotless! But, I still think this is water related. Even though you've probably removed all the Algaefix, they may be suffering from side effects. Maybe run some carbon filtration to make sure. The ingredients on the label look pretty harsh. Clean water and salt will hopefully clear this up soon as long as there's no internal organ damage.

  8. #8
    Platinum Member fljones3's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Location
    VA
    Posts
    1,117
    Real Name
    Frank

    Default Re: Dead discus

    I would do the other suggestions but I would also remove the snails into quarantine until the tank heals.

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