Battered fins since laying eggs

[ConCaDia]

One of my girls is currently tending to wigglers, and has been taking a beating from the male. The system has a total of 8 fish, that are all otherwise healthy and do not display the same symptoms.

I'm familiar with the odd fin fracture, but this looks far more sinister. I've not seen a sudden onset like this in many years of keeping fish, especially with the rest of them showing 0 symptoms when it could be a bacterial issue.

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?

As per the below pictures, since this girl laid eggs and has been taking a hiding from the male, her fins look awful, and similar to ich (I don't believe it is ich, but perhaps a different external parasite)


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).

white/cream coloured spots on cordal and lateral fins


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

None. Still diagnosing.

Tank/Water

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

Total system 500L (125 odd USG)
8 Discus, 2 per tank
12 to 16cm

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

50% daily

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

6 month (aged media seed from 24 month system that has no problems), bare bottoms


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

24 hours, pure RO. degas 6.8 pH - raise and stable at 7.4


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

None.

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 30c

- ph 7.4

- ammonia reading 0

- nitrite reading 0

- nitrate reading 0

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.


- RO water 100 %


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.

Homemade seafood mix
Tetra Bits
FDBW
Adult Artemia (loaded)

2 to 3 times daily depending on breeding stages

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.

2.jpg

1.jpg

3.jpg

[jeep]

This could be a combination of aggression and water quality.

Are you feeding the fry bbs? The spots could be bbs being caught in the slime coat. Maybe gently rub an area and see it it comes off???

Does your water contain chloramines? If so, RO won't remove all chloramines so a water conditioner like Prime should be used.

I would get them on regular tap quickly. RO doesn't contain necessary minerals that discus require to grow healthy. RO and low TDS are only required at the time of spawning. Also, RO Ph can fluctuate easily since there are no buffers, even at 50% changed daily.

[ConCaDia]

Gday,

Are you feeding the fry bbs?

No fry yet, only wigglers.

Does your water contain chloramines? If so, RO won't remove all chloramines so a water conditioner like Prime should be used.

No chloramines, or chlorine - can confirm with 2 separate (Sera & API) liquid test kits and one strip test.

I would get them on regular tap quickly. RO doesn't contain necessary minerals that discus require to grow healthy.

This is a breeding system, all grow out are on different water.

RO and low TDS are only required at the time of spawning. Also, RO Ph can fluctuate easily since there are no buffers, even at 50% changed daily.

Max fluctuation is +- .2 over 24 hours (7.3 <> 7.5). I know it's logarithmic, but that's negligible.

Does it at all seem indicative of a bacterial or parasitic issue? I'll be running PP through once two of the pairs wigglers are free swimming, but am considering moving her to an isolated system prior to that, leaving dad to do the feeding this time. Perhaps I'll risk the clutch by pulling her for a swab and a microscope, but I'd rather not at this stage.

[ConCaDia]

Crisis avoided. Unsure what it was, but it has mysteriously vanished in the past 24 hours with no residual damages. Weirdest thing I've seen in years. Wigglers doing the u-turns now so hopefully all attached in the morning. Happy days!

[jeep]