Only ONE fish not eating

[GalaxyKoiBoi]

Hello, I have a group of 15 juveniles. All of them except one are doing well, see below for details;

1) Problem - one fish is not eating. He spends all of his time hiding behind a sponge filter facing the back of the tank. Every other fish in the tank is active and eating well. I have noticed this behavior for at least 3 or 4 days now, but i was out of town last week so it may have been going on longer.

2) Symptoms - he is darker in color than every other fish. Very lethargic, does not respond when I approach the tank. Eats very, very weakly if there is leftover food he can scavenge, but will not come to the surface for food or actively eat like the rest of the fish. No signs of white feces, but hard to tell with so many fish in the tank.

3) Meds/Treatments - none so far. Other than aquarium salt for a few days to see if it was a digestion issue. Did not seem to have an affect.

4) Tank - 75 gallon filtered with 4 XL sponge filters. Water parameters - PH 7.7, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrates never get over 5-10ppm. Temps always around 85 (drops a bit in the night due to cold weather lately but never goes below 84).

5) water changes - 60% every day

6) tank history - been running about 5 months, fish in about 1 month. Bare bottom.

7) Age water? - Yes. I age overnight in a brute barrel, drops the PH from high 8's out of the tap to around 7.6 the next day. Aged water temp is kept at 87 so by the time it reaches the tank from a 75 foot hose in the garage it cools to 85-86 when it reaches the tank.

8) conditioner - Seachem prime, about half a cap for the 44 gallon brute barrel the night before.

9) new livestock - none. Received these fish from Myrtle Beach Discus where they underwent a 3 week quarantine with rounds of medication. I do not believe it is a parasite for this reason as nothing biological has been introduced to the tank since I've had them.

10) feeding - a variety of freeze dried food and high quality pellets/dry food all from Hikari. No frozen or live foods currently.

Unable to upload pictures right now, will be able to later this evening.

After a discussion with a friend who keeps discus, he believes it is a pecking order issue causing this fish too much stress to eat. He is one of the bigger fish in the group, and I do see fighting from time to time, but he will often fight back, so he seems healthy enough to stand his ground.

My plan is to buy a 20 gallon tank and quarantine him for a few weeks to see if I can get him to eat and observe his feces. No other fish are showing symptoms like this, so I don't believe it is parasites, but I am unsure.

Any advice on how i should proceed will be greatly appreciated!

[jwcarlson]

I had two of my ten behaving as you're describing. 12 days of metro brought one around and he isn't even the smallest fish anymore, the other died towards the end of metro, but started pooping (all white) for basically the second time since I'd had him. Wish I would have done the metro way way sooner, screwed around with levamisole and other stuff stuff that ultimately didn't do anything. Not saying that's your problem, but if you haven't done a round of metro maybe that's something to look into.

My two looked to be eating, but mostly after others were done. When I watched really closely it was clear they were spitting most if not all of everything they were eating back out.

Hopefully you can get everything sorted out!

[LizStreithorst]

I think that Jacob nailed it.

[Iminit]

Time to qt it. Lots happens with juvenile discus. It’s a 50/50 thing if it comes back. Some say it hormonal or it could just be stress or any other thing. But best bet is qt with salt and a temp at about 86. Give it a few days see if it eats. If not raise temp to 88. 2 tbs of salt per 10g and water change at least 50% daily. If it starts eating leave it in qt till it’s eating regular and is gaining weight. If it has white poo go with metro.

[jeep]

Temp 93 alone for 10-14 days can many times turn around a non-eater. Metro can only help...

[LizStreithorst]

Yeah, Brian. I forgot to mention the heat. Crank it up high for the little guy.

[GalaxyKoiBoi]

Thanks everyone. Good thing the local Petco is having a tank sale. I'll get a 20 gallon, more salt, and some metro and QT the little guy in a toasty tank until he is back to normal. I appreciate the responses!

[GalaxyKoiBoi]

UPDATE: fed the tank their afternoon Vibra bites, the fish in question ate a few sticks but pooped out a long, white hair. Definitely internal parasites.

I will need to treat the whole tank. The question is, do I treat the water column or just the food? I've done this before with african cichlids but I could use some advice on the best method for discus!

[jeep]

"Parasites"... But do we know which kind? At this point it could be as simple as hex and treated with heat and metro for 10-14 days in water. Metro with food is great if the fish will eat it. Hex isn't contagious, they all have it. It's when a fish becomes stressed or sick that hex takes over a weakened immune system.

Like I said earlier, 93 heat alone will cure many fish and along with metro should be good. Keep in mind that isolating in a hospital tank alone can be stressful, and 93 heat and metro will do no harm to the other fish. Just do it slowly and make sure they have plenty of air. 2TBS salt per 10g will help them deal with heat and low o2 levels...

[LizStreithorst]

I've always raised the temp treated just the water. I was worried that I might put too much medication in the fish. Others do both.

Don't blame the supplier. He sent you very nice fish. I'm sure he treated for everything. But the treatments don't get the parasites' eggs. After a period of stress, like shipping, the remaining show up on the fish that can overcome them before it hit's the other fish. You are right to treat the whole tank. Good thing you actually saw the white poo.

[GalaxyKoiBoi]

"Parasites"... But do we know which kind? At this point it could be as simple as hex and treated with heat and metro for 10-14 days in water. Metro with food is great if the fish will eat it. Hex isn't contagious, they all have it. It's when a fish becomes stressed or sick that hex takes over a weakened immune system.

Like I said earlier, 93 heat alone will cure many fish and along with metro should be good. Keep in mind that isolating in a hospital tank alone can be stressful, and 93 heat and metro will do no harm to the other fish. Just do it slowly and make sure they have plenty of air. 2TBS salt per 10g will help them deal with heat and low o2 levels...

Sorry, that was vague. Assuming it was hex like you said.

The plan is to increase the tank temp slowly, add salt, and treat the entire tank with metro until he is eating consistently and then I will try to move over to treating the food. Ordered a 100g bottle of metro, will be here Saturday. Until then its salt and increased temps.

Thanks again for the help and suggestions!

[GalaxyKoiBoi]

I've always raised the temp treated just the water. I was worried that I might put too much medication in the fish. Others do both.

Don't blame the supplier. He sent you very nice fish. I'm sure he treated for everything. But the treatments don't get the parasites' eggs. After a period of stress, like shipping, the remaining show up on the fish that can overcome them before it hit's the other fish. You are right to treat the whole tank. Good thing you actually saw the white poo.

Wasn't my intention to blame the supplier, my apologies if it came across that way. I meant that I trusted the fish from him due to his lengthy quarantine and treatment process. One of the reasons I bought my fish from him was how well he takes care of them. I can edit my post to make that more clear.

Thanks Liz!

[LizStreithorst]

No reason to edit anything. I just remembered where you bought the fish because I thought that they were very good fish.

[jeep]

and treat the entire tank with metro until he is eating consistently

I would discontinue heat + salt after metro has run the course. Although I think you'll see an improvement even before your metro arrives, sometimes in worse situations it can take a week or two after treatment to see positive results.

[GalaxyKoiBoi]

I would discontinue heat + salt after metro has run the course. Although I think you'll see an improvement even before your metro arrives, sometimes in worse situations it can take a week or two after treatment to see positive results.

Thanks for the suggestion. Bumped the temps up to 88 last night and added salt, the fish in question already is a little more active this morning! Hope he keeps improving, he has an almost snakeskin pattern but he is an altum flora (turquoise) and has a very nice round shape. Would hate to lose him