Discus Not Eating - Newbie Tank Manager

[Greg-Florida]

Hello,
I found myself unexpectedly caring for my son's Discus tank 3 months ago. I have some aquarium experience but am a novice and know little about Discus.

My smallest Discus is not eating. He gets excited and comes to the top of the tank with the others when I approach and looks hungry, but when food is surrounding him, he only takes 1-2 bites every couple days that I can tell for about 3-4 weeks now. Everyone else is eating well, as normal.

My LFS said to feed him some live brine shrimp, but he only nibbled on 1 or 2. I have soaked the food in garlic guard a few times with no results. I've only tried the brine shrimp for 2 meals on the same day.

It's hard to tell in the pictures but he looks scrawny. He's not lethargic, he looks fine other than his skinniness. It does look like he's lost weight.
He's the smallest of the 5 Discus and he does not have to compete for food. I do not see him being bullied and all fish are healthy.

Tank is 55 gallon with Fluval 307 and I feed them probably about 8 different kinds of food, pellets, flakes, frozen, vibra bites...
In the group of 5 picture below, that was taken a couple months ago when he was fatter. And the Discus on the far right is now bluer.
We've had all these Discus about 3 years.
I'm very concerned about where he's headed! Looking for help!
IMG_5599.JPG IMG_5601.JPG IMG_5602.jpg Nicks Discus Nov 22 tight.jpg

[Greg-Florida]

He's now hiding in the bottom of the tank behind the wood. Have never seen him do that.
What about these black specs on his face, are these indicative of anything?

[Greg-Florida]

I meant 60 gallon tank, Not 55.

[Iminit]

The black specs are nothing. It’s called peppering. Could be anything wrong with it. I’d remove and put in qr tank. Raise the temp to about 86-88 and add salt. To start just 1 tbs per 10g and see what happens. It does look thin. Is it the last discus in the group photo? And is that an older pic?

[Greg-Florida]

The black specs are nothing. It’s called peppering. Could be anything wrong with it. I’d remove and put in qr tank. Raise the temp to about 86-88 and add salt. To start just 1 tbs per 10g and see what happens. It does look thin. Is it the last discus in the group photo? And is that an older pic?

Yes, he's the one on the far left in the group photo taken a couple months ago when he was eating. The solo photos don't show how thin he really is.
I don't have a qr tank but I do have a 30 gal with 20 small community fish I keep at 76 degrees.
Should I raise temp and add salt to the big discus tank with all of them in there?

[Iminit]

I’d buy a 20-40g and qt the fish by itself. The other fish look good and a qt is needed for discus.

[Greg-Florida]

I’d buy a 20-40g and qt the fish by itself. The other fish look good and a qt is needed for discus.

Thanks Tom. I thought it would take a month for the new tank to be ready for any fish. I can start a new tank now for the future... what can be done now about this fish not eating?
I might need more detailed help to keep this Discus alive. I'm new to this hobby and have no problem doing research but I'm not finding much on this topic.

[Iminit]

No you can start it right up by using old media from the main tank. And that tanks water.

[bluelagoon]

IMO, you should not use old tank water. Clean fresh water is always better; aged and aerated is always better when doing large WC's. There are very little BB in the water column if any. A maintenance routine of the tank would be something to go by. It could be worms or some other parasite or just wasting away from interior organ issues.

[fljones3]

Agree, don't use the old tank water.

[Iminit]

The reason I suggest old tank water is stress. Removing a sick fish is stressful enough. Now adding it to different water adds to the stress. Day 2 in new tank I change 50%. Than 50% daily. Next if you need to age and aerate your water yes you should. Not all of us need to. I use tap water .

[brewmaster15]

Greg, I would definitely put the fish in hospital tank. You need to see if he is passing any feces, and if its whitish or yellow..or none at all. When they get this thin its hard to turn them around. Their organs start to shut down. That fish has been in decline for a long time and it may just be its time.. It could also be something like worms.. These can case wasting away slowly like this and tends to show in the least dominant in the group more as these tend to be the most stressed and weakest fish.

al

[Greg-Florida]

I cannot afford a new tank setup but if I can save this fish, then I will afford a new tank.
Substrate or none?
Old water, new water, or 50/50?
I assume he'll want some decorations for privacy.

What to feed him?
Salt, temperature? I run his tank at 84 and just bumped to 86 and added 6 TBSP salt for 60 gallons yesterday to be proactive.
If I'm going to invest in this, I want to do it right, I don't think time is on my side.
I can leave early from work today to get a tank started.

Yesterday and today he is hiding out below and did not come up at feeding time. Yes, maybe it's his time. I would like to save him if possible and suppose I need a qt or hospital tank anyway.
I'm assuming one tank can serve as both.
Once I get him in there, there's so many questions.
Sorry, feeling a bit frustrated and concerned. But I sincerely appreciate the guidance.

[brewmaster15]

Greg,
Check your email. I will walk you through it.

al

[jwcarlson]

I haven't had discus long (about a year), but two separate times I had fish stop eating. One of them was a hex issue and metro snapped him out of it, but the other not eating at the same time didn't make it. Then another one more recently and it was an internal parasite (worm) issue. So levamisole took care of that guy, thread here: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...stopped-eating . I treated the whole tank both times with the thought that if one of them has a parasite issue, the others do too, but perhaps aren't showing the symptoms (yet). The good news is the two that have made it back from the brink fatten up pretty quick and start growing. Even if they've been outside of best period of growth.

I'm sure Al will help fix you right up, but thought I'd give you a little hope at least.