shy discus, stopped eating

[jim LI]

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?

1 of my discus, the runt, stopped eating about 3 months ago. i raised the temp to 86, with no change. he was not harassed by the other fish. nor did i notice any white poop. i put it into a quarantine tank. just for a precaution. i used metro for 5 days. i put food in the tank, FDBW, everyday to see if it would eat. It did not eat for a few days . after i stopped the metro, the food i put there in the morning would be gone in a few hours. i slowly lowered the temp of the tank to 82. every day the foods i put in the morning, was eaten in a few hours, after 2 weeks, i noticed it eating right after i put the food in. i did this for another week. his color started coming back. he hid less . i put it back into the big tank, and it seemed ok for a week, going to the food and eating when the others ate. it is back to not eating again. i still see no signs of it being bullied. Just hiding


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).

Stopped eating. Hiding..No other symptoms or signs of stress


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

Metro for 5 days in a QT.


Tank/Water

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

110 gallon. 7 adults, all over 1 year. 4/12 to 6 ½ inch.
2 cory cats
1 albino pleco.


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

w/c 80% with aged water every 2 days.


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

1 year set up – sand substrate, about 1 ½ inches deep


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

I age my water for 2 days. Maybe .4 ph swing up


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

I use safe and dose the tank. 1/2 tsp.


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.


[B]- temp __82___

- ph _7.6___

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __less than 5__[B]

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 ____

- municipal water ___XX_

- RO water ____


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

Nothing new added to the tank


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.

FDBW and discus pellets twice a day



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.

0618231320.jpg

The other fish are larger than it is.

0618231321.jpg


Could it be the fish feels intimidated being the smallest?

[jeep]

Your water and maintenance routine sound good. Has this discus aways been the runt? If so, it just may be weaker than the rest. It has a decent shape considering the body and eye size.

Where did you get it?

Have you ever wormed your discus?

[jim LI]

Your water and maintenance routine sound good. Has this discus aways been the runt? If so, it just may be weaker than the rest. It has a decent shape considering the body and eye size.

Where did you get it?

Have you ever wormed your discus?

Hi,
I got the discus from Chicago discus about 18 months ago. it has always been the runt. I have not wormed my fish.

thanks,
jim

[LizStreithorst]

If it has always been the smallest it may just be a pecking order thing. Regardless of that, 5 days of metro is not long enough to resolve the hex problem. Stress will make fish most under stress develop symptoms soonest. We have learned that 10 to 12 days of treatment works best. Also, since the hex parasite has become so resistant to metro we now treat at the rate of 500 mg metro per 10 gallons tank water which is double what the label suggests.

[Iminit]

Well it not going to hurt so I’d move it back into qt. Put the temp up to 86 and see if it starts eating again. If it does add the metro to the food. This works best. Next I’d leave it in there till it get fat and is eating steadily out of your hand. May take 4-6 months. Hex is in many discus. The immunity system keeps them at bay. But once it’s stressed they start growing in numbers. Your guy is stressed in that tank.

[jim LI]

If it has always been the smallest it may just be a pecking order thing. Regardless of that, 5 days of metro is not long enough to resolve the hex problem. Stress will make fish most under stress develop symptoms soonest. We have learned that 10 to 12 days of treatment works best. Also, since the hex parasite has become so resistant to metro we now treat at the rate of 500 mg metro per 10 gallons tank water which is double what the label suggests.

thanks liz. i will get the QT tank set up again

[jim LI]

Well it not going to hurt so I’d move it back into qt. Put the temp up to 86 and see if it starts eating again. If it does add the metro to the food. This works best. Next I’d leave it in there till it get fat and is eating steadily out of your hand. May take 4-6 months. Hex is in many discus. The immunity system keeps them at bay. But once it’s stressed they start growing in numbers. Your guy is stressed in that tank.

thanks tom. it looks like the long haul.

Jim