Brown algae affecting my discus?

[Sabrina]

Hello all,

2 of my 5 discus are lining up plants & the heater cord and then rushing at them and skimming off them, 1 was also twitching a bit..
I have checked the water & parameters are A ok this morning. But I notice the brown algae has became quite bad in the tank, as show in this photo. Would this be causing this behaviour in my discus?
I also noticed that my air line to the tank had came off the pump & the air curtain had stopped working, not sure how long it had been like that..
I have inspected all my discus in this tank & there is nothing on their bodies, they look very healthy.
Has any one an idea what it could be please?

Snapchat-423061192.jpg

[brewmaster15]

Sabrina it sounds like gill flukes. Its the gift that keeps on giving. Do you have any experience with flukes?

[Sabrina]

Hi Al,

Oh right, and no not really. I have only ever wormed discus before, not sure I have ever treated for gill flukes. The 2 that are displaying this behaviour have been racing around the tank too. But all is calm at the moment.
What should I do? Water changes? Try to cure it naturally.. Or do I need to buy meds to fix this? Is it safe to treat the whole tank, Rummy nose and all other discus? I do not have a hospital tank at this stage, and my smaller QT
tank has 2 new discus in it, I was at the pet store the other day and couldn't help myself

[LizStreithorst]

You shouldn't have done that, but I guess you already know. Next time, try to help yourself rather than not help yourself. If you're lucky, it will just be flukes this time. There are several. I use the one that shouldn't be used without many Discus years under their belt. Other folks will chime in with treatments that will be less stressful for a first time treating flukes.

[Iminit]

Hey! What I’ve used successfully was prazipro. Another med I’ve used is polyGuard. Both are milder meds. The PolyGaurd treats a lot of different things. Useful because the fish are new.F1CE8BD0-DAE8-4471-8782-281034BFED6F.jpg

[Sabrina]

Hey all,

Thank you for comments. I will state that the 2 new discus are not in the same tank as my original 5, they are in separate tanks.
Thanks Tom, I will look at how I can get hold of these products And, maybe some of that Tequila too

[Iminit]

Lol Grand Mayan! Good stuff

[Sabrina]

Hehehe 1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor!

[bluelagoon]

No brown algae with not effect your discus. Diatoms and new set ups sometimes go hand and hand. After your tank becomes established rather than just cycled the brown stuff should be replaced with amore evolved green algae. Sounds like some kind of parasite causing the flashing on objects. Coming from a pet shop it could be anything from flukes to skin parasites. Seachem ParaGuard should solve your issue.

[brewmaster15]

I think given the history of the Fish I would go with the Seachem products..either the Paraguard that Mervin mentioned or the Polyguard. The Polyguard is like the Paraguard but has antibiotics as well as antiparasitics. I think both of these medication are available to you in Australia. If Protozoans, they will work..If flukes...they may not be as effective as something with Praziquantel or flubendazole. I am pretty sure you have access to these as well.. The Praziquantel is found in Hikari Prazi pro and the Flubendazole is in a product called by Kasuri


Generally at this point I think you should consider the whole tank a Hospital tank and work way your way through a round of The SEachem Paraguard and then if needed move on to the Praziquantel or flubendazole.. No more fish additions ! until this is sorted out..Then strict use of a QT tank for new arrivals and lost of patience. 6 weeks is a good qt time, Otherwise you will be fighting and uphill battle problem after problem which is just no fun.

al

[Sabrina]

Hi Mervin & Al,

Thank you for this, I will search for the Seachem products when I go to the city tomorrow, as I live in a small country town the 2 pet stores here would not stock these.
Probably a silly question, but will the brown algae disappear or should I scrub it off? I thought disturbing it might affect the fish, so until this point I have left it..
And agreed, no more fish! I have my hands full already

[Iminit]

If you got those magic erasers I use them to remove the diatoms (brown algae) or snails.

[Sabrina]

Hi Tom, I didn't think of that, thanks!

[fljones3]

I just wipe the tank with a cloth when doing a water change.

[Sabrina]

Will be doing a water change today Frank, I'll try to wipe away all that algae, it looks a bit feral haha

On a side note, the discus have not been skimming off the plants today, I am home all day, so I'll keep an eye on them