Discus Not Well/Acting Funny

[wsantia1]

An issue popped up yesterday that I noticed while doing water changes. I added salt to the tank at 2 TBS per 10 gallons and increased the temp to 90 degrees. Here are my answers to the questionnaire along with a short video. Some of the fish are still showing their stress bars but they are eating and looking better than they were this morning.

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?

Yesterday afternoon I noticed most of my Discus huddled in a corner about 2 hours after I did a 70% water change on their Gallon tank. They were showing their stress bars and a couple of them had what appeared to be scrapes on the side of their bodies.

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).

After I observed them I noticed that a couple were darker than usual and none of them were eating. There were also stress bars and one on the fish had clamped fins


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

As of now the only treatment I provided was raising the temp to 90 degrees and added salt at 2 tbs. per gallon.


Tank/Water

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

The tank is 75 gallons and there are 7 discus ranging 4 and 5.5 inches. I’ve had them about 5 months and got then as juveniles from Hans


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

I do water changes of between 50 and 75 % on this tank daily.


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

This tank has been running about 3 years with Altum Angels being the previous occupants. It is bare bottom and 20 inches deep, 18 inches wide and 48 inches long.


7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
I do not age my water.


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 as my water conditioner and add it directly into the tank during water changes.


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 ___90 degrees now but normally 82 degrees__

- ph ___below 6 out of the tap__

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading _0___

- nitrate reading __10__

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 _x___

- RO water ____


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

No new fish

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.

I’ve been feeding my fish 3 times a day. I’ve been using Seachem Discus Flakes, Discus Chow and Australian Freeze Dried Black Worms. I have been guilty of over feeding

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53lJ...WillieSantiago

[Sandip]

Was there a sudden increase in activity in and around the tank? Like kids visiting your place.
The fish looks fine but a little skittish. Are you aware of any water line issue? Did the local water supply station increased the chloramine that they add?
I will wait to see what the experts say.

[brewmaster15]

Willie,
I would drop that temp back down to the low to mid 80s for starters and do not feed anything for the next day .

Any.chance you forgot to dose the tank with safe?

Al

[wsantia1]

Was there a sudden increase in activity in and around the tank? Like kids visiting your place.
The fish looks fine but a little skittish. Are you aware of any water line issue? Did the local water supply station increased the chloramine that they add?
I will wait to see what the experts say.

Thanks for the reply. I have the Discus tank in a quiet area with no traffic except for me. I have to check if the water company did anything funny.

[wsantia1]

Willie,
I would drop that temp back down to the low to mid 80s for starters and do not feed anything for the next day .

Any.chance you forgot to dose the tank with safe?

Al

Thanks Al. The temp is already on the way down and I’ll hold off on feeding for a day. As for the safe, anything is possible. I’ve had a lot going on and could have gotten distracted. I don’t think so but….

[brewmaster15]

Willie one other note I just saw..

You posted "added salt at 2 tbs. per gallon" Did you mean per 10 gals? The highest salt concentration I would use is 1 tablespoon per Gal" for up to a week. 2 tablespoons is too much.

[Second Hand Pat]

It was 2 TBS per 10 gallon Al, First post second sentence.
Pat

[LizStreithorst]

Willie, how are they looking this morning. You said that you noticed the problem the day before yesterday, but since you were out of the house all day yesterday I don't imagine you were able to take the video until yesterday evening. Am I right? I'm asking because, like Tom, I think the fish look good except for being kind of spooky. Only a handful of us on Mug's know that you loved how they came rushing to the front of the tank every time you walk in to the fish room. I tend to agree with Al, so far, that you forgot to add Safe. It happened to me once. It happened to Barb once, too. I'm glad you decided to jump on this fast rather wait until it's too late, like so many new Discus owners, do. Be sure to keep us updated.

[brewmaster15]

It was 2 TBS per 10 gallon Al, First post second sentence.
Pat

Thanks Pat.. Willie also wrote it as 2 tablespoons per gal in the questionaire..

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

As of now the only treatment I provided was raising the temp to 90 degrees and added salt at 2 tbs. per gallon

So wanted to be sure.

[wsantia1]

Willie one other note I just saw..

You posted "added salt at 2 tbs. per gallon" Did you mean per 10 gals? The highest salt concentration I would use is 1 tablespoon per Gal" for up to a week. 2 tablespoons is too much.

I keep making that mistake. It is 2 tbs per 10 gallons. Thanks

[wsantia1]

As of now they look good this morning and are begging for food. I haven’t fed them and I’ll be be doing a water change in a little while. We’ll see how that works out.

[wsantia1]

This morning the fish were spooked and went nuts crashing into things and I am happy that I did not any tank furnishings otherwise a few of them would have gotten hurt. I have this tank tightly sealed otherwise I may have had a couple of the Discus on the concrete floor. They settled down by the time I did their water change but I see a couple of nicks on one that crashed into the hood.

On a positive note they have settled down and as usual they ate their food like pigs. I had no problems with them while doing their water change and I have their water at 85 degrees with a 2 TBS per 10 gallons salt ratio. I replace the salt that I remove during the water change. Hopefully I will be able to start reducing the salt level gradually over the next few days.

[brewmaster15]

Willie,
Im looking over your thread and see you don't age your water and do 50-70% water changes.. Alot of what you are seeing in this thread are similar to what I see if I do those kinds of water changes with unaged water. Do you get alot of microbubbles after a water change?.. I know this is counter intuitive but I think you may want to pull back on the water changes... try 25% for a few days.

Also you mentioned the pH out of the tap is below 6.. thats usually a sign of C02 in the water.. aged 24 hours does the pH go up?

[bluelagoon]

Willie,
Im looking over your thread and see you don't age your water and do 50-70% water changes.. Alot of what you are seeing in this thread are similar to what I see if I do those kinds of water changes with unaged water. Do you get alot of microbubbles after a water change?.. I know this is counter intuitive but I think you may want to pull back on the water changes... try 25% for a few days.

Also you mentioned the pH out of the tap is below 6.. thats usually a sign of C02 in the water.. aged 24 hours does the pH go up?

My thoughts, also.

[jeep]

That's a lot of water to change without aging. In winter I've always been able to do 25% without stress and summer 40%. Water parameters can fluctuate not only seasonally but also daily. I recently lost nearly all my fish after doing just a 20% water change.

I commend you on your dedication to providing clean water, but I would recommend either aging your water or doing more frequent smaller water changes.