Discus Gone REALLY dark, Almost black

[Avinitlarge]

He might have had some Costia (Ichthyobodo) or Chilodonella - usually medications for ich will handle those two.

IME, Methylene blue can knock out the nitrifying bacteria in your filter, but keep treating the tank as if you had ich just to make sure you've wiped out what it was that was affecting your fish.



Walter

Ive got 2 filters, An internal one and an external one. When I added the Methalene blue, I isolated the external filter to protect the nitrifying bacteria in the filter.

he looks alot better..how much had you been doing water changes before that happened?

I did 10% every 2 days

Im shocked to read this thread, I thought that guy was a goner for sure. WOW

Me too, I am stunned with the outcome

[RodneyL001]

Wow, that was a great recovery, I thought he was a goner too. I had a fish that turned real dark like too, but without the clamped fins. I treated mine with Aquari-Sol. I am a real believer in that product. And what is great about it, because it is so mild, it can be used as a preventive, and also as a net dip, it also has the added benefit of riding a tank of pest snails.

[tcyiu]

Great job!!!

I almost did not read the whole thread because I assumed there would be a bad ending. I am glad I scrolled down a bit further.

You must be really proud.

Tim

[Jason K.]

I can't believe my eye's! that's one fish that's determined to survive... goood work.

[Avinitlarge]

It has turned out to be a good fish too. I only have 2 discus at the moment, This is the only one that comes to the front to say hello every time Im near the tank. The other only comes to see me at feeding time. I really am over the moon

[Avinitlarge]

Oh my god! That discus looked almost dead in the first picture. Wow. I cannot believe how quickly you brought him back. You should update us in a few days on how he is!

Here is the update. He is still happy and colourful and greedy

[kitykatfunkiehat]

Yay! Post another picture!!

[mjs020294]

Yesterday morning some of my Discus were in a very bad way and looked similar to the poor little fish in this thread. One of our healthiest, strongest and most vibrant fish was nearly black, his fins were clamped, and his slime coat was a mess.

My first thought was some sort of bacteria but I was on my way out of the house for work and couldn't do too much. I just treated the tank with MelaFix and hoped they would be OK/alive when I got home...they really looked that bad.

Then at work I started to suspect maybe it was something to do with the WC change I had done the previous evening. When I got home they looked slightly healthier so I tested the tank water, and it was perfect (Ammonia = 0, Nitrate = 5, Nitrate = 0). I then tested my aged water and found it had a significant nitrite reading. Tested the tap water but that was all clear. So basically something in my aging barrel (possibly the peat) had caused a nitrite spike, and the WC and sudden rise in nitrite had damaged the fish.

I re-treated with MelaFix, added salt and the fish were looking a lot better this morning.

Funny thing is I have had two incidents with the Discus tank, and both were caused by bad water during the WC.