have adopted very sick discus

[judy]

i offered to take a discus from a family shutting down their tank,. and when i got there it was obvious this is one very sick fish. supposedly it is "probably" a red melon. it is venting through its gill plates quite a bit of thin, white mucus discharge, its anus is white, and it has been spitting bits of the same mucus discharge.
I've put it in a hospital tank and begun treatment with Prazipro, in case worms of some sort are the primary problem.
Its colour is slightly better than it was in their tank.
I am wondering if perhaps it could be nitrate poisoning? This family fed it three times a day and say it eats voraciously. But they didn't even know test kits exist. They use treated tap for water changes, and I tested the Ph when I got there It was 7.0, and I acclimated to the hospital tank's 6.8 before landing it.
Any theories as to what this might be? It also has some gouges taken out of its flesh around the face area which they said was their blind cave fish "picking" at it. These gouges do not appear to be infected-- at least, not at the moment. I suspect the cave fish was going after shedding skin mucus-- because it is doing that, too.
Is there hope for this poor guy? Can't seem to insert the image I have...

[Eddie]

I'd put it down. Prazipro is pretty much useless on anything other than internal tapeworms which are not common and not even an issue unless they begin to grow large and burrow into the organs.

[PAR23]

I would placed the hospital tank on the other end of the house. Just clean water and hope for some recovery before exposing it to chemicals as it will likely kill it now.

[nc0gnet0]

Only thing I would try at this point is meth blue as per instructions.

[jpdevol]

+1 on the Methelyne Blue; aquarium equivalent of an oxygen mask. One could also add 1level teaspoon per 10 gallon of Epsom Salt; aquarium equivalent of saline IV drip. If the fish responds other meds could be considered in a few days depending on symptoms. As above, once stable, clean water is best.

[strawberryblonde]

I'm not an expert by any means on fish diseases, but a lot of what's ailing him looks, to me, like water quality issues. How sad that he's in such a bad state.

When I was teaching my sons how to care for fish many years ago we left on vacation after I'd had them carefully do a large water change and clean their filters, etc. My middle son forgot to plug his filter and heater back in and in the rush of getting out the door I neglected to check on the tanks.

When we got home 2 weeks later his gouramis looked a LOT like your sick discus. They had turned a horrid shade of splotchy brown and were shedding slime coats.

My son and I pulled them from the tank, put them in our hospital tank and treated them with some salt, methelyne blue and water changes every day. Three recovered very quickly and one didn't make it. It was a hard lesson for my son to learn.

If the family you got this fish from were feeding him 3 times a day and not doing proper tank maintenance I could see where he could easily be suffering from ammonia and nitrite poisoning as well as nitrate poisoning.

Good luck with him, I hope he makes it.

SB

[judy]

His color has improved some this morning. I am very sure he has a gill fluke issue; the symptoms match up perfectly, his breathing is labored and gills clearly in serious distress-- I hope not terminally damaged. I do have Prazi in the water to treat flukes, and wonder if I should just let that do whatever for a week, then start methylene blue baths, or whether I can give him methylene blue baths in tandem with the prazi treatment in tank-- i.e. get a larger bucket of tank water taken from the display tank-- which is the untreated, clean water I put in the hospital tank-- and use it for the methylene blue bath, then return him to the prazi-treated tank.
would that be too much too fast?
I know often the best thing is to just give them good clean water and wait for them to recover-- but I just don't know how much strength this poor guy has left in him, because I don't know how long he's been in such rough shape...

[jpdevol]

IMO the best way to administer Methelyne Blue is as a 30 minute dip @ 1ml per gallon. I suggest starting ASAP twice per day.

[judy]

couldn't find meth blue at any of the lfs's open today (sunday) but will give the others in town a go tomorrow. Meanwhile, his color has improved a great deal, with the prazi in the tank and warmer temperature (32 degrees) to speed up his metabolism if indeed there is ammonia or nitrite, or even nitrate poisoning. he's eating-- both bloodworm and pellet. i did increase surface water agitation to improve oxygenation some, but am about to add an airstone as well.
Both gill plates appear compromised, once much less than the other, which has a white lacy fringe very visible.
It would be nice if he continues to improve... he appears to be orange with some blue striping, and if his color does return to normal I should be able to figure out just what sort of red fish he is...
is it alright to do a methylene dip in a separate bath, not using Prazi-treated water from his tank, but regular water from the DT, and return him to the Prazi-treated tank?

[jeepdad]

good luck judy, i hope you can pull this guy through.

[Skip]

IMO the best way to administer Methelyne Blue is as a 30 minute dip @ 1ml per gallon. I suggest starting ASAP twice per day.

what is this for? just asking..

[jpdevol]

Judy - I would use clean water for the MB dip, you can put him directly back into the Prazi treated tank.

Methelyne Blue has many actions and is well tolerated. It increases O2 uptake at the cellular level and is an anti- bactericidal, anti-parasitic, etc.

It's been around forever as an aquarium treatment, but not promoted because it's cheap and lasts forever. One downside is it is not a main tank treatment because it kills the bio.

[TURQ64]

Most all of the 'oldtime' dye based chemicals are still applicable...Thankfully!....They aren't very 'complicated' to use.

[Second Hand Pat]

The Methelyne Blue helps to detox the fish also? Right?

[jpdevol]

Yes, it used for ammonia and nitrite poisoning as well being beneficial in toxicity cause by some meds and chemicals. It seems to be particularly active on kidney ailments.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts....methylene_blue