please help sick fish

[Jonr78]

DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE


Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started
Fish Stopped eating and is very dark and a strange dry looking skin you can see what i mean in the pictures




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)






3. What medications/ treatments that you have already tried and results. Include dosages and duration of treatment.

none



Tank/Water

4. Tank size and age, number and size of fish
300 gals 10months 6 discus 2 geos 4 angels 2 rams 6 corries 1 peacock eel


5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?
Planted tank sand bottem water changes 3 times a week 2 50% at lest and 1 75%


6 Parameters and water source;

- temp _84 but I moved it to 86 when the fish stoped eating____

- ph ___7.4__

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading _0___

- nitrate reading __20ppm or less__

- well water ____

- municipal water _yes___

7. Any new fish/plants added recently
NO

Here Is what he looked like two days ago he a Stendker Tefe

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/jon78/IMG_0334_zps1cc0573e.jpg

And here is a few pics from today

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/jon78/IMG_0395_zpsee3766dc.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/jon78/IMG_0390_zpsbf95b254.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/jon78/IMG_0393_zpsf07e6de4.jpg

[DiscusDrew]

Hmm, how long has he not been eating, how long ago did the patches start? Any evidence of pathogens or problems in any other fish? That is an awful big tank with relatively few discus. Not necessarily bad, but I would still up whatever changes immediately to lower the nitrate content of the water. Get back to me and I will continue to walk through it with you.

[Jonr78]

Two days maybe three he has not been eating and he looked great up in tell then. All other fish are good I am going to do more water changes. I have 8 more Discus in a growout/Quarantine tank right now so there will be more at some point.

Thanks
Jon

[a volar]

It's that a rubber lip pleco in second pic?

[Jonr78]

It's that a rubber lip pleco in second pic?

Yes I have had him for about 5 years

[DiscusDrew]

Ok so here's what I would do in your circumstance, at least without having a microscope. I would NOT treat the fish in its existing tank IF we come to that. For now I would minimize stress by keeping him in place and increasing water change schedule until nitrAtes reach less than 5. Give him some time to recover on his own with his God given immune system. I suspect a pathogen took hold as a secondary consequence to stress, be it environment or otherwise. Report back if he worsens or if anything changes, but for now, water changes and tank cleanings are your focus. If he progresses he will need to be treated most likely in a QT tank so prepare that if necessary. There are just too many variables in our equation with the planted tank and other species to do otherwise. I suspect with proper care he can turn around easily. Keep tank temp where it is, as I do not suspect bacterial problems unless it is secondary, which is why I need to know if patches spread or anything changes. Report back in a few days.

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[Jonr78]

Thanks Drew
Will do
Jon

[a volar]

I suspect that rubber lip pleco is sucking on the discus slime...

[DiscusDrew]

That would cause the mark and the stress. There are other problems set in now but regardless if you don't fix the cause that will result in continued problems. Now you know why I'm super anal about what plecos I will use and often don't use any. Same advice but I agree the pleco could be giving you problems, or the Tefe anyway.

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[Jonr78]

I have never seen the then rubber lip mess with the discus but that dose not mean its not happening. Are rubber lips known for being bad with discus ? What is a good one ?

[DiscusDrew]

I've had good luck with blue phantoms, most use bristle nose. You need to remember that discus sleep at night, plecos become active at night... Making the discus slime coat a perfect target that can happen without you ever knowing. So the situation needs to be fixed, I would get rid of the pleco or relocate him for now, then if things get back to normal you can add another better suited pleco back in there, after QT (they can carry an astounding number of pathogens which is another reason im not big on plecos, but that's a personal choice). Do not do so while this discus is struggling.

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[a volar]

Yep, as Drew mention remove the ruber lip pleco and see if discus improve, that will be my first move.