please help sick discus

[RoysDiscus]

Hi everyone I'm new to the fourm. I recently bought two pairs of discus . My tanks have been cycled for awhe now but my water is so bad here even adding triple the amount of prime won't help it. I put the fish in the tanks without noticing it and now they have clamped fins alot of mucus and hiding in the top and bottom corners. I read online this might be the discus plauge. I have now bought a RO zystem and have been using it with kent ro right and they look a little better but still not looking good at all. With the ro sys. My water is at ph 6.4 ammonia 0 nitrites 0 nitrates0. What can I do asap to save these fish?

[rdiscus]

Need to fill out the Questions (http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?38545-Disease-Questionnaire-please-complete)

[RoysDiscus]

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?
I noticed a couple days ago when i did a big water change that my fish were breathing hard and tested my tap water.

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).
Clamped fins , excess mucus rubbing on everything hiding in corners top and bottom not eating

3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
no meds only ro water with kent ro right


Tank/Water

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

2-29 gal, 2 in each 5-6"
5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
twice a day 50%

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

7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
overnight 6-7

8. 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 __84___

- ph _6.4____

- ammonia reading ____0

- nitrite reading _0___

- nitrate reading 0____

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 ____

- RO water __100__


9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
no

[Allwin]

Experts will chime in soon, 100% RO is also a killer i guess.

[RoysDiscus]

by the way my tap water is city well water that has over over 8 ph ammonia 1 nitrites 1 and nitrates .5 sometimes they are higher

[Allwin]

whether necessary minerals are added to the RO water?

[RoysDiscus]

Kent ro right and discus buffer

[Tazalanche]

I'm no discus expert in any way, shape or form, but I see a few things that will be asked sooner or later that might help speed the process if I ask them.

Are your discus wild or domestic strains?
Are your discus proven pairs, or did you just put 2 in each tank?
You mentioned that the two 29 gallon tanks were 2 month old bare bottoms, but how long have you had the discus?
Are you certain that your ammonia, nitrite & nitrate readings are all 0 in both tanks?
Were those readings from your test of your tap water before it went through the RO filters or from each of your tanks?
Do you have any photos of the discus on photobucket or somewhere similar that you can link to?

Good luck!

[Chicago Discus]

Hello Roy,
The first thing I would do is start mixing your RO with your tap like 50/50 get rid of the RO right it will only complicate the water chemistry. With your tap I would run a carbon block before it hits your aging barrels. Go down to 65% to 75% a day no need to do just large water changes twice a day. I would also run a carbon cartridge in your filter until the water gets under control. Make sure you clean your walls, filter, Pre-filter (if you don't have one put one on) and sub-straight. I would just observe at this point and get the water down pat and very consistent. I would also contact the seller of the fish and get there advice......Hope this will help....Josie


PS just saw that you were using discus buffer STOP

[RoysDiscus]

Ok I dumped all the treated water out of my barrel but I don't have a carbon block. Should I use tap with prime until I get one?

[Chicago Discus]

Sure but no need to overdose the prime. I would still add some carbon your filter

[jimg]

I would age the water overnight add the prime per directions in the tank. do as much wc's you can with just aged tap no reason for ro unless wilds. if you cannot get enough water aged in time to keep ammonia and nitrites low, mix aged with tap from faucet for now. I agree with adding carbon to the filter until it gets established. I would vacuum the tank every water change and after feedings but I would not do any wipe downs or filter cleanings until it gets established I don't believe the problems are with your tap water, I think your having ammonia and nitrite problems from the tank not being established yet.

[RoysDiscus]

Ok. So I think o figured somtjing out with the water. On my ro sys there are one sediment and two carbon after them is my waste water then to three membrane filters. Can I use the waste water for the 50/50 ro mix?

[jimg]

Ok. So I think o figured somtjing out with the water. On my ro sys there are one sediment and two carbon after them is my waste water then to three membrane filters. Can I use the waste water for the 50/50 ro mix?

you can, at least it will of been filtered. better to just get them back to aged tap. I use ro/ro waste mix for one tank of wilds and grew out quite a few fry on the ro waste. most important for you to get that water stable and cycled

[Chicago Discus]

you can, at least it will of been filtered. better to just get them back to aged tap. I use ro/ro waste mix for one tank of wilds and grew out quite a few fry on the ro waste. most important for you to get that water stable and cycled


+1 Roy