gasping for air ?

[lankanboy1]

Hi one of my discus is gasping for air for the past 2 days


http://youtu.be/NPReSTw2xDs
i have 2 adult and 6 x 3" discus

ph : 7.6
ammonia 0
nitrate 0
nitrite 20-30 ppm
water temp 29.5

water change every 2 days 30 % and 50 % once a week

i have this fish for the past 2 months and he only ate brine shrimp and for the past 2 days he didnt eat anything

whats wrong with him ?

[John_Nicholson]

I could not get the video to run but if your nitrite is 20 - 30 you need to start changing a lot more water. Changes are that will cure your issues.

-john

[ronald sherman]

DO you mean your Nitrate, or nitrate is 20-30 if your nitrite is 20-30 and nitrate is 0, you have a un cycled tank Water change, water chane and more water changes, 75% or more daily for the next 5 day's surprised John didn't catch that he must not of had his first cup of coffee, yet his advice was correct but about the tank not being cycled, lol

[ronald sherman]

John the video worked fine for me the mouth was opening and closeing real fast POOR discus

[John_Nicholson]

internet issues here at work.

-john

[troysdiiscus]

i am pretty sure its his nitrate that is 20-30 ppm. If it was his nitrite fish would probably be dead right now. I would definately up your WC. What type of filteration are your running and how often do you clean it? Gravel could be helping with your higher nitrate reading. With the feedings you should be doing with the juvies the gravel you have concerns me, IMO I would remove it and go BB with painted bottom and take out the decorations.
DO you mean your Nitrate, or nitrate is 20-30 if your nitrite is 20-30 and nitrate is 0, you have a un cycled tank Water change, water chane and more water changes, 75% or more daily for the next 5 day's surprised John didn't catch that he must not of had his first cup of coffee, yet his advice was correct but about the tank not being cycled, lol

[lankanboy1]

sorry guys my nitrate is at 20-30 ppm

nitriate is at 0

now hes swiming with his head down ( not all the way but like looking at the ground at 45 °

[Allwin]

Is the fish stomach bloated as-well ?

[troysdiiscus]

your nitrate levels are too high. I would do a huge wc now. Need to get levels atleast to 5 and lower and WC will do that.

sorry guys my nitrate is at 20-30 ppm

nitriate is at 0

now hes swiming with his head down ( not all the way but like looking at the ground at 45 °

[Madaboutdiscus]

i am pretty sure its his nitrate that is 20-30 ppm. If it was his nitrite fish would probably be dead right now. I would definately up your WC. What type of filteration are your running and how often do you clean it? Gravel could be helping with your higher nitrate reading. With the feedings you should be doing with the juvies the gravel you have concerns me, IMO I would remove it and go BB with painted bottom and take out the decorations.

+1 yucky gravel. Thats a beautiful fish id hate to lose him. Water changes and large ones are the key here. He looks good otherwise not dark colors good.

-Victoria

[PP_GBR]

He looked bloated to me. Do large water change then treat him with Epsom salt for few days. No feedings.

[lankanboy1]

he died :(

[troysdiiscus]

sorry for your loss.......are any of the others showing any ill signs?

[PP_GBR]

I'm not surprised. Sorry for your loss. Observe the other fish closely. You must act quickly next time. Good luck.

[lankanboy1]

others seems to be ok, they eat a lot, and looks healthy swim all over the tank and chase others. but this fihs didnt move a lot and only stayed with the other adult all the time. i had trouble with this from day one didnt eat for the first 3 weeks or so and only, ate max of 4 adult brine shrimp a day. and i think he was blind in one eye and the day he died i think he had popeye. his eyes didnt look normal to me

[lankanboy1]

i'm having the same issue with one of my nother fish. rapide breathing, hes allways keeping his pelvic fins up or shaking it. staying back of the tank most of the time and and looking at the back of the tank. breathing rapdily. ( other fish are breathing fast cose i just fed them ) stoped eating 3 days a go and pooped normaly yestarday but today hes pooping white. does he have Hex
heres a video kinda blury

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IY645cDjPw&feature=youtu.be
His mouth also got white, his face was turning yellow about a weeks a go

Ph 7.4
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0- 5 ppm
water change every day or 2 40-60 %

[Madaboutdiscus]

Did I see white poo there at the end? Seems like your other fish are breathing kinda hard too. Just had a fish pass from similar symptoms rapid breathing gill filament flapping out of gills not eating. Never quite figured out what happened. Paul suggested bacterial gill infection and suggested PP but I didn't get the treatment in time. Not sure if that's your problem though.

-Victoria

[lankanboy1]

Seems like your other fish are breathing kinda hard too.
-Victoria

They all breath hard after fighting for food lol after couple of min they are back to mormal chasing each others and come if front of the tank when i go near the tank.
this one is hiding from me now he goes behind the plants when i go near the tank.

[Madaboutdiscus]

Oh ok I see. Mine do that too.

-Victoria

[GeauxDiscus]

You really should complete a disease questionnaire and post it in the diseases section. It will provide a lot more information for the forum members to use to help you.

[pcsb23]

I'd be considering doing a few more water changes as an immediate act. Also if you fill the questionnaire in it will provide most of the info we need to try and help. http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?38545-Disease-Questionnaire-please-complete

[lankanboy1]

1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them?

One of my fish is breating fast, wont eat since tuesday/ wednesday ( I changed the filetr carbon, cheaned the filter, on tuesday )


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).

excess slime, not eating White poop



3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
No


Tank/Water

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

55 Gal, 5months, 7 fish
1 X 5 inch
3x 4 inch
3x 3 inch

5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
50+ 2-3 times a week

6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
5+ months Bare bottom, i had gravel removed it before month or so.


7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
yes, 2-3 days depends of the w\c
Ph from the tap is at 8.4 after aging at 8.0 use buffer to bring downto 7.4

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 __28.8 C___

- ph _____ 7.4

- ammonia reading ____0

- nitrite reading ____0

- nitrate reading ____5 ppm or less

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 ____ yes

- RO water ____


9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
added plants about 3 weeks a go



10. 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.

[pcsb23]

I'd try and find a way of doing more water changes, your source water is really at the very limit for discus, a pH of 8.4 is unfortunate. I'm not a fan of pH buffers, they add yet more "stuff" to the water. I take it you are dechlorinating your water?

Really don't like your gravel, purely from an aesthetics view it is unsuitable imo. I'm not a fan of gravel in discus tanks anyway, if you must have a substrate then pool filter sand is a good choice, and plants still grow in this.

Need to do more water changes and make sure that gravel is clean.

[GeauxDiscus]

You need to treat with Metronidazole. I personally use API General Cure, because it contains metro and prazi, so it covers more of your bases. Plus, it's easy to find at most pet stores and is readily available. Since you've had two fish with symptoms now, I'd treat the whole tank, as you can assume all of your fish have been infected. It's a little more expensive, but it will save you a lot of trouble in the long run. Cheers, and good luck.