Discus Not eating

[smitty24]

I have a blue that is not eating. The other 5 are doing great. I have talked to a few people and was suggested to use proprizo, but i have also been looking over the forum's and i see a lot of people using metro. How do you know when to use Proprizo vs Metro?

[jeep]

Let's hold off on the meds before beginning. Filling out this questionnaire and pasting it back here will provide more needed information. It could be a simply as cranking up the heat for a few days...

Prazi Pro and Metro are for two entirely different conditions.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?134179-Disease-Questionnaire-please-complete

[Tuterosso]

i use mikroscope

[smitty24]

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

Not eating for about 3 to 4 Days.

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).

Not eating, a bit of hiding, but still comes out and swims with others


3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.

Tried aquarium salt and epsom salt at 1 tbs per 10 gal. Left for 2 days and took heat up to 88F during that time. Thought it might be bloat.

Tank/Water

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

75 Gal
Six 4" to 5" fish, maybe 6 to 8 months old


5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).

50% water change 2x a week. Did a 80% last night.


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

4 months the tank has been up, 1" sand bottom.


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

Water aged for 24 hours +


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 86

- ph 8.2

- 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 35%

- municipal water 0

- RO water 65%


9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.

None


10. Please tell us what you feed your fish and how often. This can be critical information for solving the problem so be as specific as you can.

Beefheart mix, aprox 1" square 2 times a day

[LizStreithorst]

Not eating does suggest hex. If you use a scope you should see the spirochets in the poop. You must catch the poop when it comes out of the fish. Poop that has fallen to the tank bottom collects a lot of junk microorganisms that make it much harder to find what you're looking for. Prazi is for tapeworms and gets some flukes as well. It has no affect on other worms nor spirochets like hex.

If you see hex, you must remove the fish to a BB tank and treat with metro at the rate of 400 mg for 10 to twelve days. It helps to raise the temp of the tank to 90 to 93. Hope this helps.

[smitty24]

I do not have a scope and no metro on hand. Best i have right now is API General Cure. I know that has Metro in it. Would that work?

[slicksta]

Impossibile your Nitrate is 0
Try raising the temp a degree a day until you get to 90°

And in my opinion.. only feeding beef heart is not a good idea.
Get yourself a variety of pellet and flake. Some type of protein and spirulina is usually a good mix.
That said trying to get a fish in this condition to accept a new food will be difficult

Discus and most others accept this readily:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Plankton-Krill-Spirulina-Flakes-FREE-12-Type-Blackworm-Color-Pellet-Blend/331161455176?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=540361577270&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

[smitty24]

Nitrates at 0, maybe 5ppm Max. I have some dwarf sag, pogostemon stellatus octopus, and water sprite in the tank. Grave vac 2 times a week, 40 - 60 % water changes 2 times a week. I have 2 canister filters that i service 2 weeks apart. I keep it clean! I did just order pellets from Al, tried the flake and they were not having it. When they eat, they attack the BH like piranha. Most of the time it is lucky to see the bottom on the tank.

[jeep]

Impossibile your Nitrate is 0
Try raising the temp a degree a day until you get to 90°

And in my opinion.. only feeding beef heart is not a good idea.
Get yourself a variety of pellet and flake. Some type of protein and spirulina is usually a good mix.
That said trying to get a fish in this condition to accept a new food will be difficult

Discus and most others accept this readily:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Plankton-Krill-Spirulina-Flakes-FREE-12-Type-Blackworm-Color-Pellet-Blend/331161455176?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=540361577270&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

:thumbsup:

I suspect this as well, but prefer to get to the bottom of things directly, and this form can help eliminate guessing...

If you use the General Cure, I've seen what people double dose because it's really not that strong and targeted. I would raise the temp to 93 over a couple of days, use the General Cure at 2x dose and do this for 10 days. Metro dissipates rather quickly, so I would do 50% water changes with aged 93 degree water daily. If it is hex, they aren't cured overnight. You can expect gradual improvement in 10-14 days...

[smitty24]

Should i start with Proprizo? Also where can i get metro?

[jeep]

No, don't use Prazi. You can order Metro from Jehmco https://www.jehmco.com/html/medications.html

[smitty24]

"400 mg for 10 to twelve days."

Is this per 10 Gal or 400 mg for 75 gal?

[Second Hand Pat]

Is the poop normal on the fish which is hiding?
Pat

[smitty24]

I have not seen poop. The rest of the tank seems fine.

[Second Hand Pat]

So you have observed no whitest poop in the tank? Can you remove the plant or move the fish to a QT?
Pat

[jeep]

I treat 500mg per 10g. Metro is easy on discus and won't hurt bio filtration. The high heat may cure this alone, but as long as you're doing this, the metro can only help...

[smitty24]

Yep, QT is going to be hard, so plants can come out no problem. Not really setup for it. I know that is my bad! Should i still move forward with Metro?

[jeep]

I treat 500mg per 10g. Metro is easy on discus and won't hurt bio filtration. The high heat may cure this alone, but as long as you're doing this, the metro can only help...

This translates to roughly 1/4tsp per 20 gallons

[smitty24]

Ok, do i treat daily? Ordered the flake food and metro from Jehmco. Going to up the temp 2 degrees a day to about 90 - 92. Meds should be here on the 27th.

[slicksta]

Good to be proactive... But relax
If you haven't seen any stringy poop, you can be totally off with the metro.
Raising the heat is a good start. Diversity in diet is a positive.
Have you seen any signs of aggression? Is this fish at the bottom of the pecking order?

[smitty24]

Nope, Right in the middle. The pecking order seems to shift. I do have 1 smaller one that is what i would consider the bottom, but he/she is fine.

[slicksta]

You're right... Pecking order is fluid.
You might want to try a tank divider and see if it helps.
I've seen many times a fish doesn't come out to eat when getting picked on.

[LizStreithorst]

If you haven't seen any poop at all it's likely because the fish hasn't eaten in so long that it has nothing to poop.

[slicksta]

If you haven't seen any poop at all it's likely because the fish hasn't eaten in so long that it has nothing to poop.

He stated that the fish hasn't eaten in 3-4 days so this is possible
The white stringy poop would have preceeded this and is hard to miss

[Sturiosoma]

I would eliminate raw beef heart totally, you may have picked up an organism in the raw meat, I would try live blackworm, if they don't eat those then you have a problem, and if you want to feed beefheart use the freeze dried you can get from California Blackworm company and if you feed Live blackworm rinse them in cold water before feeding

Jeanne

[smitty24]

So do i treat 1/4 tsp per 20 Gal each day for 10 - 12 days?

[jeep]

Yes!!

[smitty24]

So metro has a half life of 12 hours and is gone in 24 hours? Asking because i am trying to take notes for myself to know what to use when and dosages.