paige350z
07-02-2019, 10:36 PM
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 added 1 new discus and 13 cardinal tetras two weeks ago, along with 1 new plant. No, I didn't quarantine, as I don't have a spare tank - let alone one big enough to properly QR a discus that size. So yes - I already know this is my fault. Only 1 cardinal left - at least half of them had their guts hanging out, so I suspect the discus have been randomly picking them off. However, I lost one of my existing 4" discus a couple of days ago. No external signs that I could see, and I have no idea how long he'd been swimming upside down or laying on the bottom. My family had been out late, and we found him like that upon our return. I immediately pulled him out, put him in a tote with shallow water, added an air stone, hiked up the temp from 84 to 88 degrees, and added some aquarium salt. He seemed to improve for the first 10-15 minutes, but then declined rapidly, dying only 10-15 minutes later. The rest of the discus LOOK fine... except they are not as quick to eat (but they still do, though more timidly) and are staying darker than is normal. They lighten up for a few hours after WCs, but they are dark again by morning, staying this darker tint until the next WC. They are hiding more than is usual. No external signs that I can see. No white specks (although I AM finding these on the driftwood in the tank, which is new). Nothing on fins, fish, or gills. The addition of the new discus was to see if I could calm the pecking order going on in the tank. The largest was overly aggressive to the others, but the new one was bigger, so I'd hoped he'd chill. That's not been the case, and the plan was to take him up to the LFS if I couldn't make a more peaceful tank out of this grouping. (The aggressor is NOT the one that died.)
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).
Hiding more (maybe 40% of the time they would normally be swimming freely), slow to eat, turning dark, but no excess slime, clamped fins, or gills. My discus have always been "nervous" fish and spook easily, which is why I added the cardinals. I kept reading that they help the discus to calm down and relax, and when one freaks out, they all do, so I've been afraid they would eventually hurt themselves. My LFS (an hour away) is reputable, and they said all their fish had been treated/wormed, etc.. And instead of greeting me at feeding time, the discus hide when I approach the tank, and then come out in a couple of minutes to eat.
3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
I haven't treated yet, because I can't tell what is wrong. I *may* have seen a white poop suspended in the water, but before I could get a closer look, the filter sucked it up. It could have been plant matter, but I can't be sure. I have not seen ANY poop hanging from the fish, but there is the normal amount of dark poop that I'm vacuuming up.
Tank/Water
4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
36-gallon bowfront. Now 3 discus - 2 that I've had since February '19 ranging in size from 3-4.5 inches. 1 new discus purchased 2 weeks ago, 5 inches. 1 cardinal tetra. 1 snowball pleco, 2 inches, got in December '18.
5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
80% every other day, but have increased this to daily, due to fish symptoms.
6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
Tank has been cycled and stocked since December '18. Sand substrate, 1-1.5 inches thick, planted for visual blocks. 1 medium sized piece of driftwood for pleco. HOB filter with pre-filter, sponge pad, and cotton floss. Ziss filter inside tank. 1 lava rock air stone.
7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
No - treated from the tap in buckets with API Stress Coat+. Have been wanting to switch to Prime, but have been waiting to use up my API bottle first. My maintenance routine/products used has not changed during any of this time. I have only increased the frequency, due to apparent fish stress.
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 _88____
- ph _7.6____
- ammonia reading __0__
- nitrite reading __0__
- nitrate reading _5___
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 __0__
- municipal water _100%___
- RO water __0__
9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
See above.
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.
Staple diet is Discus BioGold micro pellets + 1 cube of dried tubifex worms 1x weekly + dried bloodworms every other day + NutriDiet Discus flakes 1x/day. Will happily take recommendations for other foods that aren't frozen or live. Have been planning on adding dried blackworms but haven't done it yet. :/
11. 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.
N/A
I added 1 new discus and 13 cardinal tetras two weeks ago, along with 1 new plant. No, I didn't quarantine, as I don't have a spare tank - let alone one big enough to properly QR a discus that size. So yes - I already know this is my fault. Only 1 cardinal left - at least half of them had their guts hanging out, so I suspect the discus have been randomly picking them off. However, I lost one of my existing 4" discus a couple of days ago. No external signs that I could see, and I have no idea how long he'd been swimming upside down or laying on the bottom. My family had been out late, and we found him like that upon our return. I immediately pulled him out, put him in a tote with shallow water, added an air stone, hiked up the temp from 84 to 88 degrees, and added some aquarium salt. He seemed to improve for the first 10-15 minutes, but then declined rapidly, dying only 10-15 minutes later. The rest of the discus LOOK fine... except they are not as quick to eat (but they still do, though more timidly) and are staying darker than is normal. They lighten up for a few hours after WCs, but they are dark again by morning, staying this darker tint until the next WC. They are hiding more than is usual. No external signs that I can see. No white specks (although I AM finding these on the driftwood in the tank, which is new). Nothing on fins, fish, or gills. The addition of the new discus was to see if I could calm the pecking order going on in the tank. The largest was overly aggressive to the others, but the new one was bigger, so I'd hoped he'd chill. That's not been the case, and the plan was to take him up to the LFS if I couldn't make a more peaceful tank out of this grouping. (The aggressor is NOT the one that died.)
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).
Hiding more (maybe 40% of the time they would normally be swimming freely), slow to eat, turning dark, but no excess slime, clamped fins, or gills. My discus have always been "nervous" fish and spook easily, which is why I added the cardinals. I kept reading that they help the discus to calm down and relax, and when one freaks out, they all do, so I've been afraid they would eventually hurt themselves. My LFS (an hour away) is reputable, and they said all their fish had been treated/wormed, etc.. And instead of greeting me at feeding time, the discus hide when I approach the tank, and then come out in a couple of minutes to eat.
3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
I haven't treated yet, because I can't tell what is wrong. I *may* have seen a white poop suspended in the water, but before I could get a closer look, the filter sucked it up. It could have been plant matter, but I can't be sure. I have not seen ANY poop hanging from the fish, but there is the normal amount of dark poop that I'm vacuuming up.
Tank/Water
4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
36-gallon bowfront. Now 3 discus - 2 that I've had since February '19 ranging in size from 3-4.5 inches. 1 new discus purchased 2 weeks ago, 5 inches. 1 cardinal tetra. 1 snowball pleco, 2 inches, got in December '18.
5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
80% every other day, but have increased this to daily, due to fish symptoms.
6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
Tank has been cycled and stocked since December '18. Sand substrate, 1-1.5 inches thick, planted for visual blocks. 1 medium sized piece of driftwood for pleco. HOB filter with pre-filter, sponge pad, and cotton floss. Ziss filter inside tank. 1 lava rock air stone.
7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
No - treated from the tap in buckets with API Stress Coat+. Have been wanting to switch to Prime, but have been waiting to use up my API bottle first. My maintenance routine/products used has not changed during any of this time. I have only increased the frequency, due to apparent fish stress.
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 _88____
- ph _7.6____
- ammonia reading __0__
- nitrite reading __0__
- nitrate reading _5___
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 __0__
- municipal water _100%___
- RO water __0__
9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
See above.
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.
Staple diet is Discus BioGold micro pellets + 1 cube of dried tubifex worms 1x weekly + dried bloodworms every other day + NutriDiet Discus flakes 1x/day. Will happily take recommendations for other foods that aren't frozen or live. Have been planning on adding dried blackworms but haven't done it yet. :/
11. 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.
N/A