dandyale
07-06-2020, 07:42 PM
We have three discus in this 55g tank along with a dozen tetras. We recently noticed a couple of marks in the head of the orange and wild cross (see images; the third discus is not pictured), and the wild cross has been dark and hiding since we have had him. We do not know if they have some disease (I.e., hole in the head or internal parasites), if these are marks from fighting (they do it frequently; the blue and orange have tried to breed multiple times), or if the wild is just not well adapted to my water parameters. They all eat, but the wild usually gets harassed by the blue and then he hides for a bit. We wondered if adding more discus might help ease the stress in the tank, but wanted to see what you guys think before adding any fish. Thanks.
1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them?
We have had these three discus since March. One orange, one blue, and one wild cross. The orange is usually pretty active and colorful, but recently we noticed some marks in his head and we have seen her have white stringy poop once. The wild cross doesn’t often show color and is somewhat fearful of us, and he has a mark or two on him. Blue has no problems we know of.
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).
Orange: Marks on his head, white poop (although normal today). Slightly cloudy eyes
Wild cross: dark, marks on head, cloudy. Kind of skinny too (though he eats with the others, albeit less), usually hangs out in the back and definitely scared of us so will flee when we approach, even to feed
3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
Have tried no medications/treatments other than daily water changes for the last 3 days—50%.
Tank/Water
4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
Tank is 55 gallons. Have had it running for 6 months
3 discus
10 red eyed tetras
3 neon tetras
Pleco
5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
2-3 50% weekly
6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
6 months. It has a 1” layer of sand and about another inch of soil underneath in the sides
7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
We do not age our water
8. What type/brand water conditioner do you use? Do you add it to the tank or aging barrel? How much do you use?
We use Seachem Prime. We add to barrel and then dechlorinate using a fountain pump to mix for about 30 mins
9. 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 84-86
- ph 7.5
- ammonia reading 0
- nitrite reading 0
- nitrate reading 10
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
10. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
No
11. 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.
We usually feed 3x a day giving different foods at every feeding:
Tetra flakes
Omega cichlids pellets
Omega one brine shrimp—frozen
Omega one bloodworms—frozen
Sam Francisco Bay beefheart
12. 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.
https://imgur.com/gallery/k41ejWM
Thanks in advance,
Alex
1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them?
We have had these three discus since March. One orange, one blue, and one wild cross. The orange is usually pretty active and colorful, but recently we noticed some marks in his head and we have seen her have white stringy poop once. The wild cross doesn’t often show color and is somewhat fearful of us, and he has a mark or two on him. Blue has no problems we know of.
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).
Orange: Marks on his head, white poop (although normal today). Slightly cloudy eyes
Wild cross: dark, marks on head, cloudy. Kind of skinny too (though he eats with the others, albeit less), usually hangs out in the back and definitely scared of us so will flee when we approach, even to feed
3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
Have tried no medications/treatments other than daily water changes for the last 3 days—50%.
Tank/Water
4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
Tank is 55 gallons. Have had it running for 6 months
3 discus
10 red eyed tetras
3 neon tetras
Pleco
5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
2-3 50% weekly
6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
6 months. It has a 1” layer of sand and about another inch of soil underneath in the sides
7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
We do not age our water
8. What type/brand water conditioner do you use? Do you add it to the tank or aging barrel? How much do you use?
We use Seachem Prime. We add to barrel and then dechlorinate using a fountain pump to mix for about 30 mins
9. 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 84-86
- ph 7.5
- ammonia reading 0
- nitrite reading 0
- nitrate reading 10
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
10. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
No
11. 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.
We usually feed 3x a day giving different foods at every feeding:
Tetra flakes
Omega cichlids pellets
Omega one brine shrimp—frozen
Omega one bloodworms—frozen
Sam Francisco Bay beefheart
12. 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.
https://imgur.com/gallery/k41ejWM
Thanks in advance,
Alex