Discus Breathing Heavy and Fast

[demolisher323]

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?
The problem is 2 of my discus are breathing heavily and fast. One started about 2 weeks ago, the other started just today.

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).
Fast breathing
Heavy Breathing
Lethargic laying sideways in cave mostly
one of them is barley eating and that same discus clamps 1 fin most of the time


3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.
PraziPro - treated twice in 1 week based on recommended dosage
Furan-2 - treated 3 times based on recommended dose


Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.
125 gallon
5 month old tank
10 discus
30 neon tetras

5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).
typically 25% once a week, have been doing twice a week in light of illness

6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?
Its been running for 5 months, discus just added within last month. Eco-complete gravel, 1.5 - 2 inches deep

7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.
Yes, age water 2 days in advance and treat with prime, then pre-heat to tank temp before initiating change

8. What type/brand water conditioner do you use? Do you add it to the tank or aging barrel? How much do you use?
Prime, aging barrel, half a cap worth

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___

- 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 __no__

- municipal water __yes__

- RO water __no__


10. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.
discus were all added within last month

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.
New Life Spectrum Discus 150g four times per day


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.

I do 25% water changes twice a week, and have already tried treating with PraziPro and Furan-2 with no luck. I may need to treat with PraziPro longer since I have substrate. I have wormer plus, paraguard, and epson salt coming this week too for next treatment options.

Find video here: https://www.reddit.com/r/discus/comments/maa7p9/sick_discus_heavy_breathing_help/

[jeep]

It's hard to say what the issue is but it's hard to treat discus in a planted tank. I would start by increasing your water changes. If you can't do them every day then try doing 50% per water change. This could be flukes or it could be bioload.

Read this thread to give you an idea why planted tanks and juvenile discus require more maintenance than bare bottom tanks. http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?120956-What-Are-Bioload-and-Biomass-and-Why-They-Are-Important

[famtsberg]

I have had similar issues with my fish, Cleaned the filters and the small cloud of debris that came out seemed to cause very similar issues. I would move them to a smaller tank. Increase temp, add some salt. I researched antibiotics for fish and, found that it either must be eaten or absorbed thru the gills or, skin since they don't drink water. Or you need medicated food. I got some and the fish hated it. So then I made some beef heart and mixed some it that, much better.
You can also use Kanamycin, this treats both internal and external bacterial issues. It is absorbed thru the skin. If you go on aquabid.com they have a great medications section and you can see what the different medication treat. My issue was treated with Kanamycin with good results.

If it is flukes that's a separate treatment.

Hope this helps.
Fritz

[demolisher323]

Hi Jeep, reading this post you linked, made me take action to remove all my substrate and plants today. As of now, I'm 125 gal bare bottom tank with a few pieces of driftwood.

[demolisher323]

Hi famtsberg, the filter and tank is relatively new, but the canister may be due for a clean-out. I will checkout Kanamycin as well, sounds like a treatment that covers a lot.

[jeep]

That's a pretty bold step! It can be hard to convince someone to do a 180 turnaround on their tank so I try to cite examples so they come to their own logical conclusion. Good move!

[bluelagoon]

That's a pretty bold step! It can be hard to convince someone to do a 180 turnaround on their tank so I try to cite examples so they come to their own logical conclusion. Good move!

I think you hit the nail on the head so to speak. Nitrates will be low because of the plants, but the rest of the nasty's stays behind with such small WC's. It's always been about "pristine" water to keep discus healthy.

[Iminit]

Yes drastic but a good move. I keep planted tanks but my cleaning is so much more because of this. Eco- compleat is a terrible substrate anyway so that’s a plus. What type of filtration are you using? I would now raise the temp to 86. Change your water as often as you can. Those are small discus and I would recommend 50% daily till they start looking and acting good. Than every other day till they’re 4+” big. They are a lot of work for the first 6 months. Many will grow them out in smaller tanks while setting up the main tank.
In my new 125 I’ve put plants in planters and only have a 1/2” of gravel in the tank.

[famtsberg]

Hi famtsberg, the filter and tank is relatively new, but the canister may be due for a clean-out. I will checkout Kanamycin as well, sounds like a treatment that covers a lot.

I have been moving my discus to bare bottom as well. can have fun with decorations
130855

[demolisher323]

I'm using the default filtration that has come with the FX6. I replace the charcoal pad once a month, I replace 1 of 2 bio-foam every 3 months, and replace some bio-max every 6 months. I clean the filter every 3 months, but maybe should more frequently.

I wanted to come post an update, all discus finally seem to be back to normal. I treated for gill flukes, and ick (as I had a persistent illness of ick in the tank after removing substrate). All are breathing normal, eating well, and no more clamped fins either.

Really appreciate everyones help here.

I would like to eventually get back to substrate, maybe a very thin layers of white sand. I've made it a habit to vac daily, so I'm hoping with that routine sand would be OK.

[jeep]

Good news!!