Discus take turns starving

[jdr3366]

HI,
I recently had a 3.5-inch pigeon blood who stopped eating, spent most of his time at the upper left end of the tank and eventually (over a month or two) became emaciated and died. That was two weeks ago.
Now there is another, a snakeskin?? (I think) who has just started doing the same thing. In both cases all the other fish (9 discus, 3 angels, a pleco, and a black tetra) are doing fine.
Water temp is 82 degrees, pH is 6.9 to 7.0, KH is 5 in a 70 gal half round tank. I change 30% of water daily, which is filtered through peat moss. I inject CO2 to grow pants, all of which are growing like it was the Amazon.
What do I do to keep this little guy from joining his brother in the big fish tank in the sky?
Thanks for your help,
John R

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi John:
Sounds like hexamita. Symptoms of which are: dark, hiding in back , not eating, white stringy feces. You can treat the whole tank, but you will need to raise the temp over 90 degrees. Will this hurt your plants? Do you have a hospital tank?

I use 400 - 500 mg metro (hex-a-mit) per 10 gallons of water once per day for three days. I do a 50% water change prior to each dose. Feed very lightly to see if eating, usually they don't start to really eat for several days after treatment. Leave temp in the low 90's for a week or so after treatment then slowly lower a degree or two per day.

Other people have success using 400 mg every 8 hours for three days. Temp needs to be 92/94. Discus that have been sick for a long time can not always be saved.

So, the question is . . . . what is stressing your discus. The theory is all discus carry hex to some degree. It only gets the upper hand when the fish is stressed and immune system compromised.

Some folks with planted tanks have a barebottom "rest tank" and cycle their discus between the two. Many times what's best for plants and what's best for discus are opposite things.
Carol :heart1:

[jdr3366]

HI,

The other fish in the tank are eating fine and look healthy. Over the past few days this one discus turned darker and confined himself to the back left top corner. The exact same behavior as the pigeion blood before him a month ago. I have not seen feces. His eyes are a little cloudy, but there are not spots on his body. And he is not flicking off the driftwood. I added 4 new discus about 2 weeks ago, but this problem predates them.

I am thinking that the problem is stress from an overcrowded tank. 70 gallon with about 9 or 10 discus (so many plants that I can't count the discus for sure), plus 3 large angel fish, 1 pleco and a black tetra.

I am going to raise the temperature to 93 degrees and start to treat with CLOUT. I am not too worried about the plants, but if this is the second fish that has the same disease, I feel I should treat everybody.

The new 180 gallon tank is due in about 2 weeks. With more space and fewer plants perhaps that will take care of the problem.

Thanks for your input. I'll follow up with more infor as things develop (or unravel).

John R

John,
From what you have posted it sounds like hex to me. And I agree with what Carol has said. I treat 500 mg per 10 gallon for three days with 50% w/c, prior to each doseage. I keep the temp at 90-91, and they do fine.

HTH
Miles

P.S. With that many fish you should be doing atleast 75% w/c'c a day. :)