sick fish/wife upset

[bryalk1]

hi,
i have posted many times before yet i find myself in a quandry. i have the unfortunate experience to have a fishroom full of sick discus. i have lost 40 fish so far. i have sought out experienced people for advice yet my fish still die. i had brought in some asian fish quarentined etc for 6 weeks yet and illness went thru the rest of my fish like wildfire. all my small fish gone breeders gone.
my wife wants me to give it up but i don't want to.
to newcomers watch where your fish come from. i later fornd out my last batch of fich came from someone with a bad rep.
don't be afraid to email.
i will be bringing a fish to uf specialists fo a diagnosis. i should have done this sooner but i'm stubborn.
thanks to everyone who has helped. i have now lost 2,000$ in fish and counting. my wife wants me to give it up.
i guess it depends on uf.to those new be carefull.
bryant

[Carol_Roberts]

Does your wife resent the time or the money spent? You could certainly cut back for awhile and make sure she get to buy things for her hobbies too. There would be a big hole in my life without the discus and Simply. If it was me I'd sterilize the tanks and filters, do a fishless cycle and start over. One tank at a time :-\

[jeep]

Sorry to hear that Bryant.

Best of luck!

Brian

[fcdiscus]

Very sorry for you Brian! Frank :'(

[yogi]

Bryant, I'm sorry to here about your situation. I hope UF finds out whats wrong. I think Carol gave some good advice. It sounds like it's time to step back and evalulate the situation.

[Nightowl]

Very sorry to read of your losses. Anytime I've had a problem I've been lucky enough to keep it in one or 2 tanks, too paranoid to do much of anything for fear of something spreading. A friend of mine who's now having some success breeding almost threw in the towel twice in the last 2 years due to similar situations. He couldn't leave it though......
best of luck J.T.

[roger]

Hello Bryant

It was a shock to see all the tanks yesterday and I hope that things work out for you.

Carols advice to "firebomb" the tanks and start from scratch is scary sounding but it does ensure you dont have a gift that keeps on giving.

I guess the best thing to do for the time being is to see if you can get your sample fish off to the University of Florida local station to find out whats going round.

Please keep us posted since Im sure there are enough people here willing to help you re-stock once things settle down.

Peace,
Roger

i had brought in some asian fish quarentined etc for 6 weeks yet and illness went thru the rest of my fish like wildfire. all my small fish gone breeders gone.
bryant


My sincere condolences to you Bryant. I think this is why I don't seek fish from out of the country unless I go personally or know of someone who will go and pick them out. It's unfortunate that you had to lose sooo many. Wow. This is a wake up call for all of us who entrust the sources abroad without the appropriate assurances.

Your experience is a lesson well-learned. Be well.

**Angie**

[Paulio]

I too have to agree with Carol and Roger. It isnt worth a gamble with what might still be lurking in the fish room.


Paul

[Ardan]

Sorry to hear about the losses. It will be interesting to see what the pathologist says. Keep us posted please.

Carol gives sound advice. Its the only way to be sure.

Best of luck to you.
And take care of your wife too. :)

[Discus_KC]

Bryant,

I feel for you as I've been through this very thing. My losses were substantial as are yours. And yes the wife got mad. So did I !!!!

I got mad at myself !!!!!! For not having the QT room like i wanted. Yes, I had a airborne bacteria and it went like wildfire through the tanks. When it was all said and done, 350 discus dead and lots of others sick.

I won't let my wife steal my passion.

I've been a utter failure at times and I won't fail again !!!!

So if you have to, cut back for a while and continue to learn !!!!

I could write a book about the "School of Hard Knocks" with discus. But maybe I could just tell a story one day !!!!! ;D ;D

On a side note, my first successful shipping of discus was the sick ones I sent off to be tested. But I have the report and had some piece of mind. It wasn't my fish but the new ones I got in.

Just talk things over and have the wife included in your plan.

Jack

[Pat_in_NC]

Sounds like good advice Jack!

Aren't you due home in a few days? Keep us posted on your return when you get a chance. You have a lot of discus friends here who will be very happy to hear your home safe.


Pat

[daninthesand]

Hi Bryant.

I am very sorry to hear about the troubles you are having. I hope things work out for you in the end. I have had some complete failures in this hobby, so I can relate. I've had numerous occasions where I felt like calling it quits. But with advice and support from people on this board I kept at it. I'm glad I did.

I hate to hear when fellow hobbiests are having these difficult times. I hate it especially because I know exactly how it feels. You never really forget those feelings. I'm sure many can echo my sentiments. Try not to beat yourself up too much or blame yourself endlessly.

Some great advice here regarding "nuking" your entire fishroom and starting over. Maybe taking a break for a while can give you (and your wife) time to regroup and decide what it is you really want to do. Its a great chance to "redo" the fishroom the way you always wanted.

I know it does not feel like it right now, but you will come around some day and get your second wind. This passion we all have for discus never really goes away. It just hides itself once in a while.

Someday you can look back at this experience and tell yourself that you somehow found the reserve in your spirit to move on and overcome the heartache. Its IS something to look forward to.

Anyway enough rambling from me.

I wish you the best of luck.;)

Take care, Bryant.

Daniel.

[Terry]

I.ve been there to it will turn around.
best of luck.
Terry.

[jim_shedden]

Bin there..........done that.............still here.............. ;D
Hang in there.


jim

[ping]

I have not been there....
Just want to wish you all the best ... :)

Ronny

[patrick]

I also have experienced the same problems. I have decided to get out of the business as a result and also because my wife and I will be going to China to adopt an abandoned infant girl.

I firmly believe that if one is selling discus, it is very important to sell quality and healthy discus.

I experienced my problems this summer when I ordered fish from Asia. The first 2 weeks of receiving the new shipment the fish were doing great. But then, the fish started to get sick. I changed water every day, used salt, higher temperature, antibiotics, and did more WC. And still the fish were dying. All and all, I lost more than 400 discus.

If one is going to bring in fish, it is highly recommended to have separate rooms to QT the fish and send a sample to a lab. I knew this, but I was in denial that something bad could happen, especially importing for 2 years without a problem.

My current status. After 3 months of hell, (bless my wife, family, and friends), the remaining fish are doing great. (Healthy discus are actually little pigs with fins and gills.) Since I am getting out of the business I have sold all but 2 tanks and all 3 inch or smaller discus have been selling for $15.00 (typically priced at $35.00) Oh well.

Going forward. I am going sell all my discus, locally in Denver. I am sorry that I will not be participating when ACA comes to Denver. I'll stop by to get my discus fix.

Maybe some day I'll get back into importing/raising/selling discus. I am definitively going to miss the hobby/business.

I want to thank everyone on SIMPLY that has made my experience special.

Sincerely, Patrick ;D

[bryalk1]

hi
i just wanted to say thanks for all the support and kind words. i cannot tell you what it means to me but i can say i am tearing up as i reply to this. you have all been great. cary even called me last night to help and i have more gratitude to others brew, roger, carol jim etc etc.
just started this to give an update thus far cryptobia iubilans a flagelated protozoan has been found. they are doing cultures etc and have been great. bad news is that theres no cure.its a organism similar to hex but is able to survive treatments by going into the tissue. if you want more info. do a search on google. i was told to expect at least a 50% loss or more. and i do lose more daily :'( :'( :'(.i stopped telling my wife.will post when i find out more.
by the way patrick thanks for the feedback and my wife and i have 2 of those girls from china ages 7 and 3. we feel blessed.
bryant

[patrick]

Bryant, I found some more information:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_VM077

(we days away from being matched, we're waiting for "the call" from the adoption agency.)

Patrick