Discus eats very little...

[makiedog]

This discus is one of 5 in a tank. He is the largest, most dominant one. For about 1.5 month, he ate very little. When food is dropped into the tank, he rushes in with the others, but will not bite, unlike the others who eat like pigs. Ocassionally I catch him pecking at the bottom of the tank, as well as little specks of food that's on the surface of the prefilter. Unlike the others, he hasn't grown since I bought him 2 months ago.

3 weeks ago, I noticed very little gill action. He does swim and behaves normal while breathing thru mouth. There's no noticeable diseases on his body. So yesterday I put him in the hospital tank with salt and Coppersafe. Today I took a picture of his feaces. Can someone tell me if the feaces indicates diseases?

By the way, what strain is this fish? I think his eyes are a little big for the body size. Thanks.

[Carol_Roberts]

Excellen photo of stringy, white muscus-like feces! Your pigeonblood needs to be treated with metronidazole also sold as hex-a-mit.

Use carbon to remove the coppersafe.

Do you have a hospital tank and air driven filter?
Raise tank temp to 92+ degrees, Dose Metro at 400 - 500 mg per 10 gallons of water after a daily 50% water change (of 92 degree water). Treat for 3 - 5 days. Keep temp up for another week after treatment. Slowly lower temp a couple of degrees per day. Feed sparingly of favorite foods. Keep tank clean and ammonia at -0-.

Some people dose the metro every 8 hours for three days.

You can treat the whole tank if you do not have a 10 or 20 gallon hospital tank

[makiedog]

Thanks Carol. My 10 gal hospital tank has a power filter (hangs on the back) and an air stone bubbler. The reason I used Coppersafe was I thought the Discuss has gill Fluke. I'll put a new sponge pad (with Activated carbon) in the filter tonight. How long should I wait before adding the Hex-a-mit?

Is this disease infectious? Should I worry about the other 4 fish in the main tank?

[Carol_Roberts]

Most discus carry intestinal flagellates. It's not a problem unless they get the upper hand. (which they have in your case). I'd just treat the single discus if he is the only one not eating with the stringy feces. . . . or no more than two small discus in a 10 gallon tank.

p.s. Can I use your picture to illustrate white stringy feces for future posts?

[makiedog]

Sure, you're welcome to use the picture. How long should I wait (after adding active carbon to remove Coppersafe)before adding the Hex-a-mit?

[Ardan]

Nice Picture!

I added it to the disease section index also.

I think you will have to remove the copper with a copper removing resin like Cuprisorb
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4185&D=copper%20removing&R =8484&Ntt=copper%20removing&Dx=mode+matchallany&Nt k=All&Nao=9&Ntx=mode+matchallany&Np=1&N=2004&Nty=1

or through wc's (it takes a lot of wc's to completely remove it.

Thanks for letting us use the pic! 8)

[makiedog]

Carol, are you sure about the Hex-a-mit dosage of 400-500mg/10 gal? The instruction says 1 capsule (250mg) per 10 gal, and apply every other day for at least 5 days.

[Carol_Roberts]

Yes, and I am not the only one who uses it this way. Do a search through the disease section to read how others use metro. As I said some (including me, if the fish has been sick a long time) dose every 8 hours instead of once a day. Discus can tolerate the high heat, while high heat weakens the intestinal flagellates.

[makiedog]

Thanks Carol, I'll give it a try.

[iceman_373]

petguys.com has the hexamit for $3.19 per 10 pack......cheapest I could find it on the net!! Hope that helps!

[makiedog]

Thanks for the info Tom. I treated the discus with Hex-a-mit for about 7 days and what little feces he excretes has turned black. I assume the medicine is working and the intestine desease is cured. He is still not eating much and his gills move very little. I don't even know how he breathes. On the rare ocassion when I catch him pecking on tiny pieces of flakes, he would spit them out. What should I do? Should I now treat him for Fluke using Formalin?

[Carol_Roberts]

Don't treat with formalin. I don't think he has fluke problems. Your temp should still be about 88. sometimes it takes a couple of weeks for the stomach to heal and the appetite to return. IS there any food he likes better than flakes?

[makiedog]

I've tried all kinds of food: B Shrimp, B Worm, flakes, seaweed, beefheart. Reaction is always the same- he will investigate the food, take a bite then spits it out. Then he may roam the bottom and pecks on some super tiny particles. His gills don't move much, that's why I thought he has Fluke.

[Carol_Roberts]

Are you seeing any more of the white stringy feces? IF yes treat with metro again, if no keep trying with food he has eaten in the past.

[MonkeeFish]

dont noe if this would help but
some of my fishes does the same thing nothing wrong wit them juss they dont really like the food i give them. take it in and spit it out

[jason87]

hey 1 of my cobalts has the same stupid behaviour as ur fish. the cobalt RUSH to the food but didn't eat~~~~~~~~~~ and it hasn't been growing for the past 2 months too. guess we have a stunted fish.

[David N]

Is this eating disorder a common problem. I have lost many fish over the past 2 years due to them not eating. After a while they get a pinched look and ultimately die. Any comments? ???

[Carol_Roberts]

Healthy, happy discus will try to eat everything you put in the tank.

Your little guys are sickly and don't feel good. If the water is dirty or the fish is being harassed the first thing that goes is the appetite.

You can try a metronidazole treatment (400-500mg per 10 gallons everyday after a 50% WC for 3 - 5 days. Temp at 92+ and keep heat up for another week after treatment)

To give these sickly discus a chance they should always be kept in bare bottom tanks with daily water changes.

[makiedog]

Perhaps persistance is the key! I put him back in the hospital tank, raised temp to 92 and administer Hexamit again along with 50% daily water change. After about 2 days, he gradually started eating again, although the rate of food consumption is very slow, perhaps 1/10th the speed of the other fish in the main tank. He has no trouble finishing all the flakes that fall to the bottom. He prefers the tiny pieces and it would take him 3-5 tries to eat a regular sized flake. I wonder why that is? The other fish his size has no trouble gulping down flakes that are larger. So, I'm very encouraged with the recent development because yesterday he finished all 3 meals.

Although his feces has turned black/drk brown, he also excretes very tiny mucousy slime that sometimes clings to his caudal fins.

[David N]

I've used the hex a mit before with limited success, but at the suggested dosage of 250mg per 10 gallons while keeping the temp at 90. The fish then released white, stringy feces like in the picture at the beginning of this thread but yet those fish never resumed eating. This affliction does not seem to affect all the fish at the same time. While one fish is sick other fish are healthy and dropping mouse-like turds. My question still remains, why does this occur and what do the fish have?
Thanks

[Carol_Roberts]

I think intestinal flagellates damage the gut. I have also noticed they take very small bites - like it hurts to swallow big bites. It takes a couple of weeks for this to heal before they start to eat normally.

[makiedog]

Thanks for all your help. Things are definitely improving. His food consumption pace has increased significantly and the fins are mostly extended. Lesson learnt: give the medication enough time to work.

Thanks again guys!

[jason87]

this is a pic of my discus feaces. the feaces is joined by a almost transparent shine-like mucus. is it a infection? and also my discus feaces is red, is it good?

[jason87]

anybody can help me answer my qn?

[Carol_Roberts]

It could just be irritation or could be beginning of hex. Red feces are usually caused by red food.

[jason87]

should i treat it? the feces are sometimes separated by a transparent thing, not white.

[Carol_Roberts]

If the discus is eating and swimming in the middle of the tank I would not worry about it.

[jason87]

they are eating very well. but they dun swim in the middle. they swim at the bottom of the tank.

[Carol_Roberts]

If they eat heartily and have erect fins and normal color I would not add meds.

[jaydoc]

Carol,
I assume that when I dose metrinidazole at 500mg/ 10 gallons that I am only adding medication for the volume of water changed? In other words, after the initial dose, you recomend 50% water change between doses. I am only then medicating that 50% with subsequent doses so that the med doesn't accumulate. Is that correcdt?
Thank you

[vickie s]

Hi Jaydoc,
Read all the way through the metro thread. Metro has a halflife of about 8 hours. It is redosed at full dose, with or without a water change.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=4;action=display;threadid=4000

I had one little guy who was not eatting and there was stringy white poo in the tank (but because he did not eat, I never saw if it was from him). I used 500mg metro every 8 hours for the weekend and every 12 hours for the weekdays (this is all my schedule would allow) for 5 days. I did 50% waterchanges on the tank before the treatments. He sarted eating small amounts 2 days after the treatment ended (I was starting to worry that the treatment did not work). He was eating like a pig within a week of the end of the treatment. hth