Hole in the Head

[triciamc]

I'm new to the forum and fairly new to Discus(about 8 months now). I have a 72 gallon tank with a magnum 350, two biowheels, rena xp3, and a hydor inline heater set at 84.4. I do water changes 50 percent weekly. Fish are as:
Dragon King 4"
Pigeon Blood 2"
marlboro red 4"
Spider Snake 3"
Ocean Grean 1.5"
Brown 2"
and 6 various turqs ranging from 1.5"-3"
7 rummy nose tetra
6 serpae tetra
5 orange stripe tetras(not sure name)
and 3 little algae eating fish(not plecos).

I also have gravel, but lately I'm onsidering taking it out to simplify the cleaning process. Anyway my water is:
Before:
ph-8
nitrate-12.5

5 days after water change:
ph-7.6 to 7.8(hard to read test)
nitrite-0
Ammonia-0
Nitrate-25 to 50(also hard to read)

One of my 3" discus had what looked like a piece of skin hanging off of his forehead, I thought he might of injured himself. Now it just looks like a crater on his forehead, not the coloring of his body. I'm looking for some advice on this and also my tank setup and water. I though they were all doing great, but now I'm not so sure.

Tricia

[95SoCalStang]

The first thing is the amount of water changes that you do. For that size of tank and the bioload you have in it only once a week isn't going to keep your discus happy or healthy. Your Nitrate is also quite high after the five days...Post a picture of your discus that is having the issue to really see if it is hole in the head. First thing you need to do is start doing at least a 50% water change daily until the problem clears up. You may also want to add some aquarium salt to the water...2 Tbls per 10 gallon should do the trick. Make sure that the water that you are using for the water changes matches the temp of your tank and is also aged if you can...Unfortunately until something like this happens everything always looks fine. Once the problem clears up I would suggest being more aggresive with the water changes...at least every other day of 25%-50%. Some people will say you HAVE to do 50% water changes but for most this is not practical! Any questions please feel free to ask! Anything I missed guys?

Eric

[triciamc]

I should also mention that in the magnum 350 has fluval bio-max rings in the basket covered by the filter sleeve. My xp3 has the foam filters, bio-max rings, and bio-chem zorb.

[95SoCalStang]

Your filtration does not seem to be the issue as long as you are changing out your media as often as it says it should be. Personally I have 2 Penguin 280's and a Fluval 404 on a 60 gallon and still change water every other day at least to keep the water good for the Discus.

Eric

[triciamc]

My local store suggested using Nitra-Zorb, to lower the level of nitrate since it comes out of the tap at 12.5. Does this sound right? I'm always hesitant about adding stuff to the water.

[Carol_Roberts]

No it doesn't sound right.

You need to add more clean water and remove more dirty water.

Open your canister filters and smell inside. Does it smell almost good enough to drink? If not rinse the filter media in dechlorinated water until it runs clear. Do you have a prefilter sponge on the water intake? IF not you may be sucking all kinds of uneaten food and feces into the canister where it rots. I bet there is a bunch of mulm trapped in the gravel too.

Your nitrAte 12.5 from the tap? Best is to keep the nitrAte less than 5. If your nitrate is 12.5 from the tap shoot for 15. The only way to do that is with water changes.

[triciamc]

The xp3 stays really clean(its new only had it 2 weeks), but the magnum gets pretty dirty and smells(bought this one with the tank). It sucks the food in before the fish get a chance to eat it sometimes. I did take the gravel out tonight, but it wasn't that dirty. The tank looks dirty though because some of the gravel is to fine to pick up with my fingers, but to heavy to suck up with the python. Any suggestions on how to fix that?

[Carol_Roberts]

Yes, take the gravel tube off the python underwater and suck up the little pieces of gravel with the hose. (Don't try to run gravel down the sink or you will have to call the plumber) You can drain the water out the back door.

Fit a sponge over the intake of the Magnum. The sponge will trap the food before it gets in the filter. I bet food trapped in the magnum is the problem . . .

[95SoCalStang]

Hey Carol...That was my first try at helping a fellow Discus Lover...How were my recommendations? =)

Eric

[Carol_Roberts]

Excellent :thumbsup:

[triciamc]

I did a 50% change, took out the gravel, and then retested my water.
kh-9 drops
gh-9 drops
ammonia & nitrite of course are 0
ph-7.5/7.6
nitrate-25 mg/l

Does this sound acceptable? Disregarding the nitrate I'll change the water more often and see how low I can get it. Today is the first time I ever tested the nitrate, I thought since the ammonia and nitrite was fine the nitrates would be also. Hopefully I haven't done any permanant dammage to the fish. I attached a couple of pictures of my fish. Thanks for all the help.

[triciamc]

Last Picture. This one is my favorite, we just got it two weeks ago from Sunrise Tropicals in Daly City.

www.sunrisetropicals.com

[95SoCalStang]

Very nice discus! As long as you keep up with those water changes you should be good...Just start a routine and it will be easy..When I first started it took me about an hour to do a 50% waterchange..Last night I did one in the time it took my girlfriend to take a shower.(15 Minutes) Goodluck and if you need any more help feel free to post! Goodluck!

Eric

[shalu]

Like others have said, more water changes! there is no other way around it be it in a bare bottom tank or not. I have to do 60% wc every other day to keep NO3 5-10 ppm(13 discus in 100gallon)