Sick fish or odd mating

[billeagan]

DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE


Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started


One discus - a red turq - in the last few hours has started to swim kind of face down almost at a 90 degree angle and the belly seems to be bloated. There was some mating behaviour with another fish. [/B]


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)

Seems to be swimming in place.





3. What medications/ treatments that you have already tried and results. Include dosages and duration of treatment.
I have not treated with anything yet - I'm going to do a water change and add some doc welfish salt.




Tank/Water

4. Tank size and age, number and size of fish

75 gallon - 12 discus (see more on the number later) running an eheim 2215, penguin 330 and penguin 170. I just removed a sponge filter that was culturing in the 75.

5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?

Generally, 10% a day with 20 - 30% a day on the weekend. I use R/O water and adjust as necessary in the tank to maintain GH of 3 -4

6 Parameters and water source;

- temp 86_____

- ph _6.4____

- ammonia reading 0____

- nitrite reading _0___

- nitrate reading _30___

- well water __R/O water__

- municipal water __R/O water__

7. Any new fish/plants added recently
I just added four fish to this tank pending a 29 to move a pair out that has formed.

[Cosmo]

Billy,

I'm not the doc, but till they get here maybe I can be of some help?

The salts a good start, but with the bloated belly you might want to add some Epson salt as well, if the fish is constipated this should help clear him up (like exlax for fish).

Sounds like you've got more serious problems though :( Rotting fins, white zits, cloudy eyes = not good... could be an internal infection, or a parasite of some sort, or both :confused:

Hopefully you quartined the new fish for six weeks before putting them into your main tank, otherwise there's a good chance you got more than fish when you added them :( If that's the case, you may have to medicate the entire tank, but if only one is displaying these symptoms for now I'd get him out and into a hospital tank ASAP. I suspect though that treating the entire tank would be the wise way to go. (actually, you might want to do both to separate him from the others)

If we're talking adults, you've got a serious overstocking issue as well, and removing the sponge didn't help the situation. Nitrates at 30 is definatly too high. Suggest you increase your WC's at least for the time being to 30% daily after doing a 50% tonight... you need to bring the nitrates down.

good luck, hope they all make it ok

Jim

Hopefully one of the medical experts will weigh in soon with an informed diagnosis and the proper treatment.

[billeagan]

thanks! I didn't quarantine because they came from a private home and not a LFS... Probably a bad idea..

I don't have fin rot, cloudy eyes or anything like that just the odd swimming.

Things got a little weirder this morning. The fish that had the problem for a few hours yesterday was fine and bouncing around like nothing was wrong this morning.

However, one of the new fish was doing the same type of swimming this morning , but no bloated belly....

I'm confused.

Epsom salt in the tank? I've never heard of that. What quantity should I put in? Doesn't epsom salt affect the PH? Should I use in a PM schedule too?

[Carol_Roberts]

Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) will clear constipation and bloat. Dose 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons of water. Fish should be betterin a few hours. It will not hurt biofilter and is easily removed with water changes. Yes, it may raise pH. Any reason you have your pH so low 6.4?

NItrates are too high. I try to keep mine below 5. You need to be doing larger daily water changes to keep nitrates down.

Any reason you are using RO water in the 75 gallon?

12 discus in that size tank should probably have at least 50% daily water changes. Filters do not replace water changes.

[billeagan]

Thanks Carol! I use R/O water so I don't have to adjust the PH. It comes out perfect and I have aspirations of breeding so, I use the tank to try and form pairs.

the other guy that I had him second that was simming in a similiar fashion is really dark and has some odd looking fecal matter coming out - I mean odd in it is not a normal formation, if you will. Its flat and really long. I think it might have had some blood in it. He also has some "white fuzz" on his nose. It doen't look like a fungus excess slime coat?

Normally, I would have about 8 discus in the tank. Wouldn't 10% water changes be sufficient in that instance?

[Cosmo]

lol.. no, I'm confused :D was reading #2 of the questinaire and thought that was your answer... sorry bout that :o Up too late I guess lol
Glad to hear though :)

You should always quarantine, regardless of where or who they came from... just in case.

Replacing only 10% of the water really isn't sufficient, regardless of the number of fish.. fewer fish will only take a while longer for the nitrates to build up on you, then once they do.. 10% will never make a dent in it. If you can't do daily, try 30 to 50% every other day... your fish will show their appreciation :)

good luck with them

Jim

[billeagan]

Once upon a time I had a really nice planted fish tank and my nitrate was always at zero...

And, then I brought home a new plant and brought me home red hair algae...

[Carol_Roberts]

Do you add minerals back with the RO?

[billeagan]

Yes, I add back minerals alternating between using equilibrium by seachem and tap water. I maintain a GH of between 3 and 4.

Everyone seems to be doing ok today. Maybe it was just stress from the move and stress from adding new fish?