need some quick help

[JimmyB]

I have a turk that seems to have a orange color on her one side. Her eyes are getting cloudy. She is dark, especially on one side, dark bars, she is real slow, staying near the top, both gills breathing kinda fast, but one side fin clamped against her body. Any idea? I am chainging water 50% daily. The other fish are abxolutely fine.

[pcsb23]

Jimmy,

Difficult to tell from your description. It could be parasites or bacterial. Is there any swelling where its orange? A photo may help.

If you have a qt tank I'd get the turq in that now. run the temp 84f and add salt at 2 tablespoons per 10 gallons. If its a parasite this will help defeat/suppress it, if its bacterial it will help avoid secondary infections and may buy some time. Don't go too high with the temp yet until we know if its bacterial or not. I'd run an airatone or turn the wick up on the sponge filter too for now.

[Kagan]

cloudy eyes mostly mean bad water conditions, but sometimes it means bacterial infection. Please give some info on the tank/filter/stocking.. Give some info on the slime coating and the shape of the belly area of the fish too. For now please do as Paul told but be sure to update and give info. You might have to remove the fish to quarantine tank apply some medication...

[JimmyB]

I have her in a QT tank right now. The temp is at 84F. The other fish in the original tank are all doing fine. I did 50% water changes each day as soon as I saw the problem, 3 times now. Odd thing, this has been the most 'durable' and resilient fish up till now, but the only one affected. The pH in that tank is at 6.9. I had been changing the water about 33% every 24-36 hours. In other words I do a water change in the morning before work, then the following day I change it in the morning or evening depending on schedules. On the weekends I change it each day, about 50%. The Nitrates are at the lowest reading on the color key chart in the test kit, so from 0-20ppm. It is 90 gallon tank that has 7 discus in it, plus a couple cory/bristlenose, so somewhat understocked at the moment. Two of them look like they are forming an 'odd-couple' and are about to spawn on a piece of the driftwood. I have a thin layer of gravel and some driftwood. Vacuuming the gravel is done every time I change the water. As for the problem itself, I first noticed her vertical bars being very dark, and her colors not as vibrant. Her health apparently deteriorated to the point where she was somewhat listless and moving slow, and staying near the top of the tank. She still eats. Her eyes got cloudy, and her one side seemed to have an orange cast to it. Not sure how to describe it but maybe velvety or matte, the opposite of the normal wet shiny bright color. She was pretty dark in color on the second day. After moving her to the QT tank, I see more color to her, but she is still moving slow and still dark in color. No white feces, nothing that I have seen. Eyes still cloudy. I am changing water in that tank with heated aged water to keep it crystal clear, but no meds at this point. I would describe her as "stable, but critical". Can't find yet what the specific name of the problem is, but I'm hoping clean water will at least pick her up a little to give me time.

[pcsb23]

Jimmy,

Keep the qt tank clean.

Any swelling??
Any changes?
How old is the fish?
Have you aded salt?

[JimmyB]

Also, no bulge in the belly, does not look swollen. If anything, perhaps a little thin. She is still eating a little, always has been a good eater. But the cloudy eyes seem to make it more difficult to see and eat. In the main tank, I have 2 HOB that are rated to circulate the water 650 gph. I change out the filter pads on one of the filters each weekend, alternating them on different weekends so as to not lose any bio capacity. I remove all of the carbon inserts in the filters, instead I use filter material on all the inserts to catch large debris. She is not fully grown, I would guess maybe 2 years old? Maybe 2.5? I am keeping the QT clean, vacuuming up any food that she does not eat. She is not going down to the bottom to find it like they all usually do.
Have not added salt in the QT. Suggestions as to how much, how often? Ooops, I see up above, 2 tbs per 10 gallons, so I will give that a try.

[pcsb23]

Jimmy,

Filtration on the main tank sounds good as does the cleaning routine. We need to completely rule out water quality so if you can test the water in main and qt for ammonia and nitrite, also ph if poss and post those. Salts going to help at this time, may not cure but will help the fish.

Ok last question for now, have you noticed what colour its faeces is?

[JimmyB]

The pH is at 6.9 on both tanks as of last night (I had changed water in both earlier in the day with some aged water.) Feces color...have not seen any yet....expect to see in BB qt tank, later today. Will check the nitrite and ammonia this afternoon when I am able and will post it. Thanks.....dog-gone it, it is my favorite fish, too......

[JimmyB]

The fish is gaining back some color, she is not so dark anymore, but her head is pointed downwards as she swims around, and she seems to have lost her orientation a little, she bumped right into the glass. Even though her color looks better, her 'dizziness' and slow erratic swimming gives me a bad feeling about her chances. I have tried to get a reading on the Nitrites and ammonia, but since I have been doing 50% water changes on both tanks, I really can't get anything over the lowest reading on the chart. The ammonia kit tests from 0-8ppm. The nitrite kit tests from 0-5ppm, i think. (I am using the small test-tube kits with the drops.) pH is at 6.9. Temp is at 84. I added some salt last night. Not looking forward to what I will find when I get home later today.

[pcsb23]

Jimmy,

Sorry for not responding sooner. It sounds like a bacterial infection. Try treating with Furan II. You can and should keep the salt in there too.

Good luck,

[JimmyB]

I actually started that since I had been reading all my Discus books looking for a clue, and that solution came up in two different books. In the morning she was down near the bottom, tilted down about 45 degrees. However, yesterday afternoon she was still breathing from both gills, but floating flat, laying on her side at the surface of the water. And late last night, she died. The main tank is very healthy, not a single fish shows any sign, they are eating like little pirhanas. I don't know if any preventative measures should be taken, I am still changing water everyday and vacuuming the bottom of the main tank. As for the empty QT tank, how does one sterilize it? What about the sponge filter?