Help please...inflammed gills

[Dis-moi pourquoi]

Tank parameters: 72 gallon five discus sub adult and adult
0 ammonia 0 nitrite
temp 83.5
ph 7

water changes dailly 25% and 50% on sunday
I have one discus that has inflammed gills on one side - the gill plate is not closing all the way - no one else is affected at this point

I have added 2 tbsp of salt per 10 gallons
I have also added Coppersafe at 1 tsp per 4 gallons which works out to 18 teaspoons

Should I treat with an antibiotic as well? I'm not sure if it is parasitic or bacterial at this point but this seemed to come out of nowhere - though looking back this fish did seem to breath more rapidly than the others.

I have not added any new fish to the tank - they all came together from the same place and were added at the same time to the tank.

Please help - I am a total newbie at this and don't want to kill my fish. :( : (

[Dis-moi pourquoi]

Anyone??? Please...... :(

[chompy]

Are your fish rubbing agaist things or do they extra mucus? I might try a salt bath until the discus rolls. You should also get some prazi, that would help. Where in Nova Scotia do you live?

[Dis-moi pourquoi]

No rubbing that I've seen and no to the extra mucus. I have some prazipro here but I've never used it. I'm in the Annapolis Valley.

[chompy]

Try and get it in powder form, antibiotics are always better in powder form. What kind of discus do you have, where did you get them?

[Dis-moi pourquoi]

All red turqs all from the same place at the same time- a hobby breeder that decided he'd had enough. Have been healthy up till now - had them for 2 months.

Prazi isn't an antibiotic is it??

[Dis-moi pourquoi]

Update - This morning it doesn't look any worse, and it doesn't look any better either. I didn't add anything else to the tank yet - just turned the heat up to about 85. I didn't want to add the prazi on top of the coppersafe.

What should I do now? Just wait? Does anyone else have any advice? I am also now picking up a 0.1 nitrite reading. I added an extra sponge from another tank hoping that will help. Is the coppersafe affecting my biofilter? It says it doesn't on the package.....

Still looking for more input....please......

[Martin]

If its bacterial it might be a bad idea to raise the temp.
Is the gill different in color ?

[Dis-moi pourquoi]

If its bacterial it might be a bad idea to raise the temp.
Is the gill different in color ?

The gill is red inside. Like the colour of meat. I thought that's what colour it was supposed to be right? It is still swollen this afternoon, but I *think* it is looking a little better. It is hard to be objective and he is still really active, so I have a hard time getting a good look at it. He is also coming up to the front of the tank to beg for food, but since I am still picking up a 0.1 nitrite reading, I am not feeding til that is under control. I added an extra sponge, so I'm hoping that will help the nitrites. They haven't gone up from the 0.1 at least.


I hate this waiting game.

[Alight]

How long have you had your tank? Nitrites should not be appearing. You indicated that they were zero before you treated, right? The symptoms you indicated could be caused by nitrites, but from what you've said, the symptoms were there before you saw any nitrites, right?

Salt can help protect against nitrite poisoning.


The question is, then, what caused your decrease in biofiltration

I don't know if coppersafe can kill off the biofilter, or not in high doses.


Did you clean your filters recently? Don't use chlorinated or hot water to clean them--don't throw out the old media, ever.

A single new sponge will take a couple of weeks to help reduce the nitrites. It needs to be populated with bacteria to reduce nitrites.

Increasing the flow though your filter will help get rid of the nitrites more quickly as this will help stimulate the bacteria growth you want.

Good luck!

[pcsb23]

Copper based products will adversly affect bio filtration. Al is correct increase the flow throughh the filter, also keep the temp no higher than 84f for now. Martin is correct in his assessment about the temp too!

I would filter through activated carbon for a day or 2 to remove the meds, and do a series of largish w/c's daily of 50% or more if possible. Then just observe and see if the problem now is the nitrite. I would keep salt in the tank until the nitrite reading is 0.

Remove the carbon after 2 days btw!

hth,

[Dis-moi pourquoi]

I didn't see the nitrite until after I started treating. I added a cycled sponge from another tank - not a new one - sorry should have been more clear about that. But you know, I did clean one of the filters about two days ago (I have two). I ran the sponges under luke warm water - it is well water. No chlorine. I alternate filters when cleaning. The tank has been set up for well over a month. The disucs were moved from a smaller tank to this one, and I added two fully cylcled filters when I moved them over.

About adding carbon now- I was under the assumption that I would need to treat with the coppersafe for a number of days. Why do you advise removing it?

[pcsb23]

When did you add the coppersafe??

Also rinse your sponges in water form the tank, syphon some into a bucket and squeeze them out in there.

[Dis-moi pourquoi]

I added it last night.

[pcsb23]

thought it had been in there for a little while. Ok then in that case ignore the carbon for now. I'm not sure though that we are dealing with flukes or another parasite. Normally the discus would flash or rub if a parasite were involved. How do the eyes look??

[Dis-moi pourquoi]

thought it had been in there for a little while. Ok then in that case ignore the carbon for now. I'm not sure though that we are dealing with flukes or another parasite. Normally the discus would flash or rub if a parasite were involved. How do the eyes look??

Eyes look fine. The fish is not flashing nor rubbing. It is active today and looking for food- yesterday was spending lots of time in the corner. I don't know if it is a parasite. But since the addition of the salt and coppersafe, it seems happier. I should have just added the salt and waited - but I got scared and decided to add the coppersafe.

[pcsb23]

Eyes look fine. The fish is not flashing nor rubbing. It is active today and looking for food- yesterday was spending lots of time in the corner. I don't know if it is a parasite. But since the addition of the salt and coppersafe, it seems happier. I should have just added the salt and waited - but I got scared and decided to add the coppersafe.

I know it is difficult some times to do nothing, or very little. Often though it is the best solution. More problems are fixed by good clean water and good food than by any drugs. Patience is the key here :)

Glad they are doing better.