HELP Required Please ... My Discus breathing too fast !!!

[NightWolf]

Hello everyone ...

this is the first post to me here ... i am new to the discus stuff but once i saw this fish i love it ... my aquarium setup as follows

150 liter planted aquarium aquarium ...
tempreture 28-30 celsius
its new tank ... 2 weeks old

i have 6 angles .. they are ok .. but alos breathing fast. ..
yesterday i bought 2 Small discus fishes ... 3 inch size and they start breathing very fast .. and they say at the top of the aquarium ... after couple of houres .. one of them dead :( ...
and today 1 left and still breathing fast .. but it goes down not on the surface .... yesterday i did water change for 50% of water .. unfortunatly i dont have any testing kit for water ...

PLEASE any hint or help regarding this issue will be very helpfulll .... puting in mind that i dont have a water testing kit

[diamond_discus]

I am no expert on this .. but this happened to me this week ... my fish got infected with something .. they all stay at the top .. trying to catch a breath or something .. I did a 75% water change and use "Quick Cure". This seems to work for me ... The fishes were back to normal within 2 days. You can buy a small bottle of "Quick Cure" at Petco.

Other people might have better advice for you. Good luck

[Kindredspirit]

Hi! I am sorry about your Discus ~ breathing fast and gasping for air at the top of the aquarium is def a water issue ~ you really shld try and get a test kit as to test your water parameters....

Did you add any water conditioner to your tank? Like Prime? I see you have plants but do you have additional air supply in the tank?


Marie ~ :)

[NightWolf]

thanks for the replies ...

and i used chlorine removal .. i think the name is aqwa safe or something .. i dont remember and i use some bacteria cycling stuff to fasten the cycle of the aquarim as its new .....

and i have a normal internal power filter ... but i dont have any air pump or oxgyine stones or somehting ... just the filter and the heater ...

and i have alot of plants inside .. 6 big plants i dont knwo the name of them ...

so what should i do or buy for this discuss... !??

[Kindredspirit]

Night~ I do not think I would add any meds right now ~ see what others say please...It really is important to try and get a testing kit somehow....This cld be a pH issue as well ~ Does this happen right after a wc?


Marie ~ :)

[Kindredspirit]

If the fish are lying down near the bottom gasping for air this could be a pH issue/crash....def some toxin in the water I would guess ~ Hang in there...What is your temp? High heat can deplete oxygen as well ...Have you added any meds to this tank? Did you QT the new fish?


Marie ~ :)

[NightWolf]

Hi Kindredspirit ..

when i put them inside the aquarium for the fist time .. they start breathing fast and they stay at the top of the aquarium ...

after i did a water change for 50% of water .. and i added the aqua safre chlorine removal to the new water. ..

they start breathing more faster .. and stay at the top ... after 2 houres one of the discus ..died !!!

today .. the 2nd discus is breathing fast .. but he is not at the top . .swiming in the midile and bottom of the aquaruim ....

hope this is will clarify more ... and i really need help for this discus :(

thanks in advance for your help .

[NightWolf]

the tempreture is 29-30 .. and i dont add any midication to the aquruim other than the aqua safe chlorine removal .. and the cycle stuff ....
the fish some how swiming normally but breathing very fast ... !!!

do i need air pump or any other stuff missing here that can help ....

[Kindredspirit]

Right now Night, I would personally, water change if you have not done so, recently, double prime and add more air until someone pops along with additional advice ~

....and get a testing kit;)

Marie ~ :)

[pcsb23]

I'm fairly certain that this tank will not be cycled. The fish will be suffering with ammonia and/or nitrite poisoning. It is important that you get a test kit for ammonia and for nitrite and test the water to determine how bad it is. 6 Angels is a heavy enough stocking level for a 150 litre tank , about 39 US gallons.

With it being planted limits your options some. Marie is right water change and add prime or similar to reduce the concentrations of ammonia and nitrite. If you can get some bio spira then that may help.

Basically your tank is not cycled, adding meds or more fish will only make matters worse. Also I noted you added the discus without any form of QT this will also only lead to trouble.

Get a test kits and test the water, but do as large a w/c as you can now and add plenty of dechlor (prime or whichever brand you have).

[NightWolf]

Hi pcsb23 ... thanks for the info ...

do i need to add
- air pump and some oxygine stones
- sponge filter
... or its not required now ?

also i hear there is some anti amonia and nitrite in the market is this stuff helpfull to add . ?

thanks again

[Graham]

Nightwolf ...I'm with Paul, here............do a big water change using the de-chlor making sure that any left over food is siphoned out and the temps of the new water is the same.............. then go buy some test kits pH, Ammonia and Nitrite...that tank isn't anywhere near cycled and you're increasing fish loads

G

[poconogal]

Along with test kits, I suggest getting a good, basic beginner's book on fishkeeping that explains the biological filter, etc. If you don't want to spend money on a book, there's plenty of info on aquarium basics on the internet. I don't know how much fishkeeping experience you have, but it sounds from your post that you are a novice. A good book will go a long way towards helping you (and helping your fish stay alive). :) Good luck!

[NightWolf]

Hi poconogal,

I used to have many types of tropical fish b4 ... but not the discus ... its a new challenge now ....

and i read alot from the internet .... but as u know things can happen ! ...


thanks for every one ... I will try to make water changes and add some declore and anti amonia .. very soon .. also i will add some air stones. ..

thanks for all ....

[diamond_discus]

I read somewhere that Discus doesn't do well with Angel fish, especially when the # of Angel Fish out number the # of Discus fish. There are some bacteria that Angel Fish can tolerate but not Discus fish. That's why I gave my pair of Angel Fish away when I decided to raise Discus. You may want to try a bare tank with just discus fish (without any plant) .. that would eliminate other possible causes to your problem. Good luck.

[pcsb23]

Hi pcsb23 ... thanks for the info ...

do i need to add
- air pump and some oxygine stones
- sponge filter
... or its not required now ?

also i hear there is some anti amonia and nitrite in the market is this stuff helpfull to add . ?

thanks again
Air pump and air stone are always useful but not always essential.
Sponge filter is always useful too, but won't speed up the cycling

I believe Prime will help when ammonia is present, Bio Spira I am reliably informed will be your best bet, it is a form of live nitrifying bacteria.