poconogal
03-31-2007, 08:32 AM
Last night I stopped into a chain pet store, Petland, in NYC and saw that they had two RT Discus. They were actually pretty nice discus, nice shape and patterning, but slightly large eyes. They were not skinny looking though, so it seems they have been eating, and were swimming well. They were at least 4" SL. However, I got very upset looking at them.
One was turning light, then dark, and both had clamped fins. Each of them had white patches on the sides. I'm not sure what the patches were, they were not fuzzy like a fungus. The worst thing was that there was a school of cories in the tank with them. I noticed that one Discus appeared to have fin rot at the back end of its dorsal, which looked very odd to me. After watching awhile, I saw the cause: the damn cories were eating away at the Discus' fin. They were also swarming all over the bodies of the two Discus, munching on their skin. I have never seen cories do anything like this - I can only wonder when they were last fed! The 2 Discus would go and sort of crouch behind the filter (thankfully the store has separate filters for each of their tanks) and the cories would gang up on them. I spent 20 mins. banging on the tank glass to get the cories away from the Discus.
I'm wondering if the white patches are being caused by the cories? The patches do sort of look like abrasions... so I'm thinking maybe abraded slime coat?? They are charging $60 each for these poor fish, and I couldn't even find a thermometer in the tank to see what temp they were being kept at.
I asked for the manager - she was not in. The asst. manager was not in. The person who takes "care of" the fish was not in. I gave the kid at the register an earful about the condition of those Discus and what the Cories were doing to them. I plan on going back on Monday when I'm at work again to check on the Discus. I will probably buy them - I can't stand the thought of the torment they are going thru. All I know is that when I looked at them in that tank, they came right up to me and were looking at me... like saying HELP!!!! Any thoughts on treatments when I get them home? I have a 30g QT tank on the opposite side of the room where my 75 is, but I will most likely put them in my empty 45 in my basement.
One was turning light, then dark, and both had clamped fins. Each of them had white patches on the sides. I'm not sure what the patches were, they were not fuzzy like a fungus. The worst thing was that there was a school of cories in the tank with them. I noticed that one Discus appeared to have fin rot at the back end of its dorsal, which looked very odd to me. After watching awhile, I saw the cause: the damn cories were eating away at the Discus' fin. They were also swarming all over the bodies of the two Discus, munching on their skin. I have never seen cories do anything like this - I can only wonder when they were last fed! The 2 Discus would go and sort of crouch behind the filter (thankfully the store has separate filters for each of their tanks) and the cories would gang up on them. I spent 20 mins. banging on the tank glass to get the cories away from the Discus.
I'm wondering if the white patches are being caused by the cories? The patches do sort of look like abrasions... so I'm thinking maybe abraded slime coat?? They are charging $60 each for these poor fish, and I couldn't even find a thermometer in the tank to see what temp they were being kept at.
I asked for the manager - she was not in. The asst. manager was not in. The person who takes "care of" the fish was not in. I gave the kid at the register an earful about the condition of those Discus and what the Cories were doing to them. I plan on going back on Monday when I'm at work again to check on the Discus. I will probably buy them - I can't stand the thought of the torment they are going thru. All I know is that when I looked at them in that tank, they came right up to me and were looking at me... like saying HELP!!!! Any thoughts on treatments when I get them home? I have a 30g QT tank on the opposite side of the room where my 75 is, but I will most likely put them in my empty 45 in my basement.