scratching

[ryeguy]

Hi there, I moved my six discus to a bigger tank over the weekend, for the first couple of days everything seemed fine. Last night they were all hiding, dark and scratching up against things, also not eating, tried all their favorites.....Any idea what this could be a sign of?....

When i turned the tank on this morning they seemed fine, colors were nice and they weren't hiding but I have a feeling that as the day progresses it will get worse....

Any suggestions?

thanks.

[Tropical Haven]

Do a quick check on your water parameters, PH, nitrates and nitrites. I have noticed when discus usually do this it is because not enough water changes have been done. Do a big water change with them and another one the next day and you will probably see them stop doing that.

[mitchar19]

could this be a sign of external parasites such as flukes as well?

[ryeguy]

I've started treatment with Metro pills, having a bit of a hard time disolving them...They seem to be eating more now which is good I guess. I was advised to by the local discus guru to crank up the heat to 86, turn off the lights, and don't do any water changes in order to avoid shocking them... I think the water conditions are fine, I just put them in there a week ago with cycled filters. The nitrates have been zero everyday, havent tested for nitrites, I don't have a kit...They are still very skittish and dark....

[alxjss]

mine r scratching as well. I have only had them in a new cycled tank for 3.5 days. I treated w/prazi. 1 tsp/10 gal. I hope that will be okay:confused:

[White Worm]

I've started treatment with Metro pills, having a bit of a hard time disolving them...They seem to be eating more now which is good I guess. I was advised to by the local discus guru to crank up the heat to 86, turn off the lights, and don't do any water changes in order to avoid shocking them... I think the water conditions are fine, I just put them in there a week ago with cycled filters. The nitrates have been zero everyday, havent tested for nitrites, I don't have a kit...They are still very skittish and dark....

Nitrates are the least of your worries. You need to get a tester kit for ammonia and nitrites. Those are the killers. You may want to see if you can locate praziquantel. Most say that is the best for flukes. I would do water changes 30-50% but make sure you are using same temp and a water conditioner. Even though you had cycled filters, there is still a chance of spikes from the added fish load. Always a good idea to have tester kits on hand.

[poconogal]

I've started treatment with Metro pills, having a bit of a hard time disolving them...They seem to be eating more now which is good I guess. I was advised to by the local discus guru to crank up the heat to 86, turn off the lights, and don't do any water changes in order to avoid shocking them... I think the water conditions are fine, I just put them in there a week ago with cycled filters. The nitrates have been zero everyday, havent tested for nitrites, I don't have a kit...They are still very skittish and dark....
You need some test kits... ammonia and nitrite, specifically. If you have ZERO nitrAte, then your tank is NOT cycled. A fully cycled tank will have nitrAtes - they are the end result produced by your biological filter.

I don't understand why you're treating with metro - have they had stringy white poo?

You can lose your bio filter when transferring fish/filters to a different tank. I have first hand experience with that. At this point I would recommend getting those test kits and doing some WCs.


mine r scratching as well. I have only had them in a new cycled tank for 3.5 days. I treated w/prazi. 1 tsp/10 gal. I hope that will be okay
Hi Eileen, did you check all your water parameters before medicating? Before anyone treats for anything, water parameters should always be checked fully. Often its something with the water that is causing a problem and there's no need for medications.

[alxjss]

yes connie, i have a thread w/ all the info!

[poconogal]

yes connie, i have a thread w/ all the info!
I just saw it.

[Graham]

Ryeguy I'm with everyone else here get some test kits...water quality can cause the flashing....a swing in pH from am to pm can cause flashing.

There no justification for using a drug...test the water 1st

G

[ryeguy]

Sorry, in my original post i said the Nitrates were 0, actually I meant that ammonia was 0, I will try to pick up some prazi tonight as well as a nitrite test kit. I also forgot to mention that I see some white feces in the tank..

[pcsb23]

Holding back on w/c and treating them with kid gloves is wrong imo. I believe the local discus guru was wrong advising that. If anything up the w/c, use water at the same temp and you won't shock them. And I agree with the others get the test kits. As for the white feces if they are not eating its likely to be stomach lining and does not need treating.

[ryeguy]

ok thanks, I tested the nitrites before today's water change and it was around .3 on the hagen test kit. I changed 50% water, treated and heated. I did another treatment of metro tonight and soaked some blood worms in the dissolved water. They seem to be eating better now. In the beginning of this it seemed they werent eating at all. A few of them seem to look normal but the other 4 are still dark especially when i turn the lights on.....Not sure if there's anything else I should be doing at this point...

[Elite Aquaria]

As mentioned above by others buy a good test kit. You need ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrates. Not sure why you jumped the gun and started to medicate. New arrivals can turn black or dark if the water parms are not in line. If issue is not resolved the fish can get sick. But after only a few days it is hard to tell unless you had a bad source. Medication should always be the last resort...now your bio load is trashed and the stress on the fish could get worse.

Dan

[ryeguy]

I suspected a parasite because of the white feces I noticed in the tank. I also had a small juvenile die shortly after moving to the new tank, he also had white feces but I didn't realize what the problem was at the time. Sorry I forgot to mention this.

They ate all the bloodworms I gave them last night so I gave some more today

[mmorris]

You mentioned that you were advised to `crank up the heat to 86'. What was the temp. when you transferred them? Martha

[ryeguy]

I usually kept them at 82-83, right now I have it at 88.

[brewmaster15]

Hi,

ok thanks, I tested the nitrites before today's water change and it was around .3 on the hagen test kit.

I'd be real concerned that this tank is not cycled.. That Nitrite value either indicates the tank is coming down from a nitrite spike ( which may explain why your fish have been ill)..or It could mean you have ammonia and this is the beginning of a nitrite spike..something that needs to be watched.


Its been suggested before...but I'll repeat it... You really need to check all the water parameters... test specifically for Ammonia and Nitrite before a water change...This is critical especially as you are using metro tablets...these can cause bacterial blooms that can make the water quality drop even more...

hth,
al

[ryeguy]

Looks like they are starting to improve, thanks to all who helped. Not sure what did it but I suspect (as many have mentioned) that it was a water problem. My Nitrites were around .3 so I did a water change and moved my fluval4 over to the discus tank and that took the nitrites down to 0. The fish all had swollen and cloudy eyes and there scales were llooking awful, I treated with Maracyn and the next day they started looking better....They still aren't 100% but they're eating well and looking better....Thanks all!

[poconogal]

Glad to hear it!