2 of my discus not eating!

[reelay0]

Good morning everyone,

I have 2 discus here that are not eating. Both of them have white stringy poo as well, and one of them has a swollen/pinched off stomach as well, the other just has a pinched stomach.

I'm pretty worried about them since they aren't eating. are they just being picky?

I recently got done treating them with jungle labs parasite clear for one dose (1 tablet per 10 gallons) plus epsom salt. It's been 48 hours and i did a 75% water change. I did see some worms after about 10 hours of the medicine being applied writhing on the tank bottom, but even with that, they still aren't eating. I have 4 discus total in a 55gallon bb tank.

my nitrites and ammonia are 0 and my nitrate is very low as well. Ph is 7.0, and temperature is 86ish. I do 50% water changes with aged water 3 times a week.

I feed them tetra bits, blood worms and live baby convict cichlids on a daily basis; one of the discus that doesn't eat just chases the baby down and kills it, then spits it out. the other guy with just the pinched stomach actually swallows. They both have lost interest in frozen blood worms (they used to mouth them, then spit).

Both of these discus are active members of the community. Another note, I just recently got them 2 weeks ago. The previous owner fed tetra bits and beefheart. What should I do now?

Thanks for your help in advance. I'm going to poke around some more on the forum.

Ray

[Don Trinko]

I had a couple of new fish that didn't eat much but had normal poo. I used Gel Tek for internal parasites. The geltek has 3 different meds in it. They say to feed the drops to the fish but I ended up putting it in their food. They both started eating well after a few days. They are both growing and healthy now. Don T.

[FishyMatty]

How do you get a fish to eat meds when it won't eat anything?

[reelay0]

hey don, thanks for the reply. I will try the geltek next time i order from bigals or the drsfostersmith. It's on sale now at drsfosters!

The two fish that aren't eating really are active, i dont' know where they're getting their energy from. maybe they sneak a bite in when i'm not watching? i dunno. I'm going to keep taking care of the water and feeding them like normal and hopefully in a few days they'll start eating:confused:...

maybe they dont' require food.:p

[Don Trinko]

Feeding a fish thats not eating is a problem. Mine were eating a little and spitting it out. The geltek has something in it that the fish seem to like.
I do have some discus like like to hog all the food. I spread the food out in the tank and that helps some. Don T.

[kaceyo]

Hey Ray,
Sounds like they may have a touch of Hex judging from the light color poop and spitting out the food. Also one may have a bloat or blockage problem caused by the dead worms.
First, give them the second dose of Parasite Clear as in directions on package. You never know, it may be enough since they are still active and trying to eat. Since you did see worms they may just need some recovery time and lots of clean water. If that doesn't do it then try using metronidazole (Parasite clear has it but not enough to treat hex) for 5 to 7 days with temp at 90 to 92F.
How much epsom salt did you add to the tank? You can add up to 2 tbsps/10gal which would be a good idea after deworming and with the big belly.
Feed light and increase wc's to once daily while they are on the mend.

Kacey

[jack396]

Ray,

Recently I had an identical problem to what you have described. Though the two were not eating, they were still quite active and one was even still pushing his weight around with the others. nevertheless, they are sick!!!

I treated with Metro for 5 days and add another half to the dosage recommended on the package ( it's hard to overdose on the metro and discus seem to do better with a stronger dose).

most important - raise the water temp to 93 degrees. I swear it is the heat as much as anything else that cures them of this problem. This temp will not hurt your fish, but they will become very active and the others in the tank will get hungry quickly as it will raise their metabolism.

Treat with the meds for 5 days continuing your water changes throughout. After that keep the temp up for another 5 days and then slowly lower.

Sounds like it's Hex...

[reelay0]

Dear Kasey and Jack,

Thank you both for your expertise and care about my discus.

I just got back from the lfs with some metro by Seachem. I have the two sick fish in a 10 gallon quarantine tank with aeration, a mini bio filter and heater. I'll do as you say and treat them for 5 days. Here's a pic of all 4 of my new discus, :( fishes in their quarantine tank, and of my setup. It's 2 55 gallons and 3 ten gallons that usually cycle through each other.

I'll also keep you all updated!

Ray

[jack396]

Ray,

Keep that temp up and do not be concerned when the meds seem to take forever to dissolve. The heat will help them breakdown and the meds spread throughout the tank in spite of the appearance that granules are all still sitting in one place.

Add a half again over what the package says per ten gallons.

HTH

[reelay0]

Day 3: an update on my discus in the cooker

have kept the temperature above 93F for the last 2 days. Water changes every 1/2 day or so. Also have been dosing around 350mg/10gallons every 8 hours.

They haven't changed their behavior, still active and looking around. they do have faster breathing though. one of them is starting to have very thin predominately black poop. Both of them are still mouthing food then spitting it out.

yesterday night I reduced their tank's water volume from 10 gallons to 5 gallons. I figure they don't really need the extra room, and the dosing will be doubled in concentration (100mg scoop is 200mg/10gallons).

[jack396]

Make sure you have an airstone operating in there. Oxygen gets quickly depleted in high temps. Hope they are better soon. Hex does not like it in that environment you have created...

i wouldn't go higher than 93; 93 is good.

[reelay0]

End of day 4:

I've been treating these past 4 days with metro every 8 hours. The blue diamond that has a swollen/pinched stomach has a smaller stomach now. it looks indented. They still aren't eating.

When I got home tonight, both the discus have lost all color (that is lose-able. i.e. the blue diamond is white. the giant turq has lost all its bars.) I just did a 95% water change (filled tank with aged water from 5 to 10 gallons, did a 90% water change afterwards), and am adding some normal salt (nacl). no more meds. I kind of like my blue diamond this really light color.

gonna poke around for why they aren't colorful anymore. probably stress.

Gonna keep the temperature above 93F

I saw the blue diamond that just got a stomach pump put out some stringy poo. The giant turq hasn't pooped in a day or so, but last i saw of his poo it was small black pellets. i figure i have 6 more days of treatment. i'll try to introduce food tomorrow.

[reelay0]

Got some california black worms from the lfs. put some in the quarantine tank, and I think both fish consumed 3 worms each. then the rest were just stared at.

[reelay0]

so after roasting the fish at around 93-95 for 10 days and medicating them for the first 3 days, i've put them back with the other 2 in the 55g. Temp there is around 85-86. The little guy is eating small tetra bits and has a big stomach from eating them. he also has been passing relatively solid poo. so i figure he's good. the other blue diamond isn't eating tetra bits at all but is eating black worms. I haven't seen any poo from him, but his stomach isn't swollen anymore and he looks good as well.

Thanks everyone!

[jack396]

Super, glad it worked. By the way, live food can be risky. Is your LFS dependable in getting clean worms and maintaining them contamination free? Just wondering. I refrain from using them personally, though I used to feed live back in the 70's, I've read too many horror stories about contaminated supplies.

Best of luck with your fish.

[reelay0]

Thanks Jack

I think my lfs gets new worms every week. But I'm curious about breeding these black worms. Well not breeding but making more through exacto knife. i just cut them up yesterday and all the segments sprouted pink heads/tails and are moving around like worms normally do.

ray