Runt thin

[traco]

I've got 7 discus in a 65 gallon, bare bottom. This little blue snakeskin is low man on the totem pole. Stays in the one corner except when feeding time will come out to hand feed. She/he is getting thinner and thinner and stays dark all the time. Also, her gills are always flared, way more than the others, reddish color. I have taken her out and she is in a 5 gallon. I know this is a small tank for a discus but all I have. She is maybe 3" in total. Am doing daily water changes, temp is 86. She is eating a bit and just bloodworms and maybe a bit of beefheart but not much at all. Poop is dark.

Is there hope for her? Anything more I can do? How can I try and improve her appetite? All help/info is greatly appreciated.

[Polar_Bear]

Barb,
The only thing I can think of is worms in your case. Eating and getting thin at the same time leads me there. I would try a de-wormer, since it is eating Pancur in it's food.

[traco]

Hey Larry, thanks for the reply. I have yet to find Panacur here in Canada. I do have the Gel-Tek foods, would that help or need something stronger? I may be able to get Levamisole, I think that is a wormer also?

[Tropical Haven]

By saying the gills are always flared tends me to lean to gill flukes.

[traco]

Oh and when I say she is eating, it may be 4-5 bloodworms, that's it. Also forgot to mention she is usually staying tipped nose down.

[traco]

Scott, would gill flukes not show up on the other discus as well? Or just because this one is the runt and is run down and gill flukes have got shown up on only her?

[Tropical Haven]

It is possible that one might be the only one that has it, if there wasn't anything else going on with it the gills would be normal.