Sudden death

[Fern]

Right now I am curious to know and I am wondering whether Hormones or coloring may have been the reason for many of my discus sudden death. I have received many orders thru the years and many times the discus arrived in what appeared to be good health. They eat and look healthy and within days to weeks I find a dead discus for no apparent reason, not having or showing any symptoms.

I bring up this subject only because in the SPONSOR section, one sponsor was being questioned.

I have wondered and I ask if it's normal to lose 1 to 2 discus of 6. I say this because I have accepted this to be the norm but now I suspect that maybe they were exposed to hormones and coloring.

By the way, I ordered 6 discus from International/Kenny begining 2006 and still have all 6, I have never had this type of survival rate. It says alot about the source.

Any comments are welcome

Fernando

[pcsb23]

Fernando,

I cannot speculate on the cause of loss being hormones. Do discus get hormoned? Yes some do. Is that the only cause of sudden death, no I don't think so.

Shipping is very stressful, stress can lead to organ failure, once that happens, the animal dies. Also if the fish were anything other than healthy before they were shipped this could also be the root cause. Finally the water conditions in the tank they end up in could also cause this. To blame this entirely on hormones is I think wrong.

Oh and no, I wouldn't expect to lose any discus.

[Fern]

Fernando,

I cannot speculate on the cause of loss being hormones. Do discus get hormoned? Yes some do. Is that the only cause of sudden death, no I don't think so.

Shipping is very stressful, stress can lead to organ failure, once that happens, the animal dies. Also if the fish were anything other than healthy before they were shipped this could also be the root cause. Finally the water conditions in the tank they end up in could also cause this. To blame this entirely on hormones is I think wrong.

Oh and no, I wouldn't expect to lose any discus.

Thank you Paul, i do agree with you that it's wrong to solely blame hormones and or coloring for sudden death. I do understand this is a delicate subject but this is what has baffled me. I have been a hobbiest for many years and have taken all the factors you mention into consideration. Still there is no specific answer when a (what appears)healthy discus that is an active eater, swimmer, pick on other discus and no signs whatsoever dies within hours of seeing it.

So, I have tried hand picking from local sources instead of buying shipped discus and still this happens. There is no way of knowing how many fish die sudden due to natural health issues. But we do know that the practice of using the mentioned methods do increase the chances and do contribute.

respectfully,

Fernando