Gill Membrane Out - What to do?

[ivo]

If anyone could suggest a treatment to save my discus it would be mostly appreciated. One of my discus is breathing heavily with membrane both sticking out of it's gill. I have tried all kind of treatment now and none work. I tried prazi, then tried "waterlife" product, and then tried broad spectrum which is an anti biotic. The above different medication treatment are all done separately over a three weeks period. I think it is caused by bacteria but nothing seems to work. Could anyone help? Thank you.

[Graham]

Hi You've tried a bit of everything there...........What makes you think it's a bacterial problem? Have you tried catching the fish and having a look at the gill filaments...do they have rotting areas, are they a bright red meat colour or faded out a bit.

Other than breathing heavy which could be caused by anything from water to parasites to bacteria are there any other symptoms

To start with what are the water parameter numbers? What antibiotic did you try...a braod spectrum doesn't tell much as some don't work well at all on certain things or in the water column.

[ivo]

thanks for your reply Graham. there is no rotten nor cotton wool looking on the gills. both gills are bright red and membrane hanging out. i think it is bacteria infection because it does not scratch against any object, and also i was reading a discus book which suggests it is an acute bacteria infection.

water parameters: ph 6.5, no ammonia and very little nitrate, Kh is normal too. temperature between 28 -29 degrees. i run two eheim 2217 + an aqua one 1200 cannister filters with a 36W UV light. all other discus are normal except this one. it was a perfectly healthy discus and then one day three weeks ago it started this problem. the broad spectrum brand anti biotic i used contains Mafenide HCL, Aminacrine HCL and Malachite Green. oh i also used metro as well. apart from the gill problem there is no any other sign like lost color, hiding in the corner, etc, but unfortunately the fish has stopped eating now.

how can i save it's little life?

[Graham]

Hi Bright red gills are normal looking gills. If there was a bacterial infection on them they show brown rotting areas. They'd also be slouyghing off excess mucus. If parasite were involved they'd also be sloughing off excess mucus. Is there any excess mucus on the body anywhere? Don't own a microscope do you?

This sounds like an internal bacterial infection as there really isn't any external signs other than the gill membrane. You could try a different antibiotic as the 1st one isn't well absorbed by the fish. Look at using Tetracycline, Furan or Oxolinic acid

G

[ivo]

thank you Graham. i will try to find the type of anti biotic that you suggest.

[ivo]

Hi Graham, sorry i forgot to reply on my last post that it does not has any excess muscus. i managed to find Tetracycline anti biotic and today is second day treatment. will let you know the outcome. could i ask you one more question please? it is only one of my discus has this gill/membrane problem and it is currently in a hospital tank for treatment. would you recommend me to treat the entire tank where the other discus are just in case if the bacteria is still in the main tank and one day another discus will get infected as well? thanks.

[Graham]

Hi, Stick with just the fish in the hospital tank

[MostlyDiscus]

ivo, Make sure you run the treatment the full recommened time. If you have sponge filters rinse them well between treatments. Lower your feedings for the time being. No carbon in your filters and clean the pads. little critters take hold when a fishes resistence is down due to stress. The take care of your water line by Graham is best advice on the net... GL Ed

[ivo]

Thanks Graham again and Ed. It stops eating about two weeks ago so i don't put any food in the hospital tank, but i am adding liquid fish vitamins to help it out.

[ivo]

After 4 days treatment there is sign of recovery of my sick discus. About half of the hanging out membrane on each side have gone back inside the gill plate. I will continue the treatment cycle according to instruction.

Thank you so much Graham for saving my sick discus's life. I really appreciate it.