Discus Suicide.

[Fishdude461]

I have had a few discus do this. Once just today. A year yr old female Sanaterem. Perfect health perfect water condition. Until she freaks out for no reason and runs crazy throughout the tank, which is 110 gallon, only 4 discus in it. She beats her self up so bad she is dedad the next day..anyone kno what is going on?

[GhostFish]

I have had a few discus do this. Once just today. A year yr old female Sanaterem. Perfect health perfect water condition. Until she freaks out for no reason and runs crazy throughout the tank, which is 110 gallon, only 4 discus in it. She beats her self up so bad she is dedad the next day..anyone kno what is going on?

Funny, I have the same situation. I lost one of my favorites this morning because it got spooked and jumped out of the tank. My rule of thumb is that I euthanize fish that jump out of the tank. Suicide discus...I should have doped it with some uppers.

[Roxanne]

Fishdude try this......http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=67594



. My rule of thumb is that I euthanize fish that jump out of the tank. Suicide discus...I should have doped it with some uppers

huh? on both counts...Kids see this site you know.

Most fish can/do jump, y euthanise? Why don't you delete your post And I'll delete this before a child sees it yeah? doping it?

[Fishdude461]

Thats a good post..But Like the other discus owner said, his fish was fat and healthy. Like mine, my fish was fine the day before, eating all day and smiling. I know that there is enough oxygen in the water and she was parasite free. Im geussing it is something wrong in the fishes tiny little brain! I have no idea what would cause thing chaotic behavior.

[MSD]

Could be stray voltage in the water, do you use a grounding plug? Also, discus tanks that have a high bacteria count in the water have some nervous fish, cut back on feeding a bit and up the wate changes and see if that helps.

[Fishdude461]

There was other discus in the tank at the time...It was a 110 gallon tank with four medium discus, and it gets 50% change a week. Im not new to discus, they are all healthy, but this one has got me stratchin my head,. Ive lost a few other fish this way in other tanks.

[Roxanne]

.....and she was parasite free....

Are you certain? Did you biopsy it? I had a gourami with parasites and none of the other gouramis were affected..ate like a pig....so I was mislead in my thinking that it wasn't parasites... Anna(Aquadiva) suggested Clout in her post which maybe worth a try in a situation like this when there doesn't seem to be anything wrong...if the outlook is that grim, surely it can't hurt..??:confused:

Rox:)

Bill also mentioned kidney disease....hmmmm...

[grandrapids9]

Hi, I had the same thing, one of my Discus about 3 inches jumped out and landed on a towel, I was right there and put him back (there is 5 in the tank) all 3 inches. Less than a week later the same thing happened, the guy would make a bunch of surface thrashing and spin around the tank, he jumped and I got him right back in tank. Well four days ago, he must have done it when I was not around or at night, I found the fish the next morning on floor. Now the tank is much quieter, no more super fast swimming and spinning out of control..I believe it must have been the same fish all three times. I agree with the poster above, if they do it once, it most likely is going to happened again and just get rid of the fish. All the others are much less stressed with out this one fish.

[Roxanne]

Isn't it worth finding out what was/might be wrong with it? There is lots posted about this topic lately, someone must know what this really is?.....what if it is a parasite/something and it is treatable is all I mean? If I culled my fish then found out I could have treated it, I'd be devestated.:(..

Rox

[Roxanne]

.., one of my Discus about 3 inches jumped out and landed on a towel, I was right there and put him back (there is 5 in the tank) all 3 inches. Less than a week later the same..., he jumped and I got him right back in tank. Well four days ago, he must have done it when I was not around or at night, I found the fish the next morning on floor..

Isn't your tank covered?

[aquadiva]

Roxanne is absolutely right! I would never euthanize a jumper!! I had a fish act crazy like this once. It would swim full speed out of nowhere, then it actually floated up and around as though it had just died! I figured it was going to die any minute but to my surprise, the fish righted itself and began breathing again. This is when I decided to do a 50% water change and then treat the tank with Clout. The fish recovered and never acted crazy again. Amazing! This leads me to believe that a parasite had gotten hold of that fish and was making it act crazy. I chose to medicate the entire tank in case any of the other's might have earlier stages of the parasite. Everyone handled the clout just fine and after 24 hr. treatment, I used A.C. for 8 hrs. then did another large water change. When a fish is acting neurotic, it likely can be a parasite invading and can be treated. I'm not saying this is always the case, but if anyone had seen this fish prior to my treating it, you'd swear it was on it's way out!

Anna :angel:

[grandrapids9]

Isn't your tank covered?

Hi, No my tank is not covered, I prefer open tanks, and have had metal halides for on reef tanks (14 yrs), my new 90 gal tank I am setting up is going to have metal halides again, most likely pendents so covering the tank is not really possible.

This aquarium like any of the others that came with a glass cover and was the first thing thrown away. Just my style for open tanks, I am now keeping the water a little lower, I have a tendency to fill as high as practically possible.

I also believe the person in previous post could be right, when this fish jumped, the next day I noticed a very small white spot on one of the super red turks, I did a water change and it was gone in a day. I normally do a 60% water change on this tank every five days - it is heavily planted, that is now 70 percent every four days. I feed a lot, these fish are growing like crazy, so maybe my water parameters got out of whack a little. So getting back to being very careful again on my schedule, this past couple of weeks has been very busy on my schedule. But I work from home and really have no excuse.

[Roxanne]

Hi grandrapids9

You mention you have had reef tanks a long time...just curious, do your reef fish ever jump out like your discus?
Rox

[grandrapids9]

Hi Roxy,

I am out of doing salt water reef after 14 yrs, after having the 180 which I truly loved, after I moved to a smaller home and my son was out of house, I got tired of the upkeep, and yes once in a rare while I may have had a jumper over the 14 yrs of salt, but I was primarily for SPS and other corals, and of coarse, I keep fish to a minimum in the setup. With 4 metal halides it had 1000 watts of light on top and a glass covering would be out of the question, my lights were about 11 inches above the water, and it is still an oven hood with 4 fans.

My new setup (actually two), both 90 gals, ones mine and the others is my sons, his tank is being build by me, I do veneering for an income, and the stand is being covered in Bubinga, and has a mini fridge built in (go figure - he is 26 and wants his beer close). My stand is store boat oak, do not have time to make a custom veneer one for myself. The lights moat likely are going to be Hamilton Pendant or a hood I will make for a Catalina dual 175 retro setup.

I would never kill a fish just because it is a jumper, (I put mine back twice), but the third time it must have been at night or when I did not notice one missing. But, I have to admit the tank is much quieter now, this guy was the mad dasher of the group.

[Roxanne]

I think the glass tops are vey unsightly myself, but I'd find a stiff discus more unsightly!:D

I'm asking questions of everyone/anyone having had a similar type of phenomenon, trying to find common ground...so far the only things I can come up with are:

Fish (and stuff)jump for a variety of reasons

1. To avoid predators
2. To catch prey
3. They feel like it
4. To get rid of parasites
(1 reason sharks sometimes do it is also to remove remoras)

Also, the CSIRO in Australia conduct research into fish migration and parasite infestation in the wild and I am following this with interest.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has biopsied/scoped a "suicidal discus" brain or other organ.

Roxanne

[Fishdude461]

My discus never tried to get out of the tank, just swawn violently all over the place. And as for parasite that has me boggled, this all happened in like 12 hours. Fine the day before, fantic swiming, dead early the next day :(

[Roxanne]

Hi Fishdude, You said at the beginning you have had a few do the same thing...the freaky dance & then the big sleep...were they in the same tank, even if it was at different times?

You also made the distinction between the freaky dance crashing into tankwalls, and jumping out....so if I read you right, they never tried to jump out but crashed into the walls instead? And didn't show any signs of illness before the event?

Sorry.... and did they also show any signs of bruising around their faces?

Rox

[rowedder]

I have also had two blue diamonds that freaked out. They were both adults. The first one literally made his eyes bulge out of the sockets! He died three days later. The second one knocked himself silly, floated to the bottom then got up and hid for a couple days and recovered fully. What I found out was that my pH was too low. Once I raised my pH from the mid to low 5's, everyone seemed to be happier and I haven't had an incident yet. I keep my 210 tanks pH at 6.5.

[April]

ph crashing..ph going to low too quickly..ive had alot over the years do that..everytime it was when my filters werent keeping up..or ph slides. do a big wc daily for awhile..and add salt. one tablespoon per 10 gallons..and add aragonite or crushed coral or something to get your ph stable. it affects some where it wont affect others. usually happens in alkaline unstable water.
best way to keep ph even..or from sliding is routine wcs and buffers. also they dont like high nitrates. if i see even one of mine get skittish now or them starting to get quiet..i do a wc and add aragonite. they settle right down.
keep your sponges rinsed . best to have two different filters of sponges and rotate rinsing in aquarium water. if they get full.they cant keep up..and hte ph begins to slide.

[Roxanne]

Thanks rowedder for the input.....;)


ph crashing....it affects some where it wont affect others. ....

Thanks April, do you mean you could have 1 acting wierd and the rest might be acting normal? And, have you noticed the PH crash making them jump? I had the other symptoms you mentioned when 1 of my tanks crashed BC(before Coral) but no one was trying to jump out...:confused:

Rox

[April]

yes and of course..its usually your favourite fish...mine dont jump..just freak out..spiral..have symptoms of passing out..or unconscieous..get up..and swim again..then keeps happening..till finally..they dont get up.
sometimmes they can be sitting all quiet and still..then you go by the tank..or do a wc..or something..and one freaks out and spirals.
so now..if mine get quiet..and sit..and togeather..in a group..or get spooky..i throw in a handful of aragonite. and of course a wc.

[Roxanne]

yes and of course..its usually your favourite fish...mine dont jump..just freak out..spiral..have symptoms of passing out..or unconscieous..get up..and swim again..then keeps happening..till finally..they dont get up.
i throw in a handful of aragonite. and of course a wc.

:Dyeah, the favourite!Thanks April..So we can add PH crash to the list for freaky dancing, not necessarily the jumping list...

Aquadivas fish were doing the passing out thing 2...but that doesn't explain Aquadivas success with treatment, unless her water change prior to the clout made the difference?...

I use CC but what's aragonite? Does it have the same effect?

Thankx to everyone for comments...;)

[Darrell Ward]

yes and of course..its usually your favourite fish...mine dont jump..just freak out..spiral..have symptoms of passing out..or unconscieous..get up..and swim again..then keeps happening..till finally..they dont get up.
sometimmes they can be sitting all quiet and still..then you go by the tank..or do a wc..or something..and one freaks out and spirals.
so now..if mine get quiet..and sit..and togeather..in a group..or get spooky..i throw in a handful of aragonite. and of course a wc.

She's right. I actually had a fish on 2 different occasions trap itself inside an overflow box on a drilled 125 gal. I have no idea how it managed to do this, but it's very tricky trying to remove a 5 inch discus from a overflow with a standpipe in it.