discus breathing heavy

[edawg]

i dont know but i think something is wrong my discus are breathing pretty heavy with there mouths open. they do eat and swim around a bit. other then that they seem healthy swiming around and eating when i feed them. i change the water almost everyday and feed them 3 to 4 times a day bh fbw falkes witch only 2 of them eat. can it be that they are sick or just something with my water i age the water i use for the wc with prime and have a heater and rio 1100 pump and a air stone in it.

[Eddie]

i dont know but i think something is wrong my discus are breathing pretty heavy with there mouths open. they do eat and swim around a bit. other then that they seem healthy swiming around and eating when i feed them. i change the water almost everyday and feed them 3 to 4 times a day bh fbw falkes witch only 2 of them eat. can it be that they are sick or just something with my water i age the water i use for the wc with prime and have a heater and rio 1100 pump and a air stone in it.

Hard to say edawg...need to post what your water readings are.

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
PH

And what is the tank temperature?

You can safely double the dose of Prime and see if that makes any difference. Might be a higher chloramine content in your water at the moment. What is your water source?

It seems to me that is is more of a water issue but need some more information.

Thanks
Eddie

[moik]

I too notice that with Prime water conditioner.I just bought a bottle to try and I am going back to my original dechlor.

[1077]

Notice what with PRIME?

[Eddie]

Prime is not the reason the fish are breathing heavy. It was recommended to use another dose if there is a higher concentration of chloramines in the water. Prime can only help if thats the case and it can be safely dosed at 5X the normal dosage in a nitrite emergency.


Prime is the best, for its application;)

[moik]

Prime is supposed to be an all in one conditioner..More concentrated..I really wonder about it full label concentration potential. Something new I am trying and a little sceptical.

[edawg]

ph 6.2
nitrite is 0
ammonia is .25
and i tested my water for chlorine and thats zero and i looked at my water companies site and they only use chlorine.
and i use only sponges in my filter there is no carbon or anything i got 2 sponges in the filter and a filter max 3 on the intake
my water temp is 86

and with the prime i dont use that in the tank its self i put that in my rubermade storage contaner that i use for ageing the water

[Peachtree Discus]

are they breathing heavily all the time or was this after a feeding? what size is the tank and how many fish? my fish were doing the same yesterday. i just threw a bubble bar in the tank and they were fine by the next feeding (2 hours). standard procedure when i notice heavy breathing.

by the way....

i tested my water for chlorine and thats zero and i looked at my water companies site and they only use chlorine.

Eddie mentioned chloramine......that's different than chlorine


...chloramine content

[pcsb23]

I notice you are getting a slight amminia reading, at that level and with a low ph it isn't a risk, but may well be indicative. If the filters were fully mature and up to the job then you should not be getting any ammonia readings.

From what you describe it sounds like the water is the culprit. How long has the tank been running? Also after you feed remove uneaten food after 15 to 30 minutes.

[edawg]

yea i looked for chloramine on the water report and it was not listed. i have two air stones in my tank and plants. its a 55 gallon and i have 5 discus 2 3" and the others like 2". they eat pretty much all the food i put in and what they dont eat the cories finish it off i have 2 black mollies in the tank as well witch i plan on getting rid of soon once i find a place for them. i think i need to check my attic for my 29 gallon if i still have and did not give it away. the tank has been up and running for around 2 months

[Discus_Dezign]

So your saying it's been only running for two months? Did you just purchase the group of discus and added them all in at once? That could be the reason why if your tank is still not fully mature. I did see you said you had an ammonia of .25 that could also be the reason. If you do have prime from my experience with the product you can add double or triple your dose to detoxify the ammonia strike for a short time.

[Graham]

DD a NH3 reading of 0.25 at a pH of 6.2 is not a problem in any way. It would all be in the form of NH4 and that's harmless.

[Eddie]

DD a NH3 reading of 0.25 at a pH of 6.2 is not a problem in any way. It would all be in the form of NH4 and that's harmless.

Very true Graham but something ain't right. Maybe the PH reading isn't accurate, could be above 7. Either way, there should be a slight nitrite spike to follow but as it is reading zero. :confused:

If you haven't done so already, just dose the tank directly with the prime. See if there is any improvement.

Eddie

[Graham]

Even if it is above 7.0...0.25 isn't a factor. That probably very close to the error ratio of the test kit

[Eddie]

Even if it is above 7.0...0.25 isn't a factor. That probably very close to the error ratio of the test kit

Yeah....could be gill flukes too:confused: Hard to say

Eddie

[Graham]

Yeah....could be gill flukes too:confused: Hard to say

Eddie
That would be a better idea than a minute amount of NH3

[edawg]

so what should i do.
i think i will treat the tank with the prime and if no change. treat for gill flukes? and how do you treat for gill flukes and if its not gill fluke and i treat for it will it harm the fish in any way

[Eddie]

so what should i do.
i think i will treat the tank with the prime and if no change. treat for gill flukes? and how do you treat for gill flukes and if its not gill fluke and i treat for it will it harm the fish in any way

Edawg, there are several avenues you can take to treat for flukes. Some people never stop treating for them as you will read. Prazipro is good option and it is very easy on discus. Can you get a bottle of PraziPro?

Eddie

[edawg]

yes i think i saw that in a lfs by me. if not the internet is great thats what its there for to buy all sorts of crazy stuff you cant find lol

[Eddie]

I'd get some PraziPro, it's always good to have in the medicine cabinet. ;)

How are the fish today, still breathing heavy?

Eddie

[edawg]

yea about the same but i just treated the tank with the pazipro today. i got the 16oz size. so how do you recomend using it like it says on the bottle once ever 7 days. shall i keep using it even after they get better or make it a every week thing

when i was looking around i saw some other bottle with a discus on it and it said something about minerals or some crap like that i quess it makes the water more like the amazon or whatever is anything like that good or just a waste of money
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/detailed_image.cfm?pCatId=4112&large=/images/Categoryimages/larger/lg-234663-47668-fish-supply.jpg

[Eddie]

yea about the same but i just treated the tank with the pazipro today. i got the 16oz size. so how do you recomend using it like it says on the bottle once ever 7 days. shall i keep using it even after they get better or make it a every week thing

when i was looking around i saw some other bottle with a discus on it and it said something about minerals or some crap like that i quess it makes the water more like the amazon or whatever is anything like that good or just a waste of money

Yeah, don't get that junk. Its a snake oil as Graham would say.

PraziPro, it's done many different ways. They say treat for 7 days because the fluke eggs will need to hatch before the PraziPro can be be effective on them. So it's kind of like a hatch and dose bingo if you will.

I do a 21 day treatment as you will find many others do.

Day 1 50% WC Full dose
Day 2 50% WC Full dose
Day 3 50% WC Full dose

Then days 4-7 no dosing but I do 50% WC daily.

I do this for 3 weeks. Haven't had any known case of flukes in ages. Maybe I need to get a scope....:D My fish don't have any symptoms of having flukes and have not since the first 21 day treatment.

HTH
Eddie

[edawg]

how often do you do the 21 day treatment.
do you do it just the one time or do you do it all the time
or after the 21 day treatment do you just go to once a week full dose?

[Eddie]

how often do you do the 21 day treatment.
do you do it just the one time or do you do it all the time
or after the 21 day treatment do you just go to once a week full dose?

No no...after the 21 days, I never dose again unless there is an outbreak or symptoms arise that would point to flukes.

In your case, the heavy breathing, if it is flukes, you should see some improvement after the first 3 days. Keep doing the treatment to kill all the flukes that will hatch during the days you are not dosing.

HTH
Eddie

[edawg]

oh ok nice cause i was like dam thats going to cost a bunch since its like 40 dollars for the 16oz bottle and i know i can probally get it cheaper online but after tax shiping and handle it will probally work out the same and then the wait to get it i would rather drive and get it lol. and thank you very much for all the help
and this is now kinda off my orignal topic but is there any way to get ride of snails. like is there a fish that will get along with the discus and will eat snail eggs or is there any safe meds that will kill the snails with out harming my discus

[Eddie]

:confused: Never had snails...I do know there are some fish that eat snails, not sure which though, maybe loaches:confused:

Here is the thing, if you do buy more fish to kill the snails, make sure you do the 21 day treatment for flukes using the PraziPro. You can do this in a small quarantine tank. This is the reason people treat for flukes and treat for flukes and treat for flukes. They don't quarantine any new fish or plants and the flukes come back. ;)

Eddie

[cyberhog05]

I have 3 clown loaches that are keeping my snails at bay. They seem to love them and they leave my Discus alone and the discus dont mind them what so ever. They all have been eating out of my cone worm feeders. Its funny to watch 11 discus and 3 clown loaches eat all of the worms in 1 feeder and then move together to the other end of the tank 6 feet away and eat all of those worms together. I swear that the 4-5" discus eat a bit and then let the 2.5" guys have some. It is almost like they take turns.