Need help!!! Urgent!!! - Discus strange problem

[freestylez_14]

Dear All,

I am facing strange problem with my DISCUS.

All of sudden they start moving rapidly in tank and strike to tank glass. Then they float on water surface horizontally.

They just twist their body around themself.

Anyone having idea what could be problem? Currently, its not eating and dieing slowly.

Please recommend the medication to use.

[FLGirl1977]

Can you please provide specifics with your water parameters, anything out of the ordinary with your regimen, water change regiment.. etc...

With such vague details, it's really difficult to speculate what may or may not be the problem.

[poconogal]

Yes, more info would be great. Are they all of a sudden darting? Sounds like it could be parasites.

[freestylez_14]

Hi thanks for the reply.

It is happening to only one of my fish.
My ph value is 6-7
tank temp is at 84
GH = 30
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
i do water changes 80% once a week in a 20 gallon tank
i have 2 fish in the tank and they're a breeder

I dont think its because of my water params..
when i woke up this morning i saw the fish has scratches on its body
it must have darting into things last night
i used to feed my fish with only tetra bits and recently added ON flakes but i dont think that causes the problem

I have no idea whats happening to it, i have had the fish for over a year now.
Iam starting today to treat it with parasite medication.
Please any ideas would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

[FLGirl1977]

Honestly, I couldn't give you any educated advice... but hopefully someone here will be able to give you some good advice. In the meantime, this questionnaire should be able to further help others with properly diagnosing your fish:

DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE


Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started





2. Symptoms (i.e. turning dark, excess slime, not eating, clamped fins, flashing, darting, clamped gills, white/yellow/green poop, hiding, headstanding or tailstanding, white on tips of fins, rotting or fungus, blisters/ white zits on fish, bloated, cloudy eyes, wounds)






3. What medications/ treatments that you have already tried and results. Include dosages and duration of treatment.





Tank/Water

4. Tank size and age, number and size of fish



5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?



6 Parameters and water source;

- temp _____

- ph _____

- ammonia reading ____

- nitrite reading ____

- nitrate reading ____

- well water ____

- municipal water ____

7. Any new fish/plants added recently

Also, take a look at this link: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=48693

***Another thing, it's not good to start throwing medications at your fish until you are absolutely certain what you are dealing with, it can stress your fish out even more and bring it's immune system down further. HTH... & good luck!

[poconogal]

Have you added anything new to the tank? Anything at all? What is your ammonia reading, you gave nitrite and nitrate only. Did this start after a WC?

[shawnhu]

I have the same problem with some of mine as well, do don't feel alone. I'll be watching this thread, and if I find anything, I'll update you as well.

What I suspect it to be is something internal, spooking the fish and making it dart. The part about twisting it's body kinda tells me that it's a worm or something. I hope you can figues this out, as it would also benefit others.

[Eddie]

F14, you say it is just one fish spazing out?

It could be internal organ failure. Were these fish recently treated with meds?


Eddie

[freestylez_14]

hi im back to update. Ammonia level is 0. This happens before i did water changes. I dont think it's going to make it (she) through the night. Right now I dont know what is up with her and she's even worse than this morning when i saw her. She swims up side down and after is laying on her side at the bottom. I have not added anything into the tank lately. She is with her mate in the same tank for over a year and no medicine has been used lately. She is the only one with the problem and her mate keeps staying closely to her, hoping she is going to make it through the night.

[Eddie]

That sounds crazy if only one fish is bugging out. I'd say organ failure or something.

Eddie

[aquadiva]

I had this happen to one of my Turquoise Discus! He'd dart around the tank like a crazy fish then actually looked like he quit breathing and floated around aimlessly for a few seconds. I got my net out figuring this one was going to die in the very near future. He had no outer signs of illness at all. I was baffled! This is when I went way out on a limb and put Clout in the entire tank feeling that if he had something,they may all get it. It was just a gut feeling I had. I did so with great caution, big water change before meds, monitored the fish closely during and carboned out the meds the next day. This was about 3 months ago. Today this fish is not only alive and well but one of my most stunning Discus. I am NOT saying Clout is the answer for you as I have no idea. I had to "guess" on treating my own Discus fish but it worked. I still don't know what he had and honestly was surprised he lived through it given his appearance before treatment. Good luck with your fish. I hope you can save her.:(

Anna:sun:

[Eddie]

Clout, that is interesting. F14 might need to try it. I have never had a fish go bananas on me unless they were eating. LOL

Best of luck and good tip Anna

Eddie

[Ceahorse]

did you get the fish when they were both juvis? Or did you purchase a pair?

Just wondering what the age is.

[freestylez_14]

Anna, it appears none of my LFS carries Clout. Clout is a medicine for treating parasite if im correct? I have already used an alternate parasite medicine treatment for parasites and hopefully it will work the same as Clout. Tank temp has raised to 86. Hopefully my fish is still alive when i wake up.

CeaHorse, i got them when they were both juvies, around 2 inches, and has been 13-14 months since.

[Eddie]

Clout is made up of several medications. Finding the right one is the issue. If it is parasitic, I use Anit-Fluke Life Bearer which has one of the main components in Clout. It is called Trichlorfon. The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for both products list Trichlorfon.

Another external parasite med is F&MG. Quick Cure is a good F&MG combination.

Eddie

[mikel]

I dont think your nitrate reading can be "Zero" if you do an 80% water change once a week. Your water change regiment, especially in such a small tank (20 gallons, right?) is not sufficient. I think it always go back to bad water...dirty water. Fix the water, you fix the fish. JMHO. mike

[poconogal]

I dont think your nitrate reading can be "Zero" if you do an 80% water change once a week. Your water change regiment, especially in such a small tank (20 gallons, right?) is not sufficient. I think it always go back to bad water...dirty water. Fix the water, you fix the fish. JMHO. mike
Mikel, good point, I missed that.

Freestylez, your tank should be showing a nitrate reading if you have a functional bio filter. Like Mikel said, with only one 80% WC per week, you would definitely show some nitrates.

How old are your test kits? Are you using regular test kits or those test strips?

[aquadiva]

Anna, it appears none of my LFS carries Clout. Clout is a medicine for treating parasite if im correct? I have already used an alternate parasite medicine treatment for parasites and hopefully it will work the same as Clout. Tank temp has raised to 86. Hopefully my fish is still alive when i wake up.

CeaHorse, i got them when they were both juvies, around 2 inches, and has been 13-14 months since.

Here is a link on Clout http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+4615+4724&pcatid=4724

Good luck, I hope your fish is still alive this morning. I agree with doing more water changes on your tank as well.

Anna:sun:

[freestylez_14]

Good Morning Everyone,

:(:( I really hate to say it but unfortunately my fish didnt make it :angry::angry: . I was doing some research and found out what was wrong with it. It had what is called a "Whirling Disease". It said to be that when a discus has this problem there is no cure for it. Check this link out.
http://members.tripod.com/discus_unlimited/article/whirling.html

It really sucks to lost a fish, you know what I mean..especially when its a breeder. Now i only have a male left alone in the tank. Hes all lonely and i have no partner for him. I got to find a partner for him soon or later.
These are pictures before it was sick. The smaller one is the female.
I really wish there is an treatment for this type of sickness. If anyone's fish ever have this kind of sickness i hope you can find a way for it.

Finally i want to thank everybody for your help and i wish you have a wonderful time with your lovely fish.

Thank you.

[FLGirl1977]

I'm really sorry about your fish. :( Is the disease contagious? If so, you might want to treat it's partner before symptoms start showing....

Nice looking fish BTW...

[Graham]

That disease is highly contagious and since you other fish doesn't have it, I'd question your diagnoses. At this point I wouldn't add any other fish to that tank and treat it as a QT.

Renal failure can also present itself as uncontrolled swimmng and spiralling

[mikel]

Really too bad. I love these blue fish! I think you need to up your water changes. I have a pair in a 20 gallon too, and I change 40% of the water everyday, and almost all of the water once a week. Wipe down the side and bottom of the tank too, and make sure you dont overfeed (adults do not need to stuff themselves for growth). mike

[aquadiva]

Good Morning Everyone,

:(:( I really hate to say it but unfortunately my fish didnt make it :angry::angry: . I was doing some research and found out what was wrong with it. It had what is called a "Whirling Disease". It said to be that when a discus has this problem there is no cure for it. Check this link out.
http://members.tripod.com/discus_unlimited/article/whirling.html

It really sucks to lost a fish, you know what I mean..especially when its a breeder. Now i only have a male left alone in the tank. Hes all lonely and i have no partner for him. I got to find a partner for him soon or later.
These are pictures before it was sick. The smaller one is the female.
I really wish there is an treatment for this type of sickness. If anyone's fish ever have this kind of sickness i hope you can find a way for it.

Finally i want to thank everybody for your help and i wish you have a wonderful time with your lovely fish.

Thank you.

Sorry to hear about losing your Discus.:sad: I hope your female will not catch it. Best of luck to you.

Anna:sun:

[Eddie]

Sorry to hear the news. Best of luck with the rest.

Eddie

[freestylez_14]

Thank you everyone, the remaining fish will remain in the tank and being treated. Hopefully he's not going catch the disease. I hope this problem will never occur again.

Thank you.

[freestylez_14]

Hi can anyone identify the strain of this discus of mine. Someone told me its a blue diamond and some say its a solid green but i dont know listen to who.
Thanks.

[FLGirl1977]

Can't really tell by the picture, but it could be a Sapphire Blue, they are a bit more metallic and irredescent.

Does it get bars on it's body at all, say when stressed? Maybe a bar across it's eye? If so, then it's a Cobalt.

So:

Bars= Cobalt
No Bars= Blue diamond or Sapphire Blue

Those are my two guesses...

[poconogal]

I'd say an Ocean Green. I had a BD that looked green at times, especially if flash was used taking a picture but it doesn't look like you used a flash to take the pic (did you?) Check this out:

http://www.canadadiscus.com/discus/ocean_green2.html

[freestylez_14]

I just retook the picture with flash on and hopefully it will be easier for you to identify its strain, for me. The fish has no bars when it is in any condition.

Thanks.

[Eddie]

Looks like a BD IMO but one thing I notice, is the evidence of striations at the ends of the soft dorsal and anal fins. Most BDs have zero striations anywhere. Maybe it's a throwback. ;)

Eddie

[freestylez_14]

hmmm this fish is hard to identify isnt it.

[poconogal]

It still looks like a Green to me, but with something esle mixed in... its a Discus mutt! :D Pretty fish regardless.

[Eddie]

It still looks like a Green to me, but with something esle mixed in... its a Discus mutt! :D Pretty fish regardless.

I've never seen a true Green discus ever. Usually the lack of lighting or flash gives the impression of green but not a true strain or type. A wild green green yes but not a solid green discus.

The only greens I have ever seen that were even close to being a true solid green were from Barb Newell back in the day. She had some Ocean Greens that leaned more towards green than blue IMO.

Whether green or blue, this discus is definitely a mutt. No offense but it is not a set type, that is why I say a BD throwback.

Eddie

[poconogal]

Eddie, did you check the link I gave in my previous post? That link was to Barb Newell's website. Of course I don't know how green this discus is looking on your monitor, but on my monitor its the same color as the Ocean Green on Barb's site but with the striations in the fins. That's why I said it was a mutt, LOL

[Eddie]

Eddie, did you check the link I gave in my previous post? That link was to Barb Newell's website. Of course I don't know how green this discus is looking on your monitor, but on my monitor its the same color as the Ocean Green on Barb's site but with the striations in the fins. That's why I said it was a mutt, LOL

LOL, I totally missed that link you posted. Those are the ones though. Been a long time since I've seen them. Barb had some amazing fish and she helped out so much.

As I mentioned, most greens are displayed in tanks with no light or with a flash. Even in Barb's Ocean Greens you don't see any striations in the fins. Her greens are super clean.

Eddie

[poconogal]

Barb's Greens were amazing, weren't they? So was she.

[cmich]

Hey guys, I was looking on Barb's website and saw pictures of what she called Checkerboard discus. They were orange and blue, but they weren't checkered like anything i've seen. They had portions of no checkers and all orange. Very interesting looking. Is this an actual strain, or is this something that Barb used to breed that was unique to her. Thanks. Also, does anyone know if anyone sells them like this?

Blake


Barb's Greens were amazing, weren't they? So was she.

[poconogal]

Check out Hans' fish: http://discus-hans-usa.com/
Click on stocklist and scroll down, he does have a pic of a PB that is similar.

[poconogal]

....Even in Barb's Ocean Greens you don't see any striations in the fins. Her greens are super clean.

Eddie

Hans' Flachen discus has some striations like freestylez_14's. I wonder where he got this Discus from?

Check out Hans' fish: http://discus-hans-usa.com/
Click on stocklist and scroll down, check out the Flachen.

[poconogal]

freestylez_14 where did you get this Discus from? Is it possibly a Stendker or crossed with a Stendker?

[freestylez_14]

Poconogal, I got this fish at my LFS, Big Al's. They had it called Assorted Discus. There was no specific name given to this green strain. I also think it's a mutt too! LOL!!

[poconogal]

Did you check out Hans' Flachen Discus? Looks a lot like yours, with the striations too! So maybe your's is not so much a mutt, :D

[freestylez_14]

Yea I did look at Han's Flachen and the only difference is with the face of my fish and his. His fish has pattern on the face and my is full green. Maybe, mine is special LOL!!!:D

[Eddie]

Yea I did look at Han's Flachen and the only difference is with the face of my fish and his. His fish has pattern on the face and my is full green. Maybe, mine is special LOL!!!:D

Hey, your right. They are all special. ;)

Eddie

[cmich]

Check out Hans' fish: http://discus-hans-usa.com/
Click on stocklist and scroll down, he does have a pic of a PB that is similar.

Hey thanks for pointing that out. Those are similar. I find that to be an interesting look. (I forgot about this post, and just remembered now, I was happy to see someone replied to it!)

Thanks again,

Blake