sick discus plz help

[dbfzurowski]

hey guys,
first of all i'm new to keeping discus. I purchased some not even a week ago and i think one is sick.


DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE


Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started
So i got my fish last week. From the beginning this one was dark, it only showed its true colors when i'm feeding them then it gets some color. But as soon as its done it gets dark again. since they were new arrivals i figured its just stressed out, but today i see symptoms




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)
Besides turning dark(stated above)
On its top fin, i cant tell if its excess slime/fungus or what it is but its white.
Looks like excess slime but there's a little white spot at the end of top fin.


One other fish would hide in corner, blue diamond, no color change. It had 2 white zits, one above eyes other on top side. This was Friday(4days ago).
Two water changes later its gone. Is it gone for good?
All fish eating very good, eating out of my hand.
They are all 2-3in so i feed 3 times a day, bloodorms, beef heart and brine shrimp


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

no meds yet, i'm not sure what to use, only had angelfish before and they were healthy so i have no clue what to do. All i'm doing is keeping the water as clean as posible.



Tank/Water

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

Temp 37 gal, six 2-3in discus, pleco, small fire eel, dragon goby and 9 cardinal tetra.


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

Its a planted tank, had it running close to 2years now. I do not age water since the tab ph is close to tank ph, and i have no room.

6 Parameters and water source;

- temp _____ 82deg and cant go higher due to my other fish

- ph _____7.0-7.3

- ammonia reading ____ < .25mg/L hard to tell with colors but its very low

- nitrite reading ____ about .3mg/L

- nitrate reading ____ unknown

-KH 1.5dH

-GH 18dH

7. Any new fish/plants added recently

Six new discus of which one is sick.

After 50+ pictures(i was determined to get some semi-ok pictures) i picked some to show what i'm talking about. I never had a fish die, so I really need your help on this one guys. Thank YOU

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn29/wadopl/th_100_0414.jpg (http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn29/wadopl/?action=view&current=100_0414.jpg)
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn29/wadopl/th_100_0419.jpg (http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn29/wadopl/?action=view&current=100_0419.jpg)
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn29/wadopl/th_100_0420.jpg (http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn29/wadopl/?action=view&current=100_0420.jpg)
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn29/wadopl/th_100_0425.jpg (http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn29/wadopl/?action=view&current=100_0425.jpg)
http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn29/wadopl/th_100_0429.jpg (http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn29/wadopl/?action=view&current=100_0429.jpg)

[johnm]

The ammonia and nitrite should be zero. Also the water is a bit on the cool side for small discus. I would do frequent water changes with stable water and add some salt. This should correct your problem.

[dbfzurowski]

The ammonia and nitrite should be zero.
-ammonia is more on the 0 side, its just hard to determine the exact number with the colors:)

and add some salt
epsom salt or regular?

[Eddie]

Definitely need to get that nitrite to zero. Tank is cycling and causing undue stress to the fish. The excess slime is indicative of external irritant, which could also be from external parasites but since your water is not legit, there is no way to narrow it down. Fix your water and then.....maybe, you wont have to worry about fixing your discus. ;)

Plecos/tetras are salt sensitive so using ordinary salt may kill them. Since you need to keep your nitrites low, keep knocking out water changes and use Seachem Prime. The cycle is going to be prolonged with the daily water changes but who cares, your fish are feeling the pain now and you need to remove that stress.

Eddie

[dbfzurowski]

This tank has been up and running no problem over 2 years, i think its cycled.
I had 4 fully grown angels in there, angels came out discus went in.
Also some of the other once rub against my pants sometimes, is this normal?
i haven't seen the sick one rubbing on stuff but then again i don't watch him 24/7.
so epsom salt or regular kitchen?
Salt dip the discus? since other fish might suffer or take out other fish?

[Eddie]

This tank has been up and running no problem over 2 years, i think its cycled.
I had 4 fully grown angels in there, angels came out discus went in.
Also some of the other once rub against my pants sometimes, is this normal?
i haven't seen the sick one rubbing on stuff but then again i don't watch him 24/7.
so epsom salt or regular kitchen?
Salt dip the discus? since other fish might suffer or take out other fish?

Sorry, ammonia/nitrite mean your filter is cycling so no, your tank is not cycled. Even if it was, its going through a mini-cycle since you've added new fish, which increases the bioload. The bacteria bed is trying to keep up.....this is aquarium basics.

Eddie

[dbfzurowski]

so epsom salt or regular kitchen salt?
Salt dip the discus? or remove other fish and add to tank?
its planted so will salt kill my plants?

[Eddie]

Done

[darkknight87]

Personally id use aquarium salt..Epsom salt is better for baths where you need to clear out their internal system,..

Eddie is right though. You need to get your nitrites and ammonia down before you worry about doing anything else. And maybe you should try moving the fish that cant handle the heat to a new tank, but youd be surprised at what some fish can handle heat wise. But again, if you are worried about loosing the other fish, I would move them out and crank it to 86-88

[dbfzurowski]

Done
?
i got some days off coming so daily water changes will be happening, along with slow water temp increases. i'm going to hold of on the salt for a couple of days and see what's going to happen.
i got a little paranoid with all the diseases i read about, never had a fish die on me and i want to keep it that way.
thanks for your help.

[dbfzurowski]

update:
50-80% daily water changes,
5ml/10gal aquarium salt
84-85*temp
two days fish fully recovered.
thanks everyone.