My discus fish are sick, ive already lost a juvie snakeskin

[James G]

1. Water parameters
a) Temperature range. 84/85 f
b) pH. 6.0
c) GH. unknown.
d) KH 4.d
e)Ammonia 0, Nitrate 5.0mg, Nitrite 0.1 mg,
f) Water change frequency 2 weekly 50/50% wc (water meter cant change too much per weeks it costs a lot!)

2. Tank set up
a) Size.- juwel 400l
b) Substrate.- jbl menado
c) Filtration.- fluval 405
d) Furnishings. -amazon sword plants, anubis, java fern and a type of long 'grass' Forgotton the name
e) Other tank mates.- 40 harlequin rasbora's and 2 bristlenose pleco's
f) How long has it been set-up? before the recent move back to my parents house, set up for 6 months, now has been set up here for 2 and a half months.
g) When was the last new fish added? - two and a half months ago

3. Symptoms / Problem description
- several fish have turned dark/ black and are hiding. Loss of appetite and long thick white stringy, lumpy poo, almost like its been blocking their insides the poo is that big. Fish have been observed 'flicking' off plants like they are itchy like they are trying to sratch the itch. Over all there is a distinct lack of activity.
- As mentioned above i have already lost a juvie snakeskin because of this.
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4. Action taken (if any)
-None so far, i have kept fish for several years and have been luvky enough never to have come across anything more than ich. so im rather stuck as what to do and need your help please guys!
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5. Medications used (if any)
-None so far as im unsure what to treat for.
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[nc0gnet0]

Well we know how many tankmates you got, how many discus in the tank as well?

Any signs of labored breathing, breathing out of one gill?
Any signs of clamped fins?

From your description it could be either flukes or worms.....or both. If it were me and I witnessed breathing difficultys, I would treat for flukes first, be warned, your going to have a bear of a time getting rid of flukes in a planted tank. Do you have a QT tank you could move the discus too?

[C3H6O3]

Sounds like hexameta to me. I've treated it very successfully in the past by putting them in a 20gal quarantine tank. Raise the temp to 94 degrees, wait 2 days, add 2 tablespoons of table salt, and go 2-5 more days -- depending on how long it takes for them to look good again.

Hexameta can't handle high temps and higher salt concentration.

Make sure you decrease the water temperature slowly. I just turn the thermostat down to 85 degrees. Takes about one day to go down to that temperature.

Hope this helps.

[nc0gnet0]

94 degrees sounds a bit extreme......that temperature and salt is going to require lots of airation or you fish may suffocate........I would wait for a few more other suggestions or verification before I went that route.

[James G]

sorry, there are 7 discus in all left in the tank now, i havent noticed any clamped fins. no sign of laboured breathing, if anything they seem to be brething quickly, and no at this moment i dont have space for a quarentine tank :(. So what i have done now is treat with octozin. I removed the carbon from my filter and left for a few hours, ive came back home after a breif visit to a friend and noticed that on one of my bigger discus, well it seemed to have a worm exiting its body. At first sight it looked like it was commin out in a 'u' shape, kinda like its got both sides of its body inside the fish and its middle is hanging out. 20 mins later and the fish expelled the 'worm'. So some advice please, as above ive treated with octozin, and ive just picked up a packet of discus wormer 50g of Flubendazole can i use this in addition to the octozin or am i best using this after octozin treatment has finished?

[kaceyo]

You'll need to net out the suspected worm and see if it really is a worm or if it's gooey feces. Either way I'd finish out the treatment you're doing now and see if it takes care of the problem. Then, if the fish does have worms, deworm them.
It sounds like they may also have external parasite problems, so try to pin down those symptoms and describe them clearly.

[C3H6O3]

94 degrees sounds a bit extreme......that temperature and salt is going to require lots of airation or you fish may suffocate........I would wait for a few more other suggestions or verification before I went that route.

94 may sound extreme, but they can handle it just fine. I have not lost a fish in my treatment tank -- ever! I use an air stone -- never seen signs of stress breathing.

I've read some articles that suggest 98 degrees!

H

[Eddie]

What foods do you feed?

[James G]

Sorry for the late reply, i use tetra prime, JBL novo grano mix, frozen blood, frozen discus mix, frozen Beff heart and frozen daphnia mixed with garlic. I havent fed any frozen foods while the fish have been sick. So , so far i have treated with octozin, Flubendazole for a visable tapeworm on one of my fish. I now have some interpet number 9 which contains formaldehyde. Im wondering wether i can add this to my tank also with the rest of the medication or shall i wait till i have done a water change then add?

[Eddie]

Sorry for the late reply, i use tetra prime, JBL novo grano mix, frozen blood, frozen discus mix, frozen Beff heart and frozen daphnia mixed with garlic. I havent fed any frozen foods while the fish have been sick. So , so far i have treated with octozin, Flubendazole for a visable tapeworm on one of my fish. I now have some interpet number 9 which contains formaldehyde. Im wondering wether i can add this to my tank also with the rest of the medication or shall i wait till i have done a water change then add?


Definitely don't combine the chemicals. If your dealing with tapeworms (cestodes), you need to use Praziquantel. Flubendazole affects nematodes not cestodes.

Eddie