HELP!!! wierd sickness!

[discusmurderer]

DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE


Problem

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

they started darting and one even jumped out, one night they were good and the next day (yesterday) they just started swimming upside down.



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)

they are not dark but their bars are very pronounced and they are stiffening their bodies fins are extended fully , no excessive slime, the rest are eating but the first one has jumped out and the second one that has been infected can't eat, he can't focus ,his eyes are in a daze and darting all over and upside down , sideways.before sickness poop was normal . the rest of them are hiding now, the others started hiding before they got to this stage,no fungus problems,no blisters. no bloating , no cloudy eyes, no wounds,no white zits, no fin rot




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

i tried formaldehyde 2 drops for 8 hours( 62 drops) then a 50% wc and they still showed the same symptoms now i am trying Binox 1 and a half teaspoon to a 24x24x18 tank i estimate its 31 gal.i just put in the binox so i cant say if it is working yet but i had fish do this already and it does not work.



Tank/Water

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

24x24x18 tank, i got the fish at half inch and they are now one inch now, 6 fishes at the start and one jumped out

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

I have a thread on these fish in general discus discussion (need some advice)is the name of the thread, I changed 50% of the water every day the tank was a new tank and started running it three days before i put fish in, its a bb and i age my water for 24 hours with an air stone and a heater


6 Parameters and water source;

- temp _87f____

- ph _7.0____aged water 7.2 from a barrel

- ammonia reading _0___

- nitrite reading _0.25___

- nitrate reading __5.0__

- well water _no___

- municipal water __yes__

7. Any new fish/plants added recently no

[discusmurderer]

And i was now rejoicing about changing my name, i guess i have to keep it! I have a thread on these very fish since i got them the very first day the thread name is ( need some advice).

[LizStreithorst]

Your filters are not coping. Your nitrite should be 0. What type of filtration are you using?

[nc0gnet0]

They are still cycling, totally normal....stay on top of the water changes.

[Eddie]

Remember Daryl, stay on top of water changes during the cycle. Nitrites should be zero at all times so you are going to be juggling the cycle with water changes.

Eddie

[discusmurderer]

would 0.25 nitrites kill them? I have lost two so far, they are dropping like flies! Even if i make a water change they still swim in circles and lock thier bodies and turn upside down. My other tank took a month to cycle and during that time the nitrites were 0.25 all the time and they never displayed this sickness. Could it be the age difference? these being one inch( tail included )cause the bigger fish were 2 inches when i got them.

[Eddie]

would 0.25 nitrites kill them? I have lost two so far, they are dropping like flies! Even if i make a water change they still swim in circles and lock thier bodies and turn upside down. My other tank took a month to cycle and during that time the nitrites were 0.25 all the time and they never displayed this sickness. Could it be the age difference? these being one inch( tail included )cause the bigger fish were 2 inches when i got them.


Yes, any amount can kill them. Do 100% change and add salt at 2 tbsp/10 gallons with every water change.

Eddie

[discusmurderer]

Your filters are not coping. Your nitrite should be 0. What type of filtration are you using?

I am using 2 home made sponge filters out of PVC pipe and bed sponge, and an outside whisper power filter.i know they are not coping yet so i make water changes every day and 50% should ease them up. is it safe to do a greater percentage of water?

[Eddie]

I am using 2 home made sponge filters out of PVC pipe and bed sponge, and an outside whisper power filter.i know they are not coping yet so i make water changes every day and 50% should ease them up. is it safe to do a greater percentage of water?


The bed sponge might be toxic as it more than likely has anti-flaming agents in it. Remove it

[discusmurderer]

Yes, any amount can kill them. Do 100% change and add salt at 2 tbsp/10 gallons with every water change.

Eddie

oh! i forgot to say i added salt every time i changed and replaced what salt i took out.I am going to do a 100% now to see if i can save the remaining 4.

[discusmurderer]

The bed sponge might be toxic as it more than likely has anti-flaming agents in it. Remove it

ok i'll remove the sponge. the water going in is 28c and the tank water is 30c, the ph is the same so i am doing 100%, i'll let u know if theres any change.

[discusmurderer]

I made the water change and they are looking ok! i don't want to say just yet so I'll wait until morning to se if anyone is darting. I cant believe that its the nitrites that had them so sick as if something was iritating them like they were going insane, i kept the nitrites the lowest i could sometimes between 0 and 0.25 and 0.25 is the highest it reached with 50% wc's and i also replaced saltwhen i took out water. YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT I HAVE KILLED ALL THE DISCUS I EVER OWENED JUST FROM FILTERS THAT WERN'T CYCLED AND HIGH NITRITES!!! WHAAAATTTTTTT! All those beutifull ss and leps and blue daimonds, OH MAN! thats why i am wondering why are the other fish in the 4ft. tank were not getting sick cause i used the same water to do wc's, that other tank nitrites are reading 0 now at all times that i check it. anyway let me check them in the morning and ill let u all know how they are doing. bye for now! daryl

[Eddie]

Nitrites will do it man, easy too. :(

All the best,

Eddie

[discusmurderer]

Nitrites will do it man, easy too. :(

All the best,

Eddie

Hey! Eddie , THEY ARE OK!I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM SUCH AN IDIOT.I woke up this morning and they were swimming good and eating like they used to. All i had to do was read up on this forum and every thing would have been ok with my fish. I think I'll have to make two wc's a day in order to keep those nitrites down. thank very much to u and all ! could anyone tell me why would a low reading of 0.25 kill discus and not do anything to other fish?

[Eddie]

Because Discus are not like any other fish. ;)

Good to hear you've got it back under control. Maybe another few weeks and you can change your name. :D

Take care Daryl,

Eddie

[discusmurderer]

Hey! things are nice in my aq. My nitrites are 0 cause i just made another wc , this is the second for the day and no more deaths! . I think i can buy ten more pairs of expensive breeders now! i think i can do this now withrows and rows of aq's like walter, hey everyone i am a discus pro now.(LOL) they are looking very healthy and eating like crazy. I think i will take the next boat going across to Venezuela and go bring me somepairs of my own, sometimes our water in the gulf of paria is brown from the Orinoco river. any way i got to go look for Al to change my name BYE!

[TankWatcher]

I'm so glad to read things are picking up for you. You've been through a rought time.

As well as nitrites being a likey culprit, that bed sponge could have contained an irritant. Many furnishing sponges / foams that are not intended for fish have checmical imbedded, eg fire or mould retardants, etc. That was a good call by Eddie, as I initially read your post & missed seeing that you were using bed foam.

[discusmurderer]

I'm so glad to read things are picking up for you. You've been through a rought time.

As well as nitrites being a likey culprit, that bed sponge could have contained an irritant. Many furnishing sponges / foams that are not intended for fish have checmical imbedded, eg fire or mould retardants, etc. That was a good call by Eddie, as I initially read your post & missed seeing that you were using bed foam.

Hi! tank watcher, I never did say that i used the bed sponge because i didn't want anyone to know that i used it in my tank, the black foam is very expensive down here, the lfs kills us with prices when they import and they don't even sell big pieces one inch thick and 4 ft wide and that's about 600 dollars(100 usd). If u look at the pics in my album u will see the old sponges in the tank.thanks for replying and i still can't believe nitrites did so much damage to all those fish i ever had, (and also bed sponge). bye for now!