before you go rushing for the meds.........

[markandhisdiscus]

had a strange one recently , thought id share my experiences.
i decided i wanted discus , and that i wanted the tank planted , so i set it all up and all was well for about 2 months.

then suddenly 1 of my leopards started staying on its own, not eating , turning dark , lethargic etc.
i treated with kusuri wormerplus as a 1st precaution without improvement
after much discussion / questions on here with other members all the signs seemed to point towards spironucleus. so some appropriate meds were ordered.

whilst i was waiting for the meds to arrive i thought i would simplify the setup.
out came all the plants , the whole tank was simplified , and flow on the filters reduced slightly.

the change in the leopard was almost instant , it is now feeding well , its normal colour has returned and it is actively socialising with the rest of the group , and is gaining weight nicely.

so i guess the moral here is rather than bombarding your fish with meds straight away , perhaps there is a less obvious factor causing the discus to be stressed .

[Eddie]

I agree, medicating is definitely not something that needs to be rushed. ;)

[boxters]

That is the most sense I have heard in ages

[snowflake311]

Could it have been that one of the others was picking on him? When you took out all the plants that made the tank feel different. like moving things around to help with aggressive fish you know like we do with other cichlids. Maybe?

Good to hear all is well.

[markandhisdiscus]

i think it was a combination of things really , this leopard is pretty much the wimp of the bunch , altho he wasnt really getting bullied as such . also all those plants made it really hard to keep the tank clean enough , which would of no doubt contributed to the stress. also now im not having to try and keep the plants happy , i can slow the flow of the filters a bit.

now all i have in the tank is the huge bit of wood 1 end , a smaller bit the other end , and a thin layer of sand. the whole group behave differently now , instead of fighting over the different territories in all the plants etc , they now have 1 big sheltered area and a big open swimming space. and the result is much more social interaction , less squabbling ( which i also think helped the weaker leopard feel at ease) and a much happier more relaxed tank.

altho, now its more simple , there is lots more space and i rekon the group could be made bigger , but thats going to have to wait for a while. and when i do increase the numbers , i will sell my 6 and get a whole new group probably around 8 or so. not because i dont like mine , but because i have found a top notch supplier in the uk that has some awesome redsand spotteds , and i am totally smitten!!!

[Eddie]

I think that was my first comment on your other thread, a weak fish. :o

[markandhisdiscus]

yep eddie , absolutely spot on too .