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NickB
10-21-2010, 01:41 PM
1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started
one of my discus starting getting dark for a few minutes then goes back to its normal colors. Then i noticed in a certain angle in the light he had a mark on his side. sort of like a burn but then when he turns out of the light you cant see it anymore. Today when i woke up and check him out his color was normal and all but one of his gills looked a little freyed.





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)

turning dark, mark on side ,freyed gills






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

just melafix as of now. want to get more advice.





Tank/Water

4. Tank size and age, number and size of fish
56 gal . about 6 month, 4 adult discus



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

i do a 25 % water change every 3 days and add conditioner to water in buckets before adding. bare bottom tank



6 Parameters and water source;

- temp _82____

- ph __7.8___

- ammonia reading _0___

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading ___.5_

- well water __no __

- municipal water ____

7. Any new fish/plants added recently

no same fish have been in since the start
Skip
10-21-2010, 01:54 PM
the first thing to try. is more/larger water changes.. !! most of the discus issues are to Water Quality
jimg
10-21-2010, 01:59 PM
Most likely bacterial infection.
First I would up the water changes and keep everything clean and let the fish try to handle it himself. If it seems to get worse I would use oxytetracycline first.
If no results I would go with furan based meds.
NickB
10-21-2010, 02:10 PM
thanks alot.

when you say up the water change should i do 25% a day or larger?
jimg
10-21-2010, 02:24 PM
I would do 80% +- each day. with wipe downs. Just keep an eye on ammonia,nitrites if filters are not that established. would be best in hospital tank if possible with 100% daily wc's
Skip
10-21-2010, 02:26 PM
i was doing 50% everyday. on my grow out tanks.. but now i go.. 33% twice a day..
Eddie
10-21-2010, 08:32 PM
As others mentioned, up the water changes.

I would move the affected fish to a hospital tank so that if you had to treat, it would only be the one fish. I'll also perform a salt dip on her prior to putting her in the hospital tank. ;)
NickB
10-21-2010, 11:58 PM
Ok so i will up my water changes. as for moving to a hosp.tank , is there a chance all my fish are already infected or no..and whats could be the cause of this.
Eddie
10-22-2010, 12:05 AM
Ok so i will up my water changes. as for moving to a hosp.tank , is there a chance all my fish are already infected or no..and whats could be the cause of this.


There could be a chance that they ALL do become infected if the fish is not moved. Not all fish are sick in a tank when one fish shows symtoms. Lots of different variables but the one fish in your situation needs to addressed directly.

Salt dip the fish and put him in a hospital tank, you'll see what I'm talking about. ;)
nc0gnet0
10-22-2010, 12:40 AM
Most likely bacterial infection.
First I would up the water changes and keep everything clean and let the fish try to handle it himself. If it seems to get worse I would use oxytetracycline first.

I agree with everything here except for the recomendation of oxytetracycline. Reason for this is oxytet is virtually useless in higher PH. OP has a ph of 7.8, which is starting to get up there and will have an impact of its effectiveness.

I would also advise getting the melafixnothing out of the tank, and if needed maybe furan 2.
NickB
10-22-2010, 04:27 AM
ok .. how exactly to do a salt dip? never had to do it before...
Love Discus
10-22-2010, 05:24 AM
Do you have plecos? I wouldnt panic. My plecos give my dicus hickies every now and then. Nothing serious IMO. The going dark thing is probably water quality. Up the water changes for sure see if that helps. Like I said I wouldnt panic.
Love Discus
10-22-2010, 05:25 AM
And if you do have plecos feed them some sinking pellets or something before you shut the tank light off.
Eddie
10-22-2010, 08:23 AM
ok .. how exactly to do a salt dip? never had to do it before...

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=70580
NickB
10-22-2010, 11:31 AM
can you use Api aquarium salt ? or something more fine?
Skip
10-22-2010, 11:50 AM
can you use Api aquarium salt ? or something more fine?

yes.. table salt is also ok & cheaper
NickB
10-22-2010, 12:02 PM
ok so im going to get the salt dip going , then move him to a hosp. tank after i do that, do i just watch him and see what happens from there?
Jennie
10-22-2010, 07:15 PM
non iodized salt
Eddie
10-22-2010, 08:20 PM
ok so im going to get the salt dip going , then move him to a hosp. tank after i do that, do i just watch him and see what happens from there?

Yes, after the dip monitor the fish. Make sure the water parameters in the hospital tank are not very different from the main tank. The fish will not look too swell after the dip so don't be alarmed. Have a good amount of o2/aeration in the hospital tank and keep temp around 82F.

Eddie