Two discus not eating and breathing slow

[Knircky]

Hi,

I have a fairly new discus tank and am new top discus.
I have discus from two sources, Captain Nemo (Hans) and Discus Madness.

My PH is 6.5-7 from what I can measure, KH around 3. My Nitrate is pretty high, I do water changes every day, but my tab water has between 10-20 nitrate. So nitrate is always above 20 i believe. I change water 70% bout every day. I air the water and heat it for a few hours (until its 29c warm) or overnight.

I feed 4 times with an auto feeder and additional BW and other frozen food at night. The fish eat like pigs and grow well. They seem pretty happy except when I change the water.

I now seem to have issues with 2 of my fish: a cobalt from Hans and a golden leopard. Both of them do not eat anymore and hide all day. They also breath very slowly, in relation to the other fish. Other than that they seem fine. I noticed yesterday that the feces of the cobalt are white. Although I have not seen much of that at all.

So now I am getting worried, especially since they are not eating. Both of them have grown in my tank about 1in, cobald seems to be 3in and leopard 2.5. When I bought him he was tiny almost no color now he is bigger and has spots everywhere.

I've been thinking about getting them in a different tank, and maybe treating them with Metro (metronidazole). Should I treat the entire tank or protect the tank from whatever they seem to have?

I could also not get that Metro stuff or anything for hexamita.

I'd appreciate any sort of advice.

[Knircky]

Here are two pictures of the fish.

They seem to look fine except, but their behavior seems odd.

63096

63097

[Skip]

there is a questionnaire that is a sticky in this forum for you to fill out.. it makes it easier for all involved to get help to you as soon as possible.. cut and paste it.. and post it back in here

[Jennie]

Slow breathing is not an issue..I'd rather see that than fast breathing..you never mentioned tank size..and water parameters are needed too. I know you invested in nitrate system..buy what is the nitrate in tank right before you do WC??

[PAR23]

You have most of the info but this questionaire will help give everyone a more complete picture of what is happening.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?38545-Disease-Questionnaire-please-complete

[Eddie]

I'd worm them. The GL looks very small compared to eye size so this would lead me to nutrient deficiency. I don't think you will get much more growth from the GL but the cobalt may jump a bit. You'd want to worm the whole crew with Levamisole.

[Knircky]

Problem

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

Two discus hiding not eating, one of which has white feces

Cobald about 3in is not eating at all, but at swims with the group every once in a while, otherwise looks fine. Coabld has white feces for sure

Golden leopard has always been scared but used to eat. Still eats but not very much and hides most of the time. Not seen feces of this one.

other fish seem uber happy, fighting&pecking all the time and eating like pigs



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)

Fish seem fine other than hiding not feeding as usual and in general not too happy. And white feces.


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

I have just treated with ParasiteGuard from Tetra which includes praziquantel, diflubenzuron, metronidazole and acriflavine

Discus seem happy, I lost 4 of 6 Siamese algae eaters right away.


Tank/Water

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

2month old 37G, planted with gravel
Fluval canister filter for 50G + outside filter that comes with tank and bio wheel

9 discus 2-3 in
1 pleco
2 Siamese algea eater

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

I change 70% of water almost every day, i'm guessing 5 out of 7 days.

Tank is planted and has gravel


6 Parameters and water source;

- temp 86

- ph 6.5-7

- ammonia reading 0____

- nitrite reading 0____

- nitrate reading 20-40____

- well water ____no

- municipal water __yes__

7. Any new fish/plants added recently
the whole tank is only 2 month old

[Jennie]

Bet it's the gravel, hiding bacteria so bacterial issues possibly. Tank is too small for that amount of fish.. can create stress and open them up for host of nasties. nitrates are a little high at 40.

[Knircky]

So I've removed 4 fish that we acting strange and separated them in two tanks. The fish in main tank seem uber happy but I can't get the other ones to eat. I have them in a 5 and 10g tank, keep the water clean etc. I've treated them twice with no results. I'm separating the sick ones according to if they have white feces or not.

They seem alive but won't eat. Colors kinda off. What can I do.

[htlv22003@yahoo.com]

So I've removed 4 fish that we acting strange and separated them in two tanks. The fish in main tank seem uber happy but I can't get the other ones to eat. I have them in a 5 and 10g tank, keep the water clean etc. I've treated them twice with no results. I'm separating the sick ones according to if they have white feces or not.

They seem alive but won't eat. Colors kinda off. What can I do.
Hello, have your discus recovered? I am facing a similar situation and would like to know what you did and which succeded?