gerrard00
09-01-2011, 05:09 PM
Well, I just posted about hitting my one year anniversary and suddenly I have a problem with one of my fish.
DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE
Problem
1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started
About a week or so ago, the fish in question went crazy during a water change and darted all over the tank. She scraped herself up and seemed to daze herself. After about 15 minutes she was basically back to normal. We chalked it up to the fact that she was being picked on constantly by another fish. That’s nothing new, the two have been going at it since I purchased them.
Yesterday, she had three or four darting episodes. Today she has had about five. She darts around in a little circle hitting into the tank walls, sponge filter and even the ground. Then she lays on top of the watersprite that floats at the top of my tank and gasps for air.
My four other discus are happy as clams and begging for food as we speak.
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)
She is somewhat dark, has one cloudy eye (I attributed it to a scape during the darting) and has started swimming at sideways at times. She's spending all of her time at the top of the tank.
She had been hiding a lot lately, but she’s always been more timid than my other fish.
3. What medications/ treatments that you have already tried and results. Include dosages and duration of treatment.
I have moved her to a hospital tank and added 1 tablespoon of kosher salt.
Tank/Water
4. Tank size and age, number and size of fish
Display tank:
72 gallon bowfront up and running for a year on 8/29. Three red pigeon blood discus and two blue turquoise discus, ranging in sizes from just over 5 inches to almost 7 inches. The fish in question is just over five inches long. I got them all about a year ago at 2.5 inches.
I also have two bn plecos and about 30 cardinal tetras.
5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?
Daily 50% water changes. Sand substrate. Lightly planted.
No CO2.
I don't age my water and that’s not really an option for me.
6 Parameters and water source;
- temp _____84
- ph _____6.6
- ammonia reading ____.25 (attributed to the use of safe)
- nitrite reading ____0
- nitrate reading ____.5
- well water ____
- municipal water ____X
7. Any new fish/plants added recently
No.
I treated for what I thought was Hex in the early days of the tank with Metro. I wasn’t sure what I was doing and I don’t think I even treated the tank correctly.
A few months later I had flashing and some gill closing, so I treated with prazipro. There was a definite improvement and I haven't had any gill closing since. I do have occasional (a few times a day) flashing.
I lost one discus a few months later during a treatment with PraziPro in my hospital tank. I was never able to determine the cause of death and there were no visible signs of what was wrong.
I have treated with angel plus de-worming flake twice. The last time was about three months ago.
My general philosophy is to avoid using medicine if I can. I just don't trust myself to deal with them. In this case, I'm considering medication just because she keeps darting around violently and I'm afraid that she'll hurt herself. Any advice you can offer is appreciated.
BTW, I have a stupid piece of driftwood that I got from the park in the display tank. It's been in there for months and still has white fungus growing on it. It will be out as soon as I can get an order in for some manzanita. The plan is early next week.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE
Problem
1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started
About a week or so ago, the fish in question went crazy during a water change and darted all over the tank. She scraped herself up and seemed to daze herself. After about 15 minutes she was basically back to normal. We chalked it up to the fact that she was being picked on constantly by another fish. That’s nothing new, the two have been going at it since I purchased them.
Yesterday, she had three or four darting episodes. Today she has had about five. She darts around in a little circle hitting into the tank walls, sponge filter and even the ground. Then she lays on top of the watersprite that floats at the top of my tank and gasps for air.
My four other discus are happy as clams and begging for food as we speak.
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)
She is somewhat dark, has one cloudy eye (I attributed it to a scape during the darting) and has started swimming at sideways at times. She's spending all of her time at the top of the tank.
She had been hiding a lot lately, but she’s always been more timid than my other fish.
3. What medications/ treatments that you have already tried and results. Include dosages and duration of treatment.
I have moved her to a hospital tank and added 1 tablespoon of kosher salt.
Tank/Water
4. Tank size and age, number and size of fish
Display tank:
72 gallon bowfront up and running for a year on 8/29. Three red pigeon blood discus and two blue turquoise discus, ranging in sizes from just over 5 inches to almost 7 inches. The fish in question is just over five inches long. I got them all about a year ago at 2.5 inches.
I also have two bn plecos and about 30 cardinal tetras.
5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?
Daily 50% water changes. Sand substrate. Lightly planted.
No CO2.
I don't age my water and that’s not really an option for me.
6 Parameters and water source;
- temp _____84
- ph _____6.6
- ammonia reading ____.25 (attributed to the use of safe)
- nitrite reading ____0
- nitrate reading ____.5
- well water ____
- municipal water ____X
7. Any new fish/plants added recently
No.
I treated for what I thought was Hex in the early days of the tank with Metro. I wasn’t sure what I was doing and I don’t think I even treated the tank correctly.
A few months later I had flashing and some gill closing, so I treated with prazipro. There was a definite improvement and I haven't had any gill closing since. I do have occasional (a few times a day) flashing.
I lost one discus a few months later during a treatment with PraziPro in my hospital tank. I was never able to determine the cause of death and there were no visible signs of what was wrong.
I have treated with angel plus de-worming flake twice. The last time was about three months ago.
My general philosophy is to avoid using medicine if I can. I just don't trust myself to deal with them. In this case, I'm considering medication just because she keeps darting around violently and I'm afraid that she'll hurt herself. Any advice you can offer is appreciated.
BTW, I have a stupid piece of driftwood that I got from the park in the display tank. It's been in there for months and still has white fungus growing on it. It will be out as soon as I can get an order in for some manzanita. The plan is early next week.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.