Don't assume flukes...

[ExReefer]

With the multiple threads recently floating around the forum about aging water for WC’s, I thought I’d share my recent problems and solution.

As many of you know, I purchased a small group of Piwowarski discus this summer. They had been doing very well under my care until recently I noticed them showing signs of flukes. I first noticed decreased appetites. They were not attacking their food like they did over the summer. I thought maybe it just meant they were nearing the adult stage and it was normal for their appetite to slow down. A few more weeks went by and I noticed them stressing big time during water changes and scratching against the filter tubes/heaters/etc. One of them was also using just one side of his gills to breathe. I started to panic and assumed it was flukes. Instead of grabbing medication, I increased my WC’s/wipedowns and the problems only continued. The aquarium was filled with microbubbles after each WC and the fish were huddled together. They were clearly not comfortable.

Last week I performed my first WC with aged water.

I happy to report that my problems are gone! The fish were completely comfortable during and after the WC. As I test, I fed them floating freeze-dried blackworms DURING the water change and they fed from the water surface. This was something they used to do, but stopped doing so recently. Furthermore, the pairing activity has kicked back in and their colors are excellent.

What I have learned?

#1 – just because you see behavioral signs of flukes, don’t assume it is flukes
#2 – I have to age my water in the cold season to avoid the microbubbles that stress out my discus

I’m angry at myself for not noticing these issues a few weeks ago. I was in such a routine of performing WC’s straight from tap that I didn’t consider my WC's as the problem. One my Piwos was completely off food and developed a case of Hex. He’s being treated now in a hospital tank and showing improvement after three days of treatment. I’ve got him at least eating live blackworms now, but he spits everything else out. It's a shame because he was once a very aggressive eater. I hope he regains his full appetite soon.

[LizStreithorst]

I am a huge believer in aged water. Stability is the key with Discus. Aged water is stable water.

[ExReefer]

I'll admit that I've been stubborn about this in past. I just could not believe it made that much difference. I've been performing WC's straight from tap for years on fish other than discus without problems. Discus are super sensitive. No doubt. Heck, my Altums didn't show any signs of stress from the unaged WC's, but I'll bet they prefer the aged water. It certainly does no harm to age your water.

I used to age and pretreat my water when I had a reef tank. There's just no way around it with that hobby. I thought I would avoid that with discus, but for half the year, I'll be aging my water from now on.

[YSS]

I can not age water. Period. I have noticed over the last year that water changes during the colder weather stresses out my discus quite a bit. What I have done to relieve some of the stress is to fill up the tank very slowly. I definitely have a lot less micro bubbles and my fish are less stressed. I do about 70% water changes every four to five days in my 265G tank and I take close to an hour filling the tank and also make sure to add ample SAFE while filling the tank. Hope your fish recover fully. I love your RTs.

[Cambik]

I can not age water. Period. I have noticed over the last year that water changes during the colder weather stresses out my discus quite a bit. What I have done to relieve some of the stress is to fill up the tank very slowly. I definitely have a lot less micro bubbles and my fish are less stressed. I do about 70% water changes every four to five days in my 265G tank and I take close to an hour filling the tank and also make sure to add ample SAFE while filling the tank. Hope your fish recover fully. I love your RTs.

+1....I noticed if I filled my tank like I do during the summar I have issues. But slowing down the water flow into the tank there are no issues.

[ExReefer]

I can not age water. Period. I have noticed over the last year that water changes during the colder weather stresses out my discus quite a bit. What I have done to relieve some of the stress is to fill up the tank very slowly. I definitely have a lot less micro bubbles and my fish are less stressed. I do about 70% water changes every four to five days in my 265G tank and I take close to an hour filling the tank and also make sure to add ample SAFE while filling the tank. Hope your fish recover fully. I love your RTs.

Thanks. The RT's are my favorites and they are doing well. In fact, I think they may be pairing up. It was one of the Cobalts that I had to treat, but he's rebounding quickly. I only treated him with Metro because he stopped eating, became inactive and was shedding his stomach lining. Based on prior experience, when that happens, I've needed to treat with Metro to turn them around. I'm thrilled he's eating again and swimming around the hospital tank. That's a good sign.

I thought about slowing down the fill rate, but I can't see that helping my situation and it adds time. I'm not happy about aging my water as it too add extra steps and time. However, I have the space to do it so I'm going to stick it out through the winter. Maybe in a year from now they won't as sensitive the microbubbles and release of gasses.

[ExReefer]

One other thing, my discus were extremely skittish during their stress period with the unaged WC's. They would dart into the tank walls as I approached the tank. They stopped begging for food and greeting me at the water surface. All bad signs.

I believe that many of the disease threads posted are related to water quality vs. sickness. I was creating a stressful enviroment that lead to sickness. Discus don't go from healthy one day to sick the next, it happens over time and during periods of stress.