white spot on head of discus

[Dlprice45]

Hi, I am new to this forum. I wanted to share what I have done so far. I have had discus 10 yrs ago and after a couple yrs went away and had them again with my discus pairing off and having babies to raise and sell. At that time I had powder blue and snakeskin. It was incredible to see them raise there own. Anyways I just got a 90 gallon tank and thought I would try a planted Community Discus tank this yr. Of course I have realized I screwed up on the depth of my tank but miraculously it has been doing very well. I started it in January. I bought 10 different discus that were young but 2" from Yellow Tricolor to red and powder blue. I did have a yellow one die and one runt that I got for free from my provider. I did have another runt he gave me and seperated it into my 29 gallon tank and it actually is recovering nicely, which I did not think would happen. Anyways, I added 5 corys, 2 horsehead loaches, 2 chinese algae eaters and 3 of the small bristlenose plecos which I was reluctant since I was nervous they would hurt my discus, but so far they have not. I also have 9 neon tetras and 5 rams and they are all doing well in the tank, The have lots of plants, Amazon swords, Anubias and some other broad leaf plants int he tank and so far I have not had any problems. Maybe my fish were just big enough to adjust ok. I was wondering though, since I have to have the light on for the plants will my discus be more unlikely to pair off? My light was off in the past and they may have helped them to pair off. I have only eight in there and they all act very healthy following me everywhere wanting food all the time. I do 2 water 20 gallon water changes a week and they seem quite content so far. I have been reading all these horror stories of the plant tank, but so far I havent had that problem, although the yellow one I got early on and the runt may have not had the strength with the young tank. So should I be having the light on for only so long a day. I may have been leaving it on to long. Also my large 6inch snakeskin blue has some spots on his head, but noe one else has that, I dont think its ick or anything, but I cant figure out what it is and wonder would there be something in the plants that could cause this. All the other fish are acting very healthy. I could try to post a picture. He is an old one I got from the person I purchased the discus from.

[Eddie]

Pictures are worth a thousand words. Sorry to hear about your troubles. Please also fill out the questionnaire.

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

[Orange Crush]

Please also fill out the questionnaire.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?38545-Disease-Questionnaire-please-complete
+1

You have posted this exact same thing in 3 different threads but with different titles. It is best to just post this once, for your benefit, so that everything that is discused and any additional info you post will be read be people responding so everyone has all of the facts. You will get the most accurate info from others that way.

Lighting and whether discus will pair or not is not your main issue right now, disease and lack of enough water changes are.
"I do 2 water 20 gallon water changes a week and they seem quite content so far..." Ummm, not really since you are having health issues with more than 1 discus. I am very sorry btw but you should start with doing large daily water changes.
Lack of frequent water changes can cause many health issues and daily water changes can cure them. Prevention is the best medicine and with discus that means lots of water changes especially with plants in your tank.

[Ioan C.]

Does it look like this as if a white mass grows out of a hole?

[Dlprice45]

Sorry, about putting it in 3 different areas, I kind of combined 3 questions and wasnt sure if I could get them addressed. Your right I dont have to worry about raising fry yet, and I was just wondering if the discus pair off just as easily in a planted tank. Well anyways the I will paste the questionaire, and also the problem seems to be just for that Discus and he has had a small white spot in past in his head but it cleared up and he is very healthy and does not act sick at all.

1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started
It is only on my 8" snakeskin discus and it is a couple of white spots that kind of extend out. He is an older discus and does not seem affected by this. Eats very well and is the king of this aquarium. Top on the hierarchy. He does have a funky gill, kind loose on one side. I got him like that and it also doesnt seem to effect him.





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)I guess you could call it a white zit, more describes it on his head.






3. What medications/ treatments that you have already tried and results. Include dosages and duration of treatment. I have not tried anything since everything seems very healthy in this tank. Temp was at 88 and I did bring it down to 85 this last week. I change the water twice a week.





Tank/Water

4. Tank size and age, number and size of fish
90 gallon, 4 month old tank. plant tank. 8 discus 5"-8". 5 rams, 9 neon tetras, 7 corys, 2 chinese algae eaters, 3 bristlenose pleco's.


5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?4 months. sandy gravel with amazon, anubia and some other broad leaf plants.Water comes from well. change 20 gallons twice a week. nice box filter under tank.



6 Parameters and water source;Well,

- temp ____85_

- ph ___7.2__

- ammonia reading _0___

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading _2___

- well water _yes___

- municipal water ____

7. Any new fish/plants added recently. New plant tank and all the fish added have been there for a month at least.None of them sick.

I will try to post a picture today.

[TNT77]

Your original post and filled questionnaire do not match in data. You originally said quote "I bought 10 different discus that were young but 2"" ..then in one of your last statements you say quote "although the yellow one I got early on". Were all these discus added at different times?

[Dlprice45]

White mass hmm, un it is like a protruding skinny white spots, there is 2 on one side and one on other. one does stick out a little more though. You know I tried to take a picture but they are very small spots and cant seem to get a picture. Maybe im over worrying, I do tend to everbaby all my discus. The spots are hard to see with a camera. Ok I tried to uplaod the picture, was unable, will ask someone who is more computer savy. I could email the picture though., but this site wont let me email anyone.

[Dlprice45]

Yah , 6 of the discus are smaller around 4 inches now. I bought them from supplier that said they were 2-3" in size. The one blue one I am talking about is an old one the supplier gave me. he is probably more like 6" I think I overestimated his size earlier. He is bigger than the others and older. I was told he is 2 yrs at least. I got him for free and I trust the provider and knew he was old. He was fine but does have a loose gill on one side, but despite his funky gill as I call it he eats and is the boss of course of this tank. But the tiny white spots are more new, he had a tiny one once before but it went away. now he has about 3 of them and maybe they will go away in time to. Maybe im just over worrying about that one old discus. I just want sure if the plant tank could be a cause.None of the other fish have it though. Yes I did originally buy 8 and then after the one yellow one dies I got 4 more, but 2 of them were runts and one died and I seperated the other one, who is doing better. the other 2 are stayed in the plant tank, so it has 8 fish in it ranging from 4"-6". I got these only 2 wks apart. I did have a runt and yellow die early on which I think I got them to soon, but the last 6 wks everyone else seems to be doing fine, Its just that one blue discus that puzzles me with the little white spots . I guess Im not explaining myself very well. sorry guys.

[TNT77]

So you are saying you got almost 2" in growth in not quite a month? That is a bit hard to believe. Or did you have these fish for a longer period of time in another tank then transferred them into the 90g?

[Dlprice45]

I have had the fish for about 2 months. I got 2 fully grown in the tank and 6 young ones which I believe they are 3-4" now, and the ones that I got from breeder wer told as being 2-3" inches have been eating well and have grown quite well. I got them from the wholesaler and put them in my 90 gallon tank. They are not shy and very aggressive eaters, so they seem happy in this tank. Even the one adult with the little 3 little white spots. I was just trying to figure out what it could be on the one older discus. I may be over worrying though since he is doing well otherwise.

[Dlprice45]

Eddie, I filled out the form above that you asked about. I just tested it again and I have been changing more water twice a week up to 30 gallons now and I did put the nitrate in wrong last time it was 20 not 2(sorry about that) although it does read up to 40 at times but that is the only thing that comes up on it. The big fishes spots did disappear but he has about 4 more tiny ones that came up in main body. He still acts healthy. So what do you guys think? Could it be just something with that fish? I was going to post the picture was unable to but you really cant see the spots in the pictures, I only see them when he turns under the plant light at certain angles. I did increase the temp a little just to 86-87 now.

[Orange Crush]

Discus are very sensitive to nitrAtes and it is best to keep them <5. If they are higher than 5 you need to increase the amount of wc's that you are doing.
IMO daily wc's should be done always no matter what. Especially if you are having problems with your discus.

[Eddie]

Pictures would be best. Also, increasing the temp can be a bad thing. Make sure you have adequate air in the tank. Definitely increase your water changes.

[Dlprice45]

Ok, well I will increase the changes as everyone suggests. I still have not been successful in getting pictures up. tried a site someone suggested but I may need someone to help me figure it out. I think I have adequate air flow. Have a large stone in the back. Well I will do the changes everyday and see if they disappear on him and bring temp back down to 85. Thank you

[Eddie]

Use photobucket

[mcantle]

Hi.. Did you ever solve the issue? I have exact same issue on one only larger discus and my tank parameters are the same as yours except its a 900 litre tank (220 gals).

[Dlprice45]

Well, I really never found out what it was, but he seemed to do fine with it. None of my other fish got it, so I was thinking maybe it was something to do with his age. I was told he was an old fish when I got him, not sure on the age but he did seem older. I would keep an eye on it. do you have any other discus with him? Is this an isolated thing for you?