Another Discus not Eating....

[Junior D]

Problem... Yes, another of the same type of question....

1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started
About a week ago, 4/10 discuss have stopped eating. While they seem healthy, they don't eat much, if any. I feed australian freeze dried black worms as they usually won't eat anything else.



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)

No real symptoms of sickness as they still swim about in the same school like fashion. Its just that 4 of them have stopped eating while the others still eat.






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

Tried the epsom salt treatment but have not noticed significant improvement.





Tank/Water

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

90 Gallon tank about 2 months old. Cycled. 10 various discus about 3-5 inches. Purchased all discus from the same tank and store, no mixing here. Some have grown faster than others namely, the pigeon blood and blue diamond ones. I do notice that the aforementioned ones (larger) do bully other fish by chasing them away but no injuries.



5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?
Bare bottom tank that is fully cycled and running about 3 months. No aging of water but use Prime and Cycle products. Change about 30-35% of water daily.

6 Parameters and water source;

- temp _29C____

- ph ___7__

- ammonia reading _almost nil___

- nitrite reading _almost nil___

- nitrate reading _almost nil___

- well water none____

- municipal water __Yes, Vancouver, BC.__

7. Any new fish/plants added recently. No new fish but there is one small 2" bristlenose albino pleco that never seems to harrass the discus.

Any insight is helpful.

Thanks,
Junior D!

[Eddie]

2 things, first.....age your water. Many want to go against the grain on this because they believe there is no problem with not aging. If you read through the majority of the posts in the disease section, you'll notice people are not aging there water. Its not a gimmick, its the basics and probably the most important aspect in successfully keeping discus.

2nd, almost nil means you have some. Ammonia/nitrite should ALWAYS be zero, not almost zero. And with only 35% water changes daily on a 90 gallon, you might have a bit more nitrates than nil. Your filter might not be completely cycled. I'd up the changes to 50% for now and juggle the cycle and start aging your water.

[Junior D]

Hi Eddie.

Many thanks for your input. It's greatly appreciated. I will try aging water but will have to quickly figure out how to do so without getting too complicated. Basically, I'll have to come up with a way to get water to the tank without bucketing it! LOL!

I just tested all nitrite, nitrate, ammonia and it does show nil (big relief)!

Cheers
Junior D

[Eddie]

Hi Eddie.

Many thanks for your input. It's greatly appreciated. I will try aging water but will have to quickly figure out how to do so without getting too complicated. Basically, I'll have to come up with a way to get water to the tank without bucketing it! LOL!

I just tested all nitrite, nitrate, ammonia and it does show nil (big relief)!

Cheers
Junior D

Many ways to do that, any submersible pump or powerhead. It really depends on where you put the storage container. Ideally, it would be easiest near the tank but I understand thats not always possible. The further away the storage barrel, the STRONGER the pump you'll need.

[MRQuad]

2 things, first.....age your water. Many want to go against the grain on this because they believe there is no problem with not aging. If you read through the majority of the posts in the disease section, you'll notice people are not aging there water. Its not a gimmick, its the basics and probably the most important aspect in successfully keeping discus.

2nd, almost nil means you have some. Ammonia/nitrite should ALWAYS be zero, not almost zero. And with only 35% water changes daily on a 90 gallon, you might have a bit more nitrates than nil. Your filter might not be completely cycled. I'd up the changes to 50% for now and juggle the cycle and start aging your water.

Agreed with Eddie on this one!

Sent from my LT15a using Tapatalk 2

[Junior D]

Great!

Thanks everyone for the quick replies.

I've set up an empty tank adjacent to the Discus tank. My wife is not going to like it as it is a bit of an eye sore since it doesn't quite fit, in terms of aesthetics...LOL! I'll just have to say that the health and happiness of the discuss depend on it! I've got a heater and an airstone in it so that I can pump the water directly into the main tank....

Hope things get better within a few days???

cheers,
Junior D

[Eddie]

Great!

Thanks everyone for the quick replies.

I've set up an empty tank adjacent to the Discus tank. My wife is not going to like it as it is a bit of an eye sore since it doesn't quite fit, in terms of aesthetics...LOL! I'll just have to say that the health and happiness of the discuss depend on it! I've got a heater and an airstone in it so that I can pump the water directly into the main tank....

Hope things get better within a few days???

cheers,
Junior D

Keep us posted!

[Junior D]

Hey Fellow Discus Friends,

Just an update.... Been doing daily W/C's with the aged water and the discus appear more social...Don't hide as much. However, it seems that the ones that I'm concerned with are still not eating and dark. Tested water conditions and all results are good.

WHile they seem to have improved, it still worries me that some are not eating. As initially noted, the pigeon blood ones appear aggressive so I wonder whether they might be too aggressive for the other ones, at this point?

No other symptoms other than this issue....

Cheers,
Junior

[Eddie]

Its highly possible, the pigeons might be stressing the others out too much. Its the nature of the beast. Stress weakens their immunities.

[Junior D]

Thanks Eddie.

Well, finally saw it this morning. A big white (not translucent) stringly, long feces coming out of the poor guy (initially just one but about 4 are not eating now). About 1.5" long and kind of puffy or bloated looking feces. I had previously treated him in a QT tank with Metro (about 250mg/ 10 Gallons on a daily basis with large 60% water changes) for 5-6 days but obviously that didn't work.

Suggestions? I don't have a microscope and I really wouldn't know what to look for anyways...

Thanks,
Junior

Should I try something

[Kal-El]

I am no expert but I hope my recent experience can help you. I was able to get my juvi to recover from Hex with 500mg/10gallon treated with temp at 88 degrees F every 8 hours with 50% water change for 3 days. They didn't eat after the third day so I continue the treatment for another seven days @ 500mg/10gal with water change every day. They recover fully after the 10day and started eating. I also fed them med food with metro for the next 3 days when they started to eat a little. Once they fully recover and back to normal they went back into their normal tank. I hope this help. It was a crazing learning experience for me during this time, but I learn a lot from this forum and other.

Med Food that I used. Purchase from the site below. I had no experience making my own med food so I went with this. It help as well.

Anti-Protozoan Flake - http://www.angelsplus.com/FlakeMedicated.htm?qty=1.00&sub=5.00&shp=0.00&dis=0.00&vch=0.00&tax=0.00&tot=5.00&sd=

[Junior D]

Hi Kalelhawj,

THanks for your input and reference to medicated food. I too, do not have experience making my own food (also, my wife wouldn't be overly impressed with me using the blender for these types of ingredients...LOL) but I will try again with the Metro. I'll definitely turn up the heat as well as I've read that heat is a good resolution to these internal issues.

I've been feeding the freeze dried australian black worms and these guys won't eat anything else!

My real juvi's (I purchased a bunch of frys from a local breeder) in a separate tank, are as healthy and eat like mad with no issues. But these other larger ones have become a worrying point. Not sure whether the limited diet of freeze dried black worms has contributed to some lack of nutrition?

Cheers,
Junior

[Kal-El]

Hi Kalelhawj,

THanks for your input and reference to medicated food. I too, do not have experience making my own food (also, my wife wouldn't be overly impressed with me using the blender for these types of ingredients...LOL) but I will try again with the Metro. I'll definitely turn up the heat as well as I've read that heat is a good resolution to these internal issues.

I've been feeding the freeze dried australian black worms and these guys won't eat anything else!

My real juvi's (I purchased a bunch of frys from a local breeder) in a separate tank, are as healthy and eat like mad with no issues. But these other larger ones have become a worrying point. Not sure whether the limited diet of freeze dried black worms has contributed to some lack of nutrition?

Cheers,
Junior

NP we are all are here to help. Also make sure the hospital tank has it's own cleaning utensil. You don't want to share those equipment with your good tank. I also learn that the hard way. Even one drop of water from the infected tank to the good tanks can spread the sickness. I always clean the good tank first, wash my hands very good, dry my hands, and then move on to the hospital tank for last. Good luck and hopefully all is well at the end.

[Eddie]

Here's some info

http://thegab.org/Illness-and-Treatment/parasitic-diseases-of-fish.html

Perform a wet mount of fresh poop and look at it under the microscope
Obtain a fresh sample of poop. It is important not to use poop that's been sitting around as you are looking for creatures from inside the fish, not from the tank.
Place the poop on a slide and add a drop of tank water.
Use the cover slip to mush the poop up in the water.
Place the cover slip on the sample by setting down one edge and then lowering the other side of the cover slip. Press down gently with your fingernail.
Start with the lowest magnification and scan the slide for movement.

http://www.fishhelpline.co.uk/health/hexamita.html

[Junior D]

Thanks for the very informative link on Hexzmita.

Very helpful, Eddie.

Odd/ Funny thing is that I used to have a microscope from the old university days...LOL... Got rid of it about 10 years ago and now.....

I'll do the Metro treatment. I think I'll treat the entire tank as obviously, all the fish have been exposed to it.

Thanks!

Junior!