Treatment suggestions?

[TropicalFishFanatic]

DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE


Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started
Discus are "scratching" against tank objects,one is getting dark with cloudy eyes and not eating much.The others are still eating fine. Noticed the change 3 days ago.



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)

One turning dark,clamps fins at times, cloudy eyes,flashing,
3 others just flashing




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

None



Tank/Water

4. Tank size and age, number and size of fish
160 gal. 2 months aged, 4 discus 5 to 7 inches , 6 electric blue rams and 4 bristlenose plecos


5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?
50% 2 times a week , has been running for 2 months,gravel,planted bottom,water isnt aged.


6 Parameters and water source;

- temp __85.2___

- ph _7.6____

- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading 0____

- nitrate reading __?__

- well water _yes___

- municipal water ____

7. Any new fish/plants added recently

Added 2 discus a week ago after having them two weeks in a separate tank. Nothing else added since set up.
I did use a net that hadnt been "soaked" to transfer the 2 new discus...but ...other tanks have no sick or diseased fish (to my knowledge).
Should note that the rams are not flashing, in fact they are breeding.
Any advice would be welcome.
Another note: also have 2 cory cats in there and just now noticed there are baby plecos.

[TURQ64]

I'd start with a large, 50-75% wc, and a 25% the next day, and another 50% after that. This should clear up any light bacterial issues which are likely the cause of the cloudy eyes and clamped fins, flashing, etc...No med's yet, just plenty of clean water. The non aged fact doesn't help these issues, as the water really doesn't get a good chance to gas off before contact with the fish..Gary

[TropicalFishFanatic]

Thanks Gary, Starting a major water change now. Also as far as the aged water....I have aged my water for a week and tested it and found no significant change in ph or ppm's. Is there something else I should be looking for? I do have a filtration unit (not ro) on my well water, it used to have a high iron content but since installation it is good. 103 ppm and 7.4 ph out of tap.

[TURQ64]

Normally I'd 'fingerpoint' at the gravel substrate and it's ability to foster bacterial nasties, especially with infrequent wc's..This could still be the case, but well water can notoriously bite you in the arse sometimes regarding aquarium fish. So neithr can be ruled out IME. Is that filer an iron filter that recharges with PP and needs recharging?..or possibly a saturated carbon block unable to continue it's duty? Really, really clean the gravel, or remove it unless that's against your 'religion', and see if the wc's clear things up...it won't happen automatically, but should take long, either. We'll be watching, and paying some attention. Good luck, and I hope this clears things up properly.
If it doesn't, I'd be source locating Acriflavin and a nitrofuran based med...('Furan 2, Furanace, or something similar)...Gary

[DiscusDrew]

Gary is spot on, so we all shut our faces in his presence ;) Note that if you just put in a normal whole home filtration device it shouldnt be doing much in the way of iron, if you put in an iron filter, then Gary is 100% correct, it will cease to do its duty if it is not recharged with PP on a basis dictated by the iron content of your water. Same goes for the carbon block if you find you have a regular whole home filter. Easy way to check, iron filters are "hard core" so to speak, relatively tall (3-4 feet) cyclinder that is fairly small in diameter, they hace thick external walls and castings, almost appear to look like large scuba tank with a digital readout usually at the top. Whole home filters are generally a much simpler construction object, no recharging, just needs to have filter media changed, usually made of plastic in MOST cases but not all, and again, will not have a slot to put a recharge solution into. Staying on top of whatever needs to be maintained on whatever unit you have may prove critical to keep your water perameters as stable as possible given that you have well water.

All that said, I agree with getting rid of the gravel, before I started really diving into discus I had it as well, you will be astounded what you find when you remove and realize how much cleaner a BB tank or at least light substrate tank can be. Then instead of just "looking"clean.... your tank can actually BE clean.

[TropicalFishFanatic]

I do have a whole home filter/conditioner that I had installed with the new home.It removes most of the minerals and holds them in a storage tank which back flushes every 2 days and then "regens" to start collecting again, has a 10 year warranty not to fail, monitors let me know if something is wrong or not working properly. So far so good, it has been in service for a little over a year. Anyway after doing the water changes as suggested by Gary, fish are doing a lot better, haven't noticed any more flashing, fins are up and getting color back ! Thanks again Gary and DiscusDrew ! Much appreciated advice!!