A bright blue discus turned black and never came back

[Astolfo]

DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE


Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started
I have 9 discus (different sizes) one and one my favorites turned black like a month ago, and has never come back. His eyes are clouded some days and then they are not. The rest are just fine and happy.
He does not hide and continues to be himself.



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)


turn black and clouded eyes






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

180gal
9 discuss in different sizes
4 rams and a few tetras



5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?
every day 90%


6 Parameters and water source;

- temp 84-86

- ph 6.8

- ammonia reading 0

- nitrite reading __0

- nitrate reading ___0

- well water ____no

- municipal water ____yes and filtered through a carbon filter before hits the tank

7. Any new fish/plants added recently
no

[Orange Crush]

Bump...

[Astolfo]

bump again?

[DiscusDrew]

Do you age your water? Just curious, not blaming it at all... Was it gradual or fast that it turned dark.

[DiscusDrew]

I guess i'm asking if you're exaggerating or if its really black. Its a blue fish so is it just very dark or black? Anything unusual with feces?

[Astolfo]

no exagerating....BLACK BLACK as have seen a Discus no room for me to age water and the turnig was pretty fast 4-5 days

[lipadj46]

A black discus like that is very stressed and probably sick or soon to be sick. Usually large daily water changes will bring them around but if it stops eating qt and a course of metro may be in order

[Eddie]

A black discus like that is very stressed and probably sick or soon to be sick. Usually large daily water changes will bring them around but if it stops eating qt and a course of metro may be in order

He's changing 90% every day....in 180 gallon tank that is extremely under stocked. LOL

OP, can you move that one fish into a hospital tank for closer observation/treatment? Pictures would be helpful also.

[DiscusDrew]

According to the info the op provided I agree, there seems to be nothing wrong with the tank itself, pictures would be great and I still kinda want to know about feces if you have seem him poop.

[baeya]

Changing that much water every day seems like over kill to me. Maybe your filters to de chlor your water need to be changed. I would, personally, step back from the massive water changes for a day or two and then do 20 to 30% for a couple weeks to cheer him up.

[Orange Crush]

Changing that much water every day seems like over kill to me. Maybe your filters to de chlor your water need to be changed. I would, personally, step back from the massive water changes for a day or two and then do 20 to 30% for a couple weeks to cheer him up.
WRONG!
You would have to be doing at least a few water changes a day before you are doing too many (even then it may not be too many but I don't think anyone here has done that often to test the theory) especially when a discus is young, stressed, or sick.
On the rare chance that the water changes are adding stress then you need to find a way to age the water.

[lipadj46]

He's changing 90% every day....in 180 gallon tank that is extremely under stocked. LOL

OP, can you move that one fish into a hospital tank for closer observation/treatment? Pictures would be helpful also.

I wasn't telling him to do large water changes (as he already is), was saying if it were me and clean water is not working I would QT and start considering medicine.

[baeya]

I was just suggesting that just maybe his de chlor method wasn't working as well as it should be. Yes, aging would be one way but, it seems he uses filtered water to fill the tank.....do you think it is possible that just maybe those filters need to be changed??
I know in the Summer months where I live there is more chlorine added to the village water supply.

[DiscusDrew]

Central new York has a village? Anyway i'm still waiting on a picture before much can be said. I have my suspicions but no response has even been made to the question about feces. And on the water change subject, the ONLY way large water changes could have a negative effect is if there is a Ph change from tap to tank that is stressing the fish which is in turn allowing pathogens to take hold. This problem is not caused by a faulty chlorine filter, the effects would be more drastic and in the fish world there is no "not quite enough chlorine being removed" there is either chlorine or not chlorine, and if it were chlorine related it would be universal amongst all the fish and the results would be faster and more apparent.

Back on topic, when the OP takes an invested interest in his fish and a cure, so will I.