White "zits" on head

[Angel-Discus]

Hi,

I am new here, so please excuse me if I dont post something correctly :) I have at the moment 6 discus in a community tank that includes multiple other species of fish, it is also a planted tank. I started off with just two discus, of around approx. 12cms a piece. A Marlboro Red and a Snow Leopard spotted white. I have recently purchased and added two breeding couples to the tank, one set is a blue snakeskin and the other couple is a turquoise blue. All of them seem fine, apart from the turquoise blue male, he has been having white string like feces and now I have also noticed he has white "zits" on one side of his head, he does seem to be quite quiet, but I dont know if he is normally like this or not, he does hang around with the other discus and doesnt present extremely clamped fins, he isnt eating at present, although his previous owner fed him and the other 3 beef heart, so I am also feeding them this. He does hide sometimes behind the rocks, but again he doesnt seem to be particularly sick. I hope I have described the problem enough... but like I said, I am new here... so if I have missed something (which is likely :P) then please just ask, as I would really hate for him to die...

Thanks to everyone in advance for any answers, advice or questions :)

[xxbenjamminxx]

First thing is first. To get all the info needed to properly figure out what is going on please go back and copy and paste the sticky "disease Questionaire" and then answer all the questions in the most detail way possible. It will help to eliminate or bring up minor things that could be the underlying causes of what your dealing with.

[Keith Perkins]

What Ben said. Knowing your water change habits, water temperature, and a couple other things on the questionnaire would be extremely helpful in members assisting you.

[Angel-Discus]

Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started
I purchased 4 new discus to add to my 750 litre tank, which is a community tank. There is already two large adult discus in there. 2x Females one Marlboro red and one white spotted leopard. I got the opportunity to purchase two established breeding couples, a pair of blue snakeskins (which are fine and a pair of blue turquoise (the male is the one that’s sick) the female seems to be ok.

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)
Turning dark, not eating, white poop, hides sometimes, appears to have cotton wool on body, white zits on his head that now look like holes.

3. What medications/ treatments that you have already tried and results. Include dosages and duration of treatment.
No medications or treatment as of yet, just added another filter to the tank, increased aeration and water changes, I don’t want to treat while im not 100% sure what is wrong.

Tank/Water

4. Tank size and age, number and size of fish
Tank is 1.80*0.70*0.60 metres which is a size of 750 litres. The tank is now around 3 months setup here, but it was purchased 2nd hand. Adult discus are around 15 – 20 cms in size.


5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water?
Water changes of around 30% every week. Tank has been running for 3 months or so. Gravel. No I don’t age the water, I treat it with deNitrol and Aqua Safe.


6 Parameters and water source;

- temp 29 celsius

- ph 7.5

- ammonia reading <0.2

- nitrite reading 0

- nitrate reading 25 - 30

- well water n/a

- municipal water tap water

7. Any new fish/plants added recently
Just the 4 new discus.

[Angel-Discus]

Sorry for not filling out before.. im just new here :P And thanks for your help :)

[Poco]

Looks like you didnt QT the new fish.

Your Nitrates are too high. You need to do a large water changes until you get them under 5ppm. 30% weekly water change is not enough.

[Second Hand Pat]

I would suggest upping your WCs to at least 505 daily also. It appears to me that you have a mini-cycle going on since you have measurable ammonia.

[Angel-Discus]

How much would you recommend for a tank that is 750 litres in size?? And no they were not quarantined, but then they did not come from a pet store, they came from a breeder that lives near me. I also have in the filter JBL ClearMec, 4 packets of this and nitrates are going down. Will do a water change now with the recommended amount. Would you say that the fish needs medicating?? Or best to just water change and see if he gets better??

[Angel-Discus]

I dont know if the ammonia is measurable, as there is something on the glass and it is in the green zone.. where is says it is safe.. but it is possible that it is cycling, the thing is i really dont know, hence the posting here... i have 2 different types of test kits, test strips from tetra that say that the nitrite is spot on and a jbl test kit, with drops that say the nitrite is high.. I dont know which one to believe, will start with the water changes and will measure it again with both. Are there any reliable test kits that you would recommend?? Sorry for the perhaps stupid Qs but I just want to get it right as they are 6 adult discus and two established breeding couples... thanks :)

[Second Hand Pat]

If it were me I would start with daily 50% WCs or half the volume of your tank. This will help address a mini-cycle, lower your nitrates and help with the zits if they are being caused by a water quality issue. Can you post a picture?

[Angel-Discus]

Of course 7467974680

Here you can see the cotton wool and the "zits" which the white part has now gone leaving a hole...

[Eddie]

It seems you skipped quarantine, something very important in keeping fish, especially discus.

Salt dip the fish and return it to a hospital tank. I'd recommend scooping up some antibiotics just in case the issue gets worse. Something that works extremely well is Furan-2 or Furanance but you'll be hard pressed to find furanance. Stay on top of water quality, with daily water changes.

[Angel-Discus]

Eddie do you think a salt dip would be beneficial?? He does seem to have HiTH... I have got for him Hexamita and some anti fungus medicine and will now treat the whole tank after doing a 50% water change today... I am a bit scared to give him a salt dip tbh... Even with only the water changes he seems to be a bit happier...

[Eddie]

The salt dip will handle the fungus and before treating for hex, I'd look into possible mineral deficiency. What do you feed your fish.

[Angel-Discus]

I havent fed him anything since I got him.. because he wont eat anything :( obviously I have fed the fish.. only that he doesnt eat.. my fish get FD Mixpur which is dried tubiflex, red mosquito larvae and krill, sera flora flakes, complete discus "grains" (red pellets) and beef heart.. I do have a community tank so the first two items are more for the benefits of the other fish. His previous owner fed him beef heart and maybe some other things.. that I dont know.. I have already started the fungus and hex treatment and he seems to have brightened up a bit.. Im just worried because he doesnt eat and he has white stringy feces, a zit that has now turned into a hole in his head.. and fungus looking stuff on his body, combine that with dark colours and ocassional hiding and hasnt eaten in a week.. its kind of at the point where i dont know what to do with him..

[dpete9]

Ha, found your post. I sold these guys to her. I think, it was a combination of the stress from transport and the higher nitrates in the tank that knocked this guy in to trouble.
I only feed my fish beef heart mix and trust me it's power packed with vitamins (shrimp, bh, spirulina, vitamins, calcium, Tetra color bits).
She's showed me some amazing pics of the other fish I sold her and her tank.. Beautiful.
Despite what's up with this guy he still looks to be in pretty good shape.

p.s. I recruited her to this site (do it with everyone I sell discus to) so that she could learn so much and get great advice from everyone. knowledge is power!

[Angel-Discus]

Good to see you're here too :) there is no change in him.. but then no news is good news :) will keep everyone updated

[brewmaster15]

The hole from the zit will close up in time if you follow the advice given so far and if you maintain good water quality. Its not uncommon . The fishes face is covered with pores, if these get infected, a pimple forms. When it ruptures a hole is left. Sometimes its severe and antibiotics are needed, most of the time its not....an alternative is you net the fish and apply hydrogen peroxide to the hole with a q-tip and return to the tank.. this can be done everyday for a few days.

You'll need to be patient with the fish, It takes ups to 5 days for metronidazole to start working on Hex and I would carry that treatment out at least 10 days.

Hth,
Al

[jimg]

I would get metro and start treating it now. it's not from mineral deficiency unless there is something going on internal that the fish's system is not accepting nutrients. imo hith starts internal. if it has the white feces and holes it needs treatment. many carry flagellates and stress lets them get the upper hand. there is a chance it may be fine once settled, but a weakened fish is prone to all types of attacks and treating will do more good than harm.

[Angel-Discus]

Thanks to everyone for their help :) I started the treatment 2 days ago, this is the 3rd day and he already appears to be brighter in colour and is getting some orange back in his eyes :D will continue with the treatment and do the water changes, but it looks like he is going to be ok!! :D Will keep everyone updated :)

[jimg]

I agree with Al on the thought that hith is like a pimple, we had discussed that one time. my thoughts are it begins with something not right internal, like when people get sores in their mouths or pimples on their faces, sometimes it can be from virus,bacterial, organs or hormones not being right. just my thoughts. hope it clears.