Sick fish, new tank

[krandrus]

I currently have a planted 77 gallon that is fully cycled and has 7 jeuvie discus in it. I do daily water changes and my readings are 0 across the board (but hard water and a ph of 7.8). I have had the discus in there for 2 months now and they are all over 2.5 inches now.

Everything was going fine until one of the fish got hex. Carol helped me with it, it appeared to be on the mend, but it did not leave the tank. I salted, metro'd and increased the temperature.

Now the high temp is killing the plants and the algae is out of control. 4 of the fish have hex with 2 really sick (four are not eating). And 3 appear just fine. I am in a vicious cycle.

I cannot sacrifice my 77 show tank. the discus will have to move, so I went out today and bought a 50 gallon tank with an aquaclear 500 and 2 sponge filters. I will keep it barebottom and follow the clean regime as written about on the site. I have the sponge filters seeding in the 77 as we speak. I cannot run the aquaclear on it as the canopy does not allow for it and the tank is on an eheim cannister.

What else can I do to make the new tank habitable for the discus quickly. I am tempted to use the seeded filters intermittenly and get the discus in there ASAP. If I am managing the ammonia levels though water changes, will it be better than being in this environment that is obviously making them sick. What would you do.

Thanks in advance for your help. You can tell I am serious about saving these fish by the new aquarium purchase. I have a really understanding wife.

Kevin

[Tad]

krandrus,
IMO, move the 7 juvs to the new 50 along with the enheim (you did not mention if there are other fish in the planted tank)..and start the Metro protocol to deal with the hex. Monitor the water parameters for ammonia as ammonia will cause the loss of appetite and if they are already compromised due to hex you do not need additional problems. You might consider having some cover (plastic plants, driftwood etc) in the new tank as your discus are probably used to some cover and the movement to a barebottom could cause them some stress. Also put the air driven sponges in the new 50 and start seeding them.

HTH,
Tad

[Anonapersona]

I squeeze out the canister filter sponges into the new tank, makes a heck of a mess, then run the sponge filters in there overnight, vac up the floor in the morning and add the fish.

You will have transferred more than enough bacteria and with big water changes, you shouldn't see any problem.

[Carol_Roberts]

You could also just take some of the media from the canister and place it in the bottom of the aqua clear under the sponge. You'll be doing 50% daily water changes and feeding very lightly with teh metro anyway.

[krandrus]

Great feedback all, thank you. I will let you know how it works out.

[RyanH]

Hey Kevin,

You got good advice from the others here. You are making a wise decision getting a barebottom tank to grow out your babies. As you found out, it is very difficult to have success with baby Discus in a planted tank. Especially if you are relatively new to the hobby. Keep them in that BB tank until they are huge, healthy adults and then think about putting them back into that show tank...

[krandrus]

Man I got rocked here, I had had luck with a number of other community species but this is a totally different game. Hopefully I have not done any permanent damage to the fish and I just hope that curing hex in a barebottom is as straight forward as everyone says.

I am using Seachem Metro. The intructions on the tube are only 100mg/10 gallons every two days, should I continue with this? There are so many opinions about dosage on the site, I am confused about it. Keep in mind I have 3 healthy fish, 2 look healthy but are off food and some funky poo, and 2 are dark with funky poo. What dosage regime would you recommend? Please be very specific.

I will also raise the temp up to 92 and go 2 tablespoons of salt per 10 gallons.

Thanks again all. There is not a huge discus community in Calgary, so without you I would be all alone in this. I love this site.

Kevin

[Carol_Roberts]

I use 400 mg per 10 gallons

[krandrus]

How often do you treat and how big of a water change between treatments? Does the metro harm the fish?

[RyanH]

If memory serves, metro only stays active for about 8 hours. You will probably want to repeat your dosage every 24 hours with a 50% water change.

[Carol_Roberts]

Yes, try treating once a day after a 50% water change with 92 degree water of similiar pH to tank water. Treat for 3 - 5 days

[RyanH]

Keep us posted Kevin and good luck. Don't hesitate to ask if you have anymore questions.

[krandrus]

Well I just moved them - not fun getting discus out of a planted tank, but there were no injuries.

Everything is as I expected they are in the back corner of the tank, all white as can be. I took your advice and squeezed the sponge as well as transferring some of the filter media in a cheese clothe. The sponge filters I have in the tank were seeded for about three days. So there is some hope that I will not have monster cycle issues.

Now that there are no discus in the big planted tank - there is an algae crew and some rams - should I try and treat the hex protozoa there as well? Or not worry about it because you can't wipe out hex.

Treat with at LEAST 400 mg/10 gal. Ive always used 500
As Carol already stated....try one dose a day for now...you can go as much as every 8 hrs without a problem though.
Dont worry about treating the other tank...Are you going to put them back into the planted tank once they're healthy?? If so...they'll probably break down again after a while... :-\

[krandrus]

Nope, they are their at least until they grow out. I don't what I will do once they are nice and big.