MALE MOSAIC LEOPARD DISCUS GOING DARK AND GLASSY EYED

[Ray.M]

Hi,

My discus is very sick and I am at a loss of what to do.
The discus is about 16cm and a male.
Was partnered and the pair were laying eggs up to about two weeks ago.
The discus have been wormed recently with levamisole & praziquantal.
The discus has been progressively going dark over the past few weeks.
I have now isolated him in a quarantine tank and have treated him with metronidazole at a rate of 20mg/l but no improvement, seems to be getting worse.
His eyes seem glazed and although seems to respond to food being placed in the tank will not eat.
He is going darker and starting to look lethargic.
He does not seem to be passing any poo so I can not comment on this.
Physically he looks ok with no injuries and infections.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ray

[boxters]

At the risk of being shouted at here goes. Ray treating a sick fish with out knowing what you are treating for is only going to make an already compromised fish even weaker and susceptible to more infection and thus more sick. Metro is only used for internal infection. If your fish has got foggy eyes it's a dead give away that the problem is bacterial.

I suggest the following treatment.

1) slowly drop your ph to around 5. Yes 5. The low ph inhibits the bacteria and gives the fish a chance to recover.

2) We need to was the fish. I mean not literally but by giving it a salt bath. 10 liters of water with 300 grams aquarium salt. Place fish in solution for 30 seconds or until it rolls.

3) make sure temp is at least 30 degrees.

If this does not improve things, feel free to contact me and I'll supply you with something stronger

[ILLUSN]

pp is an alternative to the salt bath, both treatments will remove the slime coat and any pathogens in it it will also expose pathogens on the skin under the slime coat and make it possible to remove them.

the salt bath as Marlon has described will work, but be sure to remove the fish as soon as it rolls.

if you have pp a dip in 8-10mg/L will ahve the same effect, apply the same way, as soon as the fish rolls take it out, i personally wont dip for more them 30 seconds but usually the fish roll within 10-18 seconds.

alternatively you could do an overnight treatment of 2mg/l PP

protozin by water life has worked for cloudy eye but it takes time to take effect.

what ever treatment you do it is important to add salt to the water after the treatment @ 1tbs/40L this will rebuild the striped slime coat, a drop of water conditioner with aleo vera in it/40L also wont hurt

[Ray.M]

My discus is still in dire straights and I may have lost the battle.

What I have done:

Increased temp to 34 degrees
Treated with metronidazole at a rate of 20mg/l for 4 days - no real improvement. 25% water changes daily
Stopped metro - treated with 2ppm Potassium permanganate for 18 hours
Added salt - 1 tablespoon /40L - small improvement - 25% water changes + salt top up for 2 days - discus deteriorated - feeding slowing down.
Added Protozin - 4 days - 25% water changes daily - discus deteriorating and stopped feeding.

What he looked like 2 weeks ago
http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/x...t/IMG_3268.jpg

Photos 26/3
http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/x...t/IMG_3670.jpg
http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/x...t/IMG_3684.jpg

Photos 29/3

http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/x...t/IMG_3685.jpg
http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/x...t/IMG_3679.jpg
http://i760.photobucket.com/albums/x...t/IMG_3672.jpg

Any helpful advice appreciated - I have nothing to lose.

Thanks
Ray

[boxters]

I sent you a pm and offered my help. Metro will not help this fish at all

[Nev]

Ray, you've ignored the advice you asked for and appear to have only done the bits you liked.

[Ray.M]

Hi Nev,

I treated with metro before the posting - it was only to inform the forum of what I had tried.
I treated with pp which should have the same effect as a salt bath.
I increased the temperature
I added salt.
I did not lower the ph as I did not know what to use, since then I did ask and find out how.
I did water changes every day.
Protozin helped last time when this fish was sick and displayed similar pattern and was somewhat a last resort.
I am not sure anyone has provided the silver bullet that would have saved the fish but at least Marlon & Jothy have tried and I appreciate that.
I was surprised that so few commented on the posting given it is posted in the Emergency section.
It is possible that the fish had an organ failure and nothing would have helped.
Even if this did not work out for me, a more constructive posting may help others avoid the mistakes I made.
Once again - thanks to all that have contributed.

[swifto]

After seeing the pics of your fish I would now put it out of its missery.As I feel it's to far gone.

[boxters]

Ray I don't think the problem is resolved. If there are other fish in this tank it's very likely they are infected too. It's always the fish with the lowest resistance that is affected first. This could wipe out your entire tank

[Ray.M]

The fish died overnight and I was going to put it down this morning.

Marlon, in relation to the other fish, they all appear healthy, vibrant and eating well. Thank you for your concern and I will keep an eye on them and contact you if anything suspicious appears.

Once again thank you to all, with the comments forwarded I might have a better chance if something similar happens again. I have learnt a lot and I hope that it may help other forum members if something similar happens to them.

Ray