Potassium pregmate all i got to use?

[Mulisha]

Hi guys

I have 2 discus and they have a bad case of flukes they flick both there anal fins and there top fins and will flick there fins near there anal as well. They flick these fins alot and sometimes will flick that much they will at times dart around the tank banging into the glass.

The male i have does have 2 fairly deep scratchs from him darting around the tank..

I firstly used Fluke and Tapeworm tabs then the flukes came back.
I then tryed pure prazi off MAC and then the flukes still came back after that.
So then i had to use Trichflron about 2 weeks ago and now my fish have started showing the same symptoms as when i first used the Fluke and tapeworms tabs..

What do you think i should do??

The fish at the moment have been getting daily w/c and sometime every second day. I have been adding 1 teaspoon of salt per 40L water..

I have no idea what to do do i go buy some PP from the chemist and use that or what should i do??

Thanks for any of ur help!!

Thankyou

Rick.

[samir]

be very careful when using KMn04. do you have another tank to move your fish to after treating ???

[Ben]

I would not recommend using PP as there is a fine between killing the discus and the flukes!

If it were I at this stage I would do nothing other than WC every day (%30) and feed nutritious foods.

Discus if looked after in optimum conditions has an excellent immune level.

[Phlipper]

Just a shot in the dark here but...are you so sure it's flukes ?, seems to me with all the treatment given you should of got rid of it by now. Could it be some irritant within the water supply itself, maybe try a different water source, or as well run some activated carbon in the tank to see if that removes some possible irritant from the water, might be worth a shot

[Dee]

Just a shot in the dark here but...are you so sure it's flukes ?, seems to me with all the treatment given you should of got rid of it by now. Could it be some irritant within the water supply itself, maybe try a different water source, or as well run some activated carbon in the tank to see if that removes some possible irritant from the water, might be worth a shot

I'm with Phlipper on this one Rick, after all those meds ... especially trichlorfon, you would think that the flukes would be back to managable levels. As Phlipper has said, I would be looking at your water source mate ... what additives do you add to your water ??? list everything you add each water change ie: prime, KH powders etc. I would personally not add anything to your water for a while and do daily 30% WC's and add carbon to the tank for a week and see how that goes mate.

Cheers,

Dee

[Dee]

Forgot to say that using PP is too risky IMO for anyone that has not had experience with it, if not used correctly it can be VERY STRESSFULL for the fish and posibly kill them along with all your filters etc. It is also advised to have a steralised clean tank to put them in after treatment with PP.

Cheers,

Dee

[Mulisha]

Thanks guys for ya help.

Well my water is rain water and all i do is add some prime to the water and maybe a little salt.

Water Specs:
PH:5.5
KH:0
GH:0

Temp in the tank is 32.4

I have thought the same thing maybe it's not flukes but that's all i could think of when they would rub against a heater or something..

Do i just put some carbon in my canister filter that's running on the tank?

Thanks for all your help guys i thought the same the meds i already have used should have killed 99% of them..

Cheers

Rick.

[Phlipper]

If you are using 100% rainwater then that could very well explain the problem, who knows whats coming off the roof from the atmosphere ! or from leaf litter, dust etc. Rainwater is a great supplement, or can be sometimes, but some of the contaminants in the atmosphere these days are very unsuitable for fish habitation. I use a 30% rainwater mix in all my tanks, and over time have noticed that if I increase the rainwater quantity many of my fish show adverse reactions to it. Even under the 30% mix every now and then my fish dont seem themselves and seem irritated, and if I do a water change using 100% tap water they almost always perk up.

It is a well known fact that using rainwater comes with a certain amount of risk, pollutants from factories etc can travel thousands of miles, you dont necessarily have to live near one to recieve the effects, particularly if you live in an area where the wind blows from industrial areas. Acid rain is a sad and regretable aspect of the world we live in these days, you only have to drive near a Queensland sugar mill and smell the acrid stench to understand the problem. Was it you, or someone else that had unbelievably low PH readings from their rainwater, I dont remeber who it was, but that certainly indicates acid rain is a major factor in rainwater quality.

This is what I would try......................can you or do you already use an aging barrell, get one of these, fill it with water, rain water if you must ? but preferably a mix. Run a corner style canister filter loaded with activated carbon via an air pump into the aging barrell for 2 or 3 days prior to use, this should help remove most of impurities, polish the water up well and add nothing else at all except for maybe a little salt at the 1 teaspoon to 40 litres. If indeed the water quality is the problem it will take several large water changes to solve it, so as soon as the aging barell is used up, refill it and "Replace the Activated Carbon" and repeat the process ready for the next water change in a few days.

Aging/mixing barrells are a great idea, not just to remove chlorine but also to add any additives and mix them thoroughly rather than dose straight into the tank, they also make water changes much simpler if you have a spare water pump with hose attatched to refill the tank with.

You could also try the carbon within the canister filter in operation atm, but that becomes a hassle to remove it and replace it regularly, in your situation the carbon should be removed and replaced at least every week. The only real problem with using activated carbon in the main tank and not in an aging barrell is that not only will it assist in removing impurities, it will also remove other additives like plant fertiliser, prime etc etc.

I really think if you can manage it this may very well solve your problem, but short cuts may render the process next to useless, it's worth a try i think, see if you can and get back to us after a couple of weeks of thios treatment, good luck mate

[Mulisha]

Thanks alot Phil and everyone i only just got home from work and i turned the light on to find the female breathing fast and only out 1 gill..

The tank has a very small amount of gravel becuase i was having problems with reflection etc..

If i was to put my disucs in a bucket for like 3hrs maybe 4hrs while i move there tank from in my room into my garage and i put a air stone in the bucket do you think this will be ok becuase i have aging barrel set up out there and i could get some carbon happening etc out there..

By the way when the carbon is exhausted how do i make it all good again?

Thanks guys for all your help i really didn't think rainwater would cause my discus to breath out 1 gill but if so atleast i'll be able to fix the problem

Cheers

Rick.

[samir]

i still think its flukes. maybe do a scrape off one of you fish from the gill to the tail and get it looked at under the microscope. then treat for what you find. after you treat put them in a sterile tank otherwise the bugs keep coming back.