TimboS
Thu Feb 21, 2008, 04:10 AM
Hi All,
I have a high-fin blue turquoise female that's been an interesting little buddy for the last 1 and a bit years.
She was purchased with three other discus that have died off (for one reason or another - sob) and was growing well from day one.
When she was approaching the size of the palm of an (average) hand, the rate of growth slowed right down. Now she is only the size of said palm, despite her age ! (I guess that makes her roughly 10cm or 4inch top to bottom with fins extended).
This fish has been treated with protozin for external parasites at one point, and with Sterazin for worms another time. (We are in a real bad drought here in Australia, and here in South Australia the water levels in our dams are so low that we get a whole heap of bugs and so forth come through with the water so it's a difficult place to be with discus).
This fish has previously clamped fins and recovered. Recently she was treated to a PP bath because she was starting to clamp fins again - not much different now after the treatment however.
Of late, when I added a fair bit of discus buffer to get the pH down from that of our alkaline tap water, she developed a rather large pimple on her left cheek, close to her eye, overnight. This oozed a small thick white discharge the next morning and the sore was a little red the next day but now you would never know such a thing occured just looking at her.
So, generally, she looks fine, but is not growing, no observable eating, no observable pooing, no observable wasting away. Sometimes in the tank she will go really really dark - almost as black as the stripes that come up, and seem to want to fight the filter intake cage. Then, she reverts back to normal colour !
This fish has spawned twice and ate the eggs second time around. Because the male fish is now so dominant of her, I have him in a much smaller tank while I try to figure out how to get her eating and grow enough to stand up for herself.
At the end of all this, the question is, should I try prazi to flush any worms that may be in there?
I ask since some people say that she may be "stunted" and is living happily and will get no bigger. Her eyes are bigger than the male fish, who is say 50% bigger again, but I wouldn't say they are out of proportion. I think she will keep growing if only she eats more.
She must be eating since she is not wasting away, but I want her to grow !
I was thinking prazi first and that Big-L type stuff afterward if no change.
Any thoughts on this long winded matter?
(The tanks I use are a little acidic, about 6.9 and this is what she was more or less raised in, the nitrates are around 15ppm, gH 8 deg and kH 2 deg. The temp is 30 degrees but I have gone as far as 32 in an effort to stimulate the metabolism for more appetite).
Regards,
Timbo
I have a high-fin blue turquoise female that's been an interesting little buddy for the last 1 and a bit years.
She was purchased with three other discus that have died off (for one reason or another - sob) and was growing well from day one.
When she was approaching the size of the palm of an (average) hand, the rate of growth slowed right down. Now she is only the size of said palm, despite her age ! (I guess that makes her roughly 10cm or 4inch top to bottom with fins extended).
This fish has been treated with protozin for external parasites at one point, and with Sterazin for worms another time. (We are in a real bad drought here in Australia, and here in South Australia the water levels in our dams are so low that we get a whole heap of bugs and so forth come through with the water so it's a difficult place to be with discus).
This fish has previously clamped fins and recovered. Recently she was treated to a PP bath because she was starting to clamp fins again - not much different now after the treatment however.
Of late, when I added a fair bit of discus buffer to get the pH down from that of our alkaline tap water, she developed a rather large pimple on her left cheek, close to her eye, overnight. This oozed a small thick white discharge the next morning and the sore was a little red the next day but now you would never know such a thing occured just looking at her.
So, generally, she looks fine, but is not growing, no observable eating, no observable pooing, no observable wasting away. Sometimes in the tank she will go really really dark - almost as black as the stripes that come up, and seem to want to fight the filter intake cage. Then, she reverts back to normal colour !
This fish has spawned twice and ate the eggs second time around. Because the male fish is now so dominant of her, I have him in a much smaller tank while I try to figure out how to get her eating and grow enough to stand up for herself.
At the end of all this, the question is, should I try prazi to flush any worms that may be in there?
I ask since some people say that she may be "stunted" and is living happily and will get no bigger. Her eyes are bigger than the male fish, who is say 50% bigger again, but I wouldn't say they are out of proportion. I think she will keep growing if only she eats more.
She must be eating since she is not wasting away, but I want her to grow !
I was thinking prazi first and that Big-L type stuff afterward if no change.
Any thoughts on this long winded matter?
(The tanks I use are a little acidic, about 6.9 and this is what she was more or less raised in, the nitrates are around 15ppm, gH 8 deg and kH 2 deg. The temp is 30 degrees but I have gone as far as 32 in an effort to stimulate the metabolism for more appetite).
Regards,
Timbo