sick discus

[lpiasente]

Hi, I am new to keeping discus and I have had them for about 2 months. All my water conditions are good but I still have one sick fish (and I hope no more to come). She had been hiding for a few days but would come out when I approached the tank and also she is still eating. She is panting heavily and only one gill is working. There are no other pysical symptoms that I can see. She is laying on her side resting on the driftwood, also her colour is still good. Any ideas? Thanks in advance Leanne

[Hollowman]

Hi Leanne,
Can I ask how long the tank has been cycled?
What are the test readings of your water?
How many discus do you have?
Is the tank planted or bare bottom (BB)?
What is the tank temp?

I would initially add an airstone to up the oxygen in the water. It does sound like Flukes, but could be a number of things.
I would get some Prazi-pro and treat as per instructions. Some might advocate a PP (Potassium Permanganate)treatment, which would also work. Both can be bought from your lfs (local fish shop)


hth Hollowman :)

Make sure you let us know how you get on. :)

[lpiasente]

Hi and thanks for the quick reply. The tank already has a large airstone. Nitrate, nitrite and ammonia all 0 and ph is 6.6. GH is 12 and I cant get a reading on kh Gravel and planted with 20-30% water changes and gravel vac twice a week, water aged with seachem prime. The tank is 12 months old but I changed to a 1600 litre canister filter 6 months ago. The tank is a standard 3ft with 3 very small discus 1 small and 3small-med. I am upsizing to a 5x2x2 in early November I also have some bottom feeders.

[lpiasente]

And tank temp 30 but it does drop down overnight to 28-29

[ILLUSN]

id be thinking gill flukes at this stage as your water seems fine, a 1-2C drop at night wont hurt the fish.

[lpiasente]

Thanks for your help

[lpiasente]

She died today. :( Her belly became quite bloated so maybe it was some kind of gut problem.

[BigDaddyAdo]

What treatment had you attempted?


Ado

[lpiasente]

I just treated for the gill flukes but earlier in the week I had added melafix and pimafix when I first noticed her hiding.

[Merrilyn]

So sorry to hear that Leanne. It's tough when one of your fish dies. But I really think you did everything possible.

There was really no time to do any proper diagnosis. I think it was just something totally out of your hands.

The main thing now, is to keep a close watch on the rest of your fish for any unusual signs.

If they begin passing white jelly like droppings, or turn dark and hide, then let us know.

In the meantime, keep up the frequent water changes and lots of good food.

[lpiasente]

Thanks Merrylin. Do I need to be giving them veggies. I feed them lots of good quality food but they all seem to be protien. I feed my fighting fish peas each week as I wasn't sure if the discus should be getting them as well?

[BigDaddyAdo]

Once a week i feed all my fish some peas. They all love it.


Ado

[Merrilyn]

Research suggests that discus do need vegetable matter in their diet.

In the wild they would be eating small shrimp and worms which would still have vegetable matter in their gut. You can easily provide it in the form of spirulina flake, or if you make your own beef hear mix, add some green leafy vegetables or peas to that mix.

There are some good recipies in the Food and Nutrition forum.

[lpiasente]

Thanks. Its veggies for lunch