PLEASE HELP!!Sick discus dark color, white poop, cloudy eyes

[karisdiscus]

I noticed last night that it had white sting like poop. I fed it bood worms and it ate fine. Today however, it has dark eyes with a little clouding not white but a little cloudy. it's stress bars are also showing. it color is not as bright. It is trying to hide. It never hides and is normally always out when i am home. I tested the water and it was perfect. I still did a 20% water change today with ro water. The water temp is 86 degrees. My other fish seem fine and I have not lost any of them in a long time. HELP!! I really love this fish and i dont want to lose it!! :cry:

[Merrilyn]

It sounds very much like your fish may have hex, or wasting disease. Sounds like you have caught it early, so treatment should be very successful.

Follow the instructions in this thread carefully.

http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17130

[Hollowman]

. I tested the water and it was perfect.

This is not an answer we can work with, get test kits and give us the readings.

[karisdiscus]

The PH is 6.8
The ammonia is 0
nitrate is 0
The water temp. is 86 degrees. Is there something else i should be testing?

So far all my other discus seem to be doing fine. (keep my fingers crossed) I am not sure if it is hex or wasting disease. It does not have a pinched look above its eyes. and it is still eating just not as much. it does have a string like white poop not segmented. I could of just noticed it early. You guys would know way more than me! I have only owned discus for about 7 months now.

[Hollowman]

I would put it in a smaller tank, say 2ft and treat initailly for hex. There is a good product called EshaHex, that I have had great success with in the past, and I always have some in my cupboard.

The pinched look is never a good sign, with more experience you should have spotted this months ago. I do not hold out much hope right now, but try this product if you can find it. Daily water changes in the small tank will help. Do you have a mature sponge filter to use? If not the bigger the daily water change the better, I would also raise the temp up to 30 degrees for the next few weeks.

hth

[karisdiscus]

Thank You to both of you for all your help! I was able to get Metronidazole already in crushed form today :D In the USA you dont need a vet to perscribe it. I will follow your directions and pray it works. I do think i cought it early because it is still somewhat eating and does NOT have the piched look at all. It does not even look skinny yet. I will keep you updated on how it is doing. Although i was told to treat my whole tank. I was also told that moving the discus now would cause too much stress. Do you think it is a good idea to treat all my whole tank and not move it to a hospital tank?

[Merrilyn]

Treat in your main tank if you don't have a hospital tank.

You have caught it early, but don't delay treatment.

Later down the track in this disease, the fish will stop eating and then treatment is much more difficult.

When testing water, we always test for ammonia (which should be zero) nitRITE (also zero) and nitRATE which should have some reading in a mature tank (around 10).

Please keep us posted and very good luck.

[karisdiscus]

I think it might be dying :( It is still eating a little but now just tonight he has pretty much lost control of his swimming. I did the water changes every day and treated the tank. I guess it was just to much for it. Should i keep treating the tank if he does die? If so how long should I treat the tank? Can my other discus catch it? None of them are showing any signs they are all eating well, have bright colors and have clear eyes.

[Merrilyn]

So sorry to hear that.

Sometimes fish will die even when we're doing everything possible for them.

Are you able to remove the sick fish to another bare tank (even a rubbermaid tub with filter and heater will do) to keep him separate from your healthy fish. Continue with the medication and watch him carefully.

Fingers crossed for you.

[Hollowman]

Yes, sad news.

Like Merrilyn says remove the sick fish. If it dies in the tank, any parsite it carries will leave the host and go looking for another living host. Never let a dead fish sit in the tank.

[karisdiscus]

I got a small 5 gal tank and set up a filter and heater and before the water was able to get warm he died :( Now I am worried for my other fish because he died in the main tank. He was not in there for very long after he died. Although one of my other fish was picking on him when i saw he was dead. I will just keep doing water changes every day for a while. Should i medicate the tank for a while longer or just watch them really close? Thanks again for all your help!