OverFed Discus

[Lichan]

Hello - I was just wondering whether Discus can make themselves a little bit "sick" or "off-colour" if over fed?? I have a couple of new 2" clown loaches that I added to my Discus tank to keep the uninvited snail population down to a minimum. I only added the loaches last weekend - I have hardly seen them and they definately have not been out at feeding times, so I was getting a bit concerned as to whether or not they were getting enough to eat. I went and bought some Hikari algae wafers "the sinking ones" so I could be sure they would at least get to the bottom and give the loaches a chance. So last night I used dropped a wafer in (they are about the size of a 5 cent piece) and came back in half an hour to see one of my brown discus devouring it. He just kept going and going and going...I left him alone and thought he would stop when he was full - however this morning he was dark brownish and hiding (he is never dark and never hides but he has been like this all day now - a bit skittish to) Nothing else in the tank has changed all params are normal. Was wondering whether maybe he just ate to much of something he doesn't normally get ??? Any thoughts ??
They normally get fed - in the morning, F/D blood worms or F/D brine shrimp and in the afternoon, Tetra colour bits, OSI spirulina flake food and Hikari cichlid gold pellets and I normally dont allow them to"stuff" themselves.

[DarrenJThomas]

I would not worry about the clown loaches not getting enough food. They generally come out at night. I find that mine only come out during the light period for some extra food if they are hungry, other than that they stay hidden in the log.

In regards to the discus i beleive that they can get constipation which is fixed with epsom salts.

[Lichan]

The only this is though, there is never any food left on the ground for the loaches...so even if they do come out at night, theres nothing left for them to eat anyway. Poor little Discus is still dark and hiding !! VERY STRANGE for him to be doing this - I am worried about him. My little girls gave me a pair of them for Fathers Day just gone and I would hate to lose one of them. He isnt showing any external signs of problems, just dark and hiding...

[sammigold]

I agree that it could be constipation. and epsom salts is the way to go but you should do it in a separate tank as loaches are scaleless fish and as such are sensitive to salt.

[Lichan]

Thanks so much for the reply - Could someone recommend a dosage rate for the epsom salts ie how much, how often and for how long ?? Would these be the same epsom salts that I can buy in any grocery store ?? or a special sort from the pet store ?? Thanks once again guys ....

Pete

[sammigold]

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 9:32 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sammi are you feeding mainly a dry pellet diet to the fish. Perhaps add a little frozen brine shrimp to their diet, at least once a day.

The extra fibre works on the fish, just the same as it works on us LOL

Severe cases of constipation can be treated with epsom salts at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 40 litres of water.

It sounds like a simple digestive upset, so I do think your could return your fish to the main tank shortly.


This is a quote from a thread that I posted in emergency room in Sep. Ladyred gave me this advice. I now give my discus frozen brine shrimp everyday as well as their other foods. Anyway the dose of epsom salts is there. It should work within a few hours if your discus is constipated. If you are interested my thread was called "Discus Constipated?" I'd link you to it but don't know how. Sorry!! :oops: Anyway HTH. BTW don't worry about the loaches not getting food I am sure they will be picking up scraps, there must be some food getting down to them from that wonderful selection you mentioned and if you have snails they will feast on those. Ours like to eat zucchini so you might want to try that. anyway Good Luck!!! :D

[G-1000]

Clown loaches may harbour diseases which could affect your discus. If the discus darken, try looking for signs of hex infection as this is usually the most common ailment that makes the darken.

Stress is possible, but not if the clown loaches are small e.g 2 inches.

Interesting

Keep us posted

G

[DiscusMan]

Do you worm your discus?

Anyone who feeds bloodworms to there fish needs to worm them.

Just think if there is a worm inside him eating all the food he consumes then he would be hungry still.

Constiaption and worms may be detecable by a expansion of the stomach area 1 by having to much inside and the other by having an extra creature inside you but again this is not a definate answer merely a suggestion as to a fish that eats heaps and then looks sick. The lack of the swollen abdomen also doesn't mean it has oen of them.

doing a big water change also helps in the cleaning out of fish. As soon as i start pumping fresh water into my tanks my fish all let lose and you no sooner have cleaned the tanks and added fresh water till its all soiled again.

So do a large water change say at least 50% and monitor the fish and see if it does a bowel movement if nothing then i would start to get concerned and monitor even more closely over the coming days.if bowel movement comes thaen take note of what it looks like a lot can be learned by lookign at your fish poo :)

Wayne