Sick discus

[discusdude]

Hey ppl,
5 of the discus in my 3ft tank have clamped fins and have become very dark. The water parameters are as follows:
pH: 6.8
gh: 4
temp: 29 degrees
They are all huddled in one cornor of the tank towards the surface, can anyone tell what is going on? Also 2 of them have a white coat on their tails.

Cya
Alistair

[weird]

I am thinking it could be velvet Alistair. You want a second opinion though.

If you think it is velvet, treatment is generally machalite green.

If it does not get better after increase temp, salt, water change, try machalite green.

If they do not recover after I have a few other suggestions. But from description that is what I think it could be.

Good luck with him mate. They should be ok if you treat em early. Discus are tough buggers.

[Trebs]

Can you post your ammonia and nitrite readings(nitrate also if possible)? Don't raise temps until these check out. Can you give us a brief history of your tank? namely how long has it been setup, any new arrivals, has any of the conditions changed recently?

This info will let us better assist you.

[discusdude]

Thanks guys,
The tank has been setup 12 months or so, its had discus for about a month. I foolishly put in a discus 4 days ago without quarantining it. A mistake I plan never to make again.

I have treated them with aquarium salt, 1 teaspoon per 20 litres. I will get some meds for velvet tomorrow. I will also find out about my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

Cheers
Alistair

[weird]

Do you have any other fish in the aquarium ? If not , and only discus, velvet can be treated successfully with high temperature.

Increase the temperature to around 32 degrees. You can even increase it to around 33-34 degrees (don't increase more than 2 degrees per day though). Whitespot can be treated like this for about 7 or more days to kill the parasite cycle, I believe velvet can be successfully treated even in a shorter period. The parasite will die at such temps.

If you have no other fish present (that are unable to tolerate the temp increase), then temp may be your best option than using meds.

Also if velvet is not the problem, we can then treat the discus if necessary with whatever med is required, perhaps metro if it is hex.

[discusdude]

Thanks for your help ppl, nearly all the discus are now fine. For a couple of days they all looked horrible, but now nearly everyone of them is swimming around with full colours and eating. So far I havent lost one!

Cheers
Alistair

[kalebjarrod]

well done alistar,

but please QT from now on, it stops the heart attcks

[discusdude]

Haha, yes i would totally agree with that!

[kalebjarrod]

not only for you but for us as well!