QUICK HELP

[Addicted2discus]

We have just arrived home to find one of our discus floating around and turning black.. She is still breathing but fingding it hard to keep upright. The other 6 seem ok however when we moved in front of the tank they reacted very scared hitting the walls of the tank.. We have done a 50% water change, put fungus cure in and have taken out all the plants. Please help!!! what do we do????

[Tam]

Im no expert but give us more information. U really need to test your water, temperature, pH, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite. No point in changing 50% water if you don't know what the cause of one fish floating belly up mate.

why put fungus medication in?

Tam

[Addicted2discus]

Its obvious that our fish have the plague.... Put fungus cure in because the first website said too..
PH 6.0, Nitrite 0, Ammonia 2.0, Nitrate 10

[TW]

Hi, like Tam, I'm no expert either. But the ammonia reading 2.0 is likely to be a big part of the issue. Good luck with them. I hope some of the experts here can help you along.

[Tam]

Ammonia should be 0, if you have Prime or something simialar that detoxifies Ammo then use it. Increase oxygen if you have an extra air pump. Seems like your filter isnt cycled properly/ or a Ammonia spike.
To me you Ph is abit low i would personally keep my ph around 6.5 to 6.8.

my 2cents

Tam

[Addicted2discus]

We've had our tank for over 6months now with all 8 discus and have never had a problem. The ammonia is never that high.. We havent changed anything. The discus that is sich has some spots on her that look like peeling skin??????
What should we do??? We use cycle everytime we water change!

[axl]

you need to get your ammonia down to 0, that is very crucial, some how you have had a ammonia spike.

[TW]

Until some of the experts pop in to help you, do you have any amrite down, or similar? If you do, add that to help with the ammonia. I think 6pH is fine for discus, as that's what my main discus tank is too. Many here on this site go even lower.

Fingers crossed for you - sorry, I'm not much help, being a relative beginner at discus myself (around 1 yr only)

[TW]

Until some of the experts pop in to help you, do you have any amrite down, or similar? If you do, add that to help with the ammonia. I think 6pH is fine for discus, as that's what my main discus tank is too. Many here on this site go even lower.

Fingers crossed for you - sorry, I'm not much help, being a relative beginner at discus myself (around 1 yr only)

[Addicted2discus]

Unfortunately looks like we'll have to wait till morning to get anything... We have put more cycle in the tank and does anyone know anything about MELAFIX.
Fingers crossed that they will be ok till morning.. Right now i'm a crying mess that wont be able to sleep! Thanks everyone. We'll keep you all posted.

[axl]

def some rock salt would help, use 1 teaspoon per 40ltr water and if you have got a hospital tank setup i would be putitng the sick fish in there with rock salt added in

[Addicted2discus]

Dont have rock salt but just put some nitra zorb which is meant to help lower the ammonia.. Nothing else we can do now. she seems to be getting worse.. All the other discus arnt hiding in the corner anymore.. I know its weird but they seemed concerned.
She is just swimming and floating and occasionally twitching! Her colour is still dark in parts and really light in other parts.

[Addicted2discus]

Can anyone recommend what is the best product to get to lower ammonia?

[scott bowler]

Addicted2discus sory to hear what has happend , how many fish do you have sick or is it only the one?
as others have said you need to get the ph down use (ph down ) put in some extra air stones ad get rid of the ammonia,
have a read of this it will tell you how to deal with all you are going though , http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4766
good luck keep us posted

[Addicted2discus]

Woke up this morning to find that she didnt make it through the night! We are extremly disappointed.. We have just done another water change but the ammonia doesnt seem to be getting any lower. Any suggestions??
As soon as its hits 9am im going to buy something to bring the ammonia down..
Just so everyone knows this is a run down on our tank.

#8 discus (now 7)
#1 ballon ram
#15 neons
#4 suckie fish
#1 albion cory
#1 molly

We have rocks in the tank, pieces of driftwood and there were artificial plants but we took them out yesterday.
We have 2 fluval 205 filters running and an air stone.

What should be our plan of attack now so the others dont get sick? They are huddled in the corner only occasionally coming out.
Please help!!!

[Greggy]

Keep doing larger water changes more often, and just use something like Prime in the new water to remove chlorine & chloramines etc. I'm not sure Cycle is what you should be adding to the new water. I'd stick with Prime at a double dose rate for now.

Depending on the pH of your tap water it might be difficult to keep the pH below 7.0 where ammonia becomes 'safer' in its ammonium form (NH4+) so keep an eye on it. If you keep up the water changes you'll manage the ammonia and shouldn't lose any more Discus.

Sounds to me like your tank is cycling again, so watch out for nitrite (NO2) soon as that can be lethal to Discus even at small doses.

Regards,

Greggy

[Addicted2discus]

Thanks everyone for your help.. We have Metro on the way from the vet.. We got ammo lock so the ammonia is on its way down.. we were advised to change whats in our filter to enihm (thats not how you spell it) So hopefully everything should get better in the next few days.. The 7 discus seem ok.. they ate from my hand before so thats a good sign..
I'll keep you posted..
Fingers crossed.

[Addicted2discus]

Hi guys.. We got Metro from the vet.. They gave us 16 tblets.. There guidlines are to have a clean tank and then put all 16 tablets in...
???? any comments.
We have a 4ft tnk and the vet said that that is how to do it. Although i've been reading the forum and everyone here seems to only do a few tablets at a time..
???????

[Merrilyn]

Sorry I didn't see this post before.

It definately seems like you've had an ammonia spike for some reason. First thing to do is to check your tap water. What are the readings there, and what are your current tank readings.

Stop using the cycle at each waterchange. The product you need to use is PRIME which will remove the chlorine and chloramine from the water, and also neutralize any ammonia left in the tank, so that it doesn't harm your fish.

You'll still get an ammonia reading, but it will be harmless to your fish.

At this stage, I wouldn't even add the metro, because I'm not convinced that your fish do indeed have the plague. An ammonia reading can cause your fish to act as you described.

Do add some cooking salt (from the supermarket) at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 40 litres of tank water. It will help with breathing and also neutralize the effects of nitrite.

Put the plastic plants back into the tank. Your fish may be hiding because they feel exposed in the tank with no plants to hide behind. Crowding into a corner is fairly normal under the circumstances.

I've sent you a PM with my mobile number. You're welcome to call me any time if you're concerned.