Shallow Breathing and one gill closed.....

[JoeDiscus85]

I have one juvenile discus thats breathing shallow and has one gill closed. He seems to have a few white spots on his tail, Its not ich,as i keep my temps between 84-86 degrees. I wonder if its fluke.? But i read with fluke they breath rapidly not shallow. My water parameters are good just checked. Dont really know what it could be...... No cottony growth on the gills and he seems healthy, But he isnt eating and hes hanging around in corners, No white feces so dont think its hex, It just happend all of a sudden, He was very healthy and eating like a pig, No big changes have been made and no new fish added at all lately. Just cant figure it out....



Joe

[Fishontherun]

hi joe,
exact same symptoms with my Red melon. I'm doing second dose of Prazi now .. first one didn't seem to work. Let's see what others say ..

[Matt15]

Yeh I would hit him with Prazi Joe. I had a fish about two months ago only breathing through one gill (flukes) and hit him twice with Prazi. After the first treament he was fine, but its good to repeat the process to avoid the flukes from returning.

[scott bowler]

yep joe as matt said gill fluke most likey,so as they have said too treat with pazi , hope it goes well

[JoeDiscus85]

I have to agree with you guys, I saw him scratching on some plants, His breathing is rapid but shallow. He doesnt open his mouth wide just enough to get a breath. I gave them a shot of malachite green yesterday,He seems a little better. I have some metro but it also has prazi. Ive used the stuff before with no losses.Is it worth a shot? Or should i continue with the malachite green?His one gill that i can see looks healthy and red no mucus or anything. Hoping it is flukes they are easily treated. He is probably my favorite so i hope he pulls through. He is pretty lethargic but still very aware.I have a pretty good feeling it was brought on by stress. I have a baby ss and a baby pb and 4 adults in the tank, 2 of the adults have paired up and seem to be making breeding attempts, Naturally that brings agression, And they really pick on him i wonder if maybe thats what threw him into a tail spin.......



Joe

[JoeDiscus85]

Well guys i lost him....... Im very sad. My first discus death. I rasied him from tiny tiny and now hes dead..... He was such a nice pidgeon i picked him out of about 20 of his siblings he was breathing at the surface this morning and when i came home for lunch he was dead.. I actually shed a tear, Didnt think i would. I grew attached to him. All my hard work and im still losing discus.. Well called my lfs and thursday he is gettina shipment of babies in now just gotta convince the wife to let me get a new discus.


Joe

[rwel4809]

Sorry to hear that Joe, I just suffered my first discus loss this week too - heartbreaking.

condolences.

Robert

[JoeDiscus85]

Thanks Robert, Now my next battle i hhave a 3 inch ss juvi had him since he was the size of a quarter bought with the pb. He now has some sort of somthing that resembles fungus, Its wounds i beleive from my pair bullying him. I went to the lfs and got some pond salt. Didnt have anything else in stock. Asked the owner if its safe she said yes its fine. Read lable its 100% evaporated sea salt. Maybe this will aid in the healing. Some of his fins are frayed due to the abuse and there is some white on the wounds. Doesnt really look like fungus.. It doesnt look like what my books are describing as fungus


Joe

[rwel4809]

the others might be able to tell you more, but from my experience the white stuff is just part of the wound healing - a bit like a fishy scab....

I think that a little salt may help though...

[Fishontherun]

omg sorry to hear your lost Joe. Mine is breathing with both gills now but still not as active. Can't believe you could lost a fish that quick from fluke..

[JoeDiscus85]

Thats what im thinking myself..... It was way fast. 2 days of distress and he was dead. I dont get it. He was my fastest growing and agressive fish. Is there anyway that an adult discus could have maybe crushed his gill plate? All this happend when my pair started laying eggs. Maybe some over agression killed him i dont really understand. He was such a quality pb too his pattern was full all the way to his tail and soooo much color for a baby. Well maybe ill have better luck next time. As far as my ss goes he seems to be doing well the salt helped the wounds they seem to be healing up very fast.

Joe