little experience-worried

[fred]

Hello everybody! This is my first time here One of my discus is sick I kept fish all my life but never discus. I bought 2 quarter size red melons from local pet store. Ikept them in a 20 gallon tank with no problems. I dont do much as far as water chemestry and maintenece water temp at 86. ph between 6.8 and 7.0 and i change 25% of water twice a week I feed flake,frozen and live with no problems until now. Two days ago the largest stopped feeding, and swam violently,darted and swam flat Tried epson salt for two days. Swimming disorder has stopped but he still does not feed and stays at surface level.

HELP!!!!

[goldenpigeon]

have you got much oxygen going into the tank. if you are farmiliar with geo-liquid that may help but dont depend on it to save lives. im cant think of the heat in farenheit degrees right now but temp should be between 28 and 30 degrees celceus. try live foods (blackworm, brine shrimp, mossie larvae). dont bother with the flake its nogood unless you have other fish that eat flake in the tank. do u feed beef heart food?. a good brand to use is frozen discus dinner, also good is mysis shrimp, brime shrimp and you should try to find a good quality pellet eg. breeders premium).

where abouts do u live????

David

[fred]

thanks for your response. Whats geo-liquid? I dont have a problem with feeding. They liked flake, but I fed them frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp. they dont like beefheart. They fed very well. Everything was constant All of sudden one fish seemed very distressed and ill with no hapitite.
Oxygen levels dont know.
Salem,MA

[leanne31]

I would raise the temp another couple degrees I think 86 is about 28 or 29 leave salt in for now a tbs per 40 ltrs or 10 gals. I would def be buying a ammonia and nitrite test kit and if you dont have one add a air stone. Finally if u haven't done a wc since this has happened do one.

Leanne

[goldenpigeon]

hi Fred,
im glad to hear your discus dont have a feeding problem :) i assumed it by the sounds of your first post.

if your discus like flake that is fine all i was trying to say was it does not benefit them that much. i have to say that my discus like flake aswell because i feed it to the other tetras in the tank. you would be better off thoagh useing a pellet specialy made for discus. as for beef heart food let me tell you what works 4 me. i only feed 1 food type at a time eg. bloodworm and nothing else in the mornings. consequently the discus only have a choise of eating option A. bloodworm or option B. bloodworm. :lol: i would definetly do this to wean them onto beef heart food. it is so much more benificial to them. if you by comercial beef heart or discus dinner its got heaps of stuff in it they need. i only feed 1 particular food in the moning and another at night unless it is pellet which i would feed to for 1 meal and use this again inbetween for snacks. i use Breeders Premium pellets for discus as a staple.

:idea: what may be good for you is feedflake occasionaly and feed other foods for staple. :idea:

i sent you and email so check you mail box

David

[fred]

thanks for the info, besides wc and salt is their anything else I can do. Other fish is fine should i leave him in same tank.

[fred]

Hello goldenpigeon. I agree with your feeding methods and I will follow them. What I might have left out is that they ate prtty much what i gave them, and up to the moment they where very healthy. Youre right fake is not good for them especially if it is not hydrated first.

[goldenpigeon]

you could turn the heat up to 32 degrees BUT only if there is discus in the tank!!. otherwise if you have got a hospital tank put it in that. you could put the heat up in the tank it is already in but only to 31 degrees dont do it for too long thoagh. do it for three days max then bring it down again. through this time watch all fish if any signs of moe sickness restore to normal temp. go to a store you can trust and tell your sich. they may be able to help you out.

David

[leanne31]

If his only symptons at the moment are not eating then i suppose you wouldnt of seen his poo, if its white you may have other problems. But for now do probably about a 40% wc up the temp a couple of degrees to about 32 as this raises there metabolism keep a close eye on him. Do this for a couple of days with the salt and try and get some live black worm to temp him into eating.

Leanne

[Merrilyn]

Hi Fred, and welcome to the forum. From your description, it sounds like your fish are abour 1 inch in size (excluding tail).

The symptoms you describe can indicate gill flukes. They tend to swim really fast around the tank, as if trying to escape from something, and then hang at the surface where there is more oxygen, because the flukes tend to coat the gills and make it difficult to extract oxygen from the water.

Unfortunately feeding live black worms can introduce gill flukes into the tank.

Can you get a fluke and tapeworm treatment from your local pet shop. I'd be treating the whole tank, if you have other fish in there. Leave the temp where it is for the moment. Raising the temp will reduce the available oxygen in the water. After you have finished the treatment, THEN raise the temp slowly to increase the metabolism and increase the appetite. When the fish are eating normally, slowly drop your temp back to around 86 degrees.

Discus always seem to do better in a group of three or more, so perhaps think about adding another one or two. Unfortunately even your two discus will eventually outgrow your 20 gallon tank, but it is an ideal size for now.

[Kaza]

Err, before raising the temp check the water parameters first, check for ammonia and nitrite. Fish can start darting around if there is ammonia in the water, if you raise the temp you will just make it worse. I would just do a 40% water change amd add salt. Buy your test kits and then raise the temp if water parameters are fine. Also check out the PH if you dont do many WC you may have a PH crash which discus hate.

[leanne31]

I was thinking ammonia as well but surely he would of done a wc by now.
I would def be investing in some test kits if your serious about keeping discus dont learn the hard way. Dont gill flukes also cause them to rub furiously up everything :?: Do your fish also do this, if so treat for gill flukes.

Leanne

[fred]

Thank you all foryourIdeas and help. Discus are beutiful fish and i fell in love with them the first time i saw them. These two discus I had since they were quater size. Ive nourished and pampered them like babies. Theyre alone in theire bare bottom tank and nevereven shared waters with my community tank fish. Theve triple their size and their gorgeus. I hate to lose them.

[fred]

i always check for ammonia. but not nitrates, how important is it.
I thought regular wc would take care of that. I havent done anything different since i got them Why would i change now!!

???????

[leanne31]

I agree with you Fred def are great fish I wish you luck :wink:

Leanne

[leanne31]

Nitrates is what will kill your fish but you are right reg wc will get rid of this.Oh and why would you change testing your water now well maybe you should ask your sick fish :? You might test for ammonia and have nil but your nitrites and nitrates may be high.

Leanne

[Merrilyn]

You won't loose them Fred, Discus are tough little things. You're doing the right thing with a bare bottom tank. Do you have a piece of driftwood or a few plastic plants in there to make them feel comfortable?

Let us know how you get on. We're always here to help.

[leanne31]

Dont misunderstand me by thinking that I meant your fish were gonna die I was just explaining how dangerous nitrates can be to the little fellows as one df member found out the other night and lost half his fish, but your fishes illness has probably got nothing to do with ammonia - nitrites - or nitrates I was just explaining that there good tests to have around, if one of my fish look under the weather they're the first things I always check.
Let us know if you find the cause of your problems and I hope you get the little fellow eating again soon. :wink:

Leanne