after metro

[Mathias]

hello my name is mat and im new to this amazing world of discus, i have had fish for what seems like forever but over the last 6 months i have found the love of discus anyway ive had my discus for 6 months and about a month ago one fell sick, had white poo wouldn't eat always hid and when it was still it was on its side. so i found a vet that would give me metro if i showed them photo's i treated my tank accordingly and the first 2 weeks went by and it wasn't coming out to much just hiding its was very dark and not eating to much. Now its been 3 to 4 weeks and its coming out a lot more, eating a little more but not enough in my opinion, but if anyone comes near the tank it darts and hides but still its stress bars are so so dark dark black so really my question is do fish ever fully recover after metro.
thank you
mat
and thank you for this site

[boxters]

Fish in most cases will recover after metro. I need some more info. Did you use liquid or tablet form metro?

What is your ph, kh, gh,ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temp.

Is your tank bare bottom?

Are there plants in your tank?

What other fish are in the tank?

What size tank is it?

Tell me about how you do water changes

[Mathias]

Sorry ok my ph is always 6.8 everything else is at perfect levels temp 29c
3 foot 150L community tank rocks, wood, plants few cardinal tetras a few glass cat fish 1 angle that's very fat 2 gold suckers and a few other little tetras and my 2 discus. Nothing picks on my discus and before my little one got sick it was the boss of the tank. I do my water changes 3 times a week 30 %, 30%, 50% and always use ro water with acid and alkaline buffers to bring it to 6.8 i do this the day before, i also use Equilibrium on my first 30% change and my 50% change and i use Flourish and flourish excel and discus code additive every few days.

[Mathias]

Lay out of tank when the little guy was well.

[Mathias]

dark fish after metro

[Mathias]

Also now pics you may be able to tell me why my angle has become so fat. It always seems happy swims all over the tank first to eat but just fat with bulging eyes, i have been feeding a few times a week just shelled peas which they eat in case it had a bowl problem blockage.

[Mathias]

oh and i used tablet metro

[ILLUSN]

Ok you have a bacterial infection in your tank your angel has popeye and dropsy treatment is difficult metro would be your best bet. You will need a treatment tank bare bottom set temp at 30c treat with metro at 10-25mg/L every 48 hrs before each treatment do a 50% water change. Add Epsom salts at 1 tsp/ 10L. I wouldn't keep discus in a planted community tank like yours it's not impossible but it is VERY hard work

[boxters]

+1 from mee. Agree with the above. Ask your vet for some gentamicin powder

[ILLUSN]

gentamicin is extreamly effective, it crosses the gills directly into the blood stream and only 1 treatment is needed, its availability is EXTREAMLY limited, from memory its one of those drugs you are NOT allowed to use in aquaculture for any reason, though they might have reviewed that status.

generally speaking this drug is ONLY admistered in hospitals, while not one of those "drugs of last resort" like vancomycin its use is hevily restricted.