HELP! Female breeding discus not looking good

[tgf]

I have a breeding pair of discus and up until tonight I did not notice that there was anything wrong with them. I have them in an approximately 2 foot long tank along with a batch of their babies which are probably a couple of months old give or take. I feed the pair and their offspring on a mix of Sera discus granules and wardley tropical flakes.

I keep the water changed at worst every two weeks (changing about 30% to 40% of the water) and the Eheim filter is cleaned regularly. The temperature varies at absolute worst between 27 degrees (rarely at that temp, to a maximum of 30, maybe 31 degrees).

Tonight I’ve noticed this “thing” on the side of the female’s body. It’s the only visible problem I can see with the fish as her fins all appear to be in OK condition and the male looks to be perfectly fine. I am not sure what it is but upon closer inspection it looks like the colourful skin of the fish has been either ripped off a bit or just “diluted” so to speak.

I’d very much appreciate some urgent advice on what to do. At this point in time the only product I have to treat the water is “Myxazin” which I have used in a previous tank but I’m no longer 100% sure on what it can be used to treat.

I do have the option to remove all the babies from the tank if that will help the female breeder to recover.

If you need me to take better quality photos or ask me further question to help diagnose this worrying problem, please ask away.

Looking forward to some advice.

Photos are here:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/339/20110915203443.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/713/20110915203618.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/708/20110915203747.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/33/20110915203751.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/831/20110915203755.jpg/

Cheers,
Sam

[scoob]

I think your main issue is water quality I would up the water changes to 50% a day with preheated water to the same temp and ph as the tank, give the tank a good gravel vac up the temp to 31C, add salt 1Tbls to 40 Liter of water they should recover.
I wouldn't use gravel in a breeding tank, bard bottom tanks are best if you are serious in breeding.

[lpiasente]

Agreed with the above post except if you are raising the temp to 31 I would be taking the babies out. Definatly take the gravel out,

[tgf]

Bit of an update. I did a 50% water change this morning as well as a massive clean of the gravel (leaving it in there for the moment but will probably remove it), removed all the babies to another tank and they're doing fine. The breeder's tank is now at a steady 30 to 31 degrees and I'll be treating the breeders with Melafix after I get some from my LFS after work.