Baby BD fries dying

[Billy]

Hi all,

About a week ago i took some (about 2x) baby bd fries home from my friend (as he is moving house). Until yesterday one is dead and til this morning another is dead and i can see 2 very sick ones.

They are about 5 weeks old, water temp is 30.5C, PH is around 7, 2 80% water change per day.
5+ feeds per day, when i got them i only feed frozen bbs and only around 2 to 3 days ago i started to feed them live bbs. (rinse with clean, aged water before feeding). and one meal of chopped frozen bloodworms

The two very sick one is breathing heavily and sometimes darting around at the bottom of the tank!!

What can be the problem ?? This is the first time for me to keep discus at this size !! and i dont want them all die as they are from a high quality parent!!

Plz help !!!

[Billy]

This is the setup where the baby bd fries are kept !!

and a picture of the preivous batch of bd !!

[leanne31]

Was your tank fully cycled did you check ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings if so what were they.

Leanne

[Merrilyn]

Hi billy, sorry you're having troubles. First I need all the details of your tank, water parameters - pH hardness nitrate, nitrite, ammonia etc. and I need to know if you are ageing the water first or if you are using tap water, and the type of dechlorinator you use.

Have you fed them anything else, other than frozen bbs for the past 6 weeks. Whilst a good starter food, it does not provide all of the necessary minerals and vitamins needed for good growth. At this stage, they should be eating dry food as well as a variety of frozen foods, including beef heart.

Next, any signs of disease? Flicking on the bottom sounds like gill flukes to me. We have a very resistant strain in Aus at the moment, and it is causing a lot of trouble. Were the parents treated for flukes prior to going into the spawning tank. Are any of the babies showing red gills, and are any hanging at the top of the tank trying to breathe.

[Billy]

Thx for all the replies

To be exact i only hav the bd for 10 days til now.

No the tank was not probably cycle b4 i put the fish in!!! i was using an old sponge filter from my main tank and 75% of water from it too. Also i didnt clean the tank with any chemical at all.

ph around 7.0, ammonia 0, (dont hav nitrate and nirite test kit) water temp 30.5C

All the fish seems to be fine for the first 8 days. They were feeding on live bbs from my friend, the parent was de-worm before breeding.

Water used for water change is aged in a 700lts old fridge (been using it for over 6mths). 2 air stones, a 300watt heater and a small internal sponge filter. I have been using Water ACN with double dose for over half a year!! no problems at all.

Water change is done by siphon out about 80% of water and siphon with an airline from a 15lts container (water is aged for a few days).

The babies's gill dont look too red and they dont swim up to the surface for air, only to surface when i m close to tank and look for food.

The two sick one is a bit dark and slow, dont swim much!!

since i didnt cycle my tank probably what can i do to save the rest of them ??

[Merrilyn]

I don't think the problem has anything to do with your tank not being properly cycled. If you used an old sponge from your other tank, as well as transferred some water over, it will be fine. Also, the amount of water you are changing each day will ensure that you don't have any problems with ammonia or nitrites.

I'm reluctant to encourage you to use any meds on such young fry, but give them a more varied diet, and keep an eye on them. Any more deaths, and I think we will have to assume a bacterial infection and treat with antibiotics.

See how the good food and water changes go first.

[Billy]

Another one found dead (4 in 3 days), and two sick ones. :(

The sick ones are breathing heavily and with red gills. Should i throw it away??

What should i do apart from keeping up with the water change ??

[Merrilyn]

I had the same thing with one of my BD spawns, and I did two things. First I treated them for gill flukes, then I changed all the water and put them on a 5 day course of tetracycline. I lost some, but most survived. Mine were about the same age as yours when it happened - 5-6 weeks. Once past this setback, they all thrived.

Take out your cycled sponge because the tetracycline will destroy your bio filtration.