S.o.s

[madmichael]

long story short-i have a pretty overpopulated discus-community tank.
yesterday i got myself 2 new adult discus,both the most dominant the store had.
yesterday they were a rather stressed,as expected.
today towards lunch time one of them began laying sideways.....by late evening and as of now he's flaoting as if he's dead....his eyes are all white,slimecoat rather gone,color very pale,fins ripped....i would have said the poor thing is dead,but he's really trying to swim here and there and breathing a bit....

my water parameters are:
PH7.3
KH 6DKH
NH4 0
NO2 0
temprature 29c

tank is 250 liters. planted,heavily populated with a wide mix of tetras,a few gouramis and a whole bunch of catfish (a few L numbers and corys).
4 discus in total,all adults, and 4 angelfish,also adults.


can stress kill an adult,dominant discus within 24 hours!? ive been told it could be something called "new discus disease"? should i isolate the fish? any meds? HELP PLEASE :( i really dont want to lose the gorgeous,expansive guy....

http://oi61.tinypic.com/29f5vk6.jpg

[mattgoanna]

Hi Michael
It is hard to know what has happened. You are not alone in this experience. You will have problems with anything more than 2 or less than 5 discus in that tank and you may find that your fish has hit the glass from bullying. If the other fish looks fine then just keep an eye on it. If it is disease, keep us updated and one of us will try and give advice.
Matt

[madmichael]

sadly this fish died by morning.....and today the other fish,which was swimming healthy and eating looks all beaten up and sick and what not :( .....i found out i had high concentration of phosphates in my tank and am using a remover for that.....

http://i57.tinypic.com/hrjw5s.jpg
http://i58.tinypic.com/x3wehs.jpg
http://i61.tinypic.com/25ey003.jpg

[jimstreet]

I'm not an expert but it looks like another fish has had a go at him. His eyes also look too large for his body. Where did you get them from?

[Mavzta]

Phosphates won't kill your fish. I have high levels of it too.
I also just read about it on a few sites and forums.
Must be something else.
A good thing to do when adding any fish is doing a pp dip. Google it, it's easier....

[mattgoanna]

If the fish is still not looking great, I would be tempted to use a Blackwater extract rather than medications. This should reduce bacteria etc that may be impacting the slime coat

[bianca22]

Same thing happened in my tank. Had 4 discus and added one more. All started bullying each other and then cloudy eye started in all fish and no slime coat. Treated with meds and within 5 days all fish died. Lost all of them. In ur case I hope this doesn't happen to urs. Its very stressful to watch. I can feel ur pain. Good luck