diagnosis please?

[discus21]

hi everyone
as i am new to df

i need your expert advise
i have a very bloated discus
she eats and moves ok
but she looks abit red arond the gills
and as she is a pair to another of the same color
i have noted she has also gone abit paler in color

i live in melbourne do water changes fortnightly and the
rest of the 7 discus are fine

please help
discus21

[Merrilyn]

Hi and welcome discus21.

I need to know a few more things about your tank, like all your water tests, pH, nitrite, ammonia, and nitrate.

How big is the tank, and is it bare bottom or planted. What other fish do you have in there. Types of food you give them, and how often. :)

The type of filtration, and how large are the water changes that you do each fortnight.

If you can manage a picture of the fish, that would also help.

The first thing I'm going to tell you to do, is an immediate waterchange of about 20% then another one tomorrow, and for the rest of the week.

Waterchanges every fortnight are not a good idea for discus. It allows the pollution to build to high levels before the water is changed, and that's not good.

Get back to me as soon as you can with the answers, and I will try to work out what is wrong.

[discus21]

i have only other discus

with a large log that tanes the water and it is bare bottom

the ph is 6.5
and i feed them flake and beef heart mix alternating

have had discus for 4 years with no problems

discus

[discus21]

update on previous message

i was worried so i went to an aquarium to have all the tests done

just in case my testers are getting old (as the gh was old)

all the tests are ok except the kh was 2
and unusually my ph was 7.5 i shall lower immediately

i think because i added a buffer that lifted the ph only recently

but my discus reddy for a while now

discus21
ps. how do i raise the kh? naturally

[Merrilyn]

Have you started doing those water changes, and has your fish started to show any improvement?

You can naturally raise the Kh of your water, by adding a cup of shell grit to your tank. That will help to keep your pH stable, and prevent crashes.

The problem we have with Melbourne water, is that it is so soft, it has very little buffering capacity, and can allow your pH to drop suddenly.

I'm thinking your fish may have a digestive upset, and the frequent water changes will help to clear his system.

[discus21]

have done water changes as requested
have placed the sick discus in penicillon
and also epson salt at separate times

the discus is more alert but i noticed she is blind
but her gills are still red and she is paler than her partner

she eats as she follows the others, and not stressed
any other suggestions

discus21

[discus21]

here is a picture of her
hope this works

[mcloughlin2]

Looks like she has been knocked around pretty badly... :?

[discus21]

she has not been knocked around

actually her and her partner were the aggressive pair

(as they were the only pair in my tank)
in a 4foot tank

she is just unwell as mentioned

[Merrilyn]

Hi Discus21, it's very hard to tell from that picture, just quite what is wrong with the fish.

I don't look the look of the red around the head area. That's not normal. Do you have a hospital tank that you can put her into, and treat with Metro three times a day. Metro is a broad spectrum antibiotic that is used in fishkeeping for a range of bacterial infections. There is a thread on here about the dose of Metro and how often to administer.

Hope that helps