What done this to my discus

[Crocky]

Hi All

I have been talking to ladyred on the phone telling her about my discus in one of my tanks that have grown a extra 1cm plus on there tails in the last 6 weeks.
There are fish in the tank which are not related but all have the same thing,I notice this when I put some other fish in the with them.This was 2 weeks ago and there grown even more as you can see in the pics.
These fish are feed the same food as all my other discus,water from the same tap,but the only thing I have in this tank is 2 small courner filters 3/4 full of shell grit to keep the ph from dropping.

I havent check the ph or hardness yet but ladyred said post a pic and see what you forum member had tosay as she never seen or heard anything like that before happening.

Thank Brad C

[discusjim]

hey brad,
you are right, they are big for a fish that size.
I got now idee mate , hopefully some one can tel you.
Jim

[Ben]

WOW!
thats unreal Brad!

you were not joking when you said it on the phone the other night!

I am not sure what has caused this......

maybe new viel tail discus.....

sorry i can not help much mate,

Ben

[Merrilyn]

Brad, that's absolutely amazing. I was going to say, that I've never seen anything like it, but in fact I have.

I remember seeing a picture of discus with elongated dorsal and anal fins as well as tail fin. I think they were called Angel Discus, or something similar.

As to why only the fish in this tank have grown longer tail fins, I can only guess that there must be something in the shellgrit that is causing the additional growth. Genetics can't be involved here, as they are from different parents, and different spawns.

Kev, Mario, Sanie, any ideas ??

[nicholas76]

WOWSER.

now this is one for the books..... I have never seen this before !

interesting mutation thats for sure. Look fwd to seeing adult pics who knows how long they will get by then.

[piranha-discus]

hummm i never seen some thing like that too,
mabe its to make the fish swim faster example Ian thorpe has flipper like feet= swim faster. i guest might have to ask andrew soh cos i belive that he would have had that ,and experment what cause due by having so many fish ( a fish farm) etc.
ben.

[DiscusMad]

viagra????

[kalebjarrod]

it would have to have something to do with genetics and higher calsium levels :?

but it is a little confusing :?

[Crocky]

Here some pics of a runted white swan and a group shoot.
Sorry about the pics,its so hard take a picture of fish tail just try it one day

Brad

[Ben]

very interesting Brad!
You dont live near a nuclear power plant do you?

I think they look ok and all seem very healthy.

on one or two fish you could try and trim the tail a bit with a sharp razor.....?
and see if it grows back...?

A bit unorthodox.....

cheers,
Ben

[Merrilyn]

The dorsal and anal fin seem to be extra long too, not just the caudal fin. Seems whatever it is has affected all the fins on the fish.

Please keep us updated on the progress of these fish Brad. This is terribly interesting. There is surely some explanation, and I think Ryan is right when he says it has something to do with the extra calcium in the water. But I'd just love to know the real reason.

[Crocky]

Hey Ben
Funny you said that as I been thinking the same thing as the fish are 100% healthy at the moment apart from being a bit runted.
The water movement in the tank is very slow and they dont have to swim hard at all, so that cant be the problem and I am lost as my butterfly rams spawn in the same tank and eggs are hatching but babies are disapearing before there freeswimming as I normal suck them up, float them in a container in the tank and feed bbs when the start swimming.
Brad

[Andrew Soh]

Hi Brad,

Let me try on this very interesting topic....

Main two reasons to result in this condition:

1) Insufficient feeding:- Your discus are not fully fed in quantity and in span. In other word, your discus may have been receiving only twice feeding of small quantity and insufficient WC.

If you feed your discus from 7am till 10 pm daily for at least 4 times and with good wc, this should not happen

2) Second most important are the trace element and minerals in your water. There is an imbalance ...and I think your calcium or something in the water that helps in the rate of calcium absorption is fairly high.

With these two factors, the meat or flesh of the discus could not grow because that is insufficient food to convert but there is an abundance of calcium and its 'relatives'. Thus, only catilages and bone (soft and hard) will progress.

I have seen this in Austria...in my friend's small discus hobby and after investigation, was found to be the above 2 reasons (layman's way of deduction of course)

Take care,
Andrew

[Crocky]

Hi Andrew
Im not thinking its the food as here a pic of some fish that where in this tank only 6 weeks ago there alright, I moved some fish around and put some of bigger one in this tank with some olders discus (these wernt the best/biggest just what I caught of some of the largest ones to give them some more room.
I have changed my water changes when I think of it, from 10 to 15% three times a week, to 30 to 40 % once a week, so do you think the shellgrit might be changing the water by leaving longer between wc.

[Andrew Soh]

Hi ,

Sorry, that is my opinion as I have questioned my friend 2 years ago. After I told him to make water change everyday (at least 50%) and give 4 feedings a day...7am, 12noon (the discus are in his provision shop), 6pm and 10 pm......new discus added did not have this phenomenon.

Also, I must say you might be right....the shellgrit releasing calcium plus the lack of feeding and WC for that particular tank and thus the buildup of excessive calcium may be the cause.

We are all learning,

Take care mate,
Andrew

[Crocky]

Thanks Again Andrew

Did these fishs tails stay long as I put 2 of these long tailed discus in the tank pictured (Last two pics) and there fin seem to be tearing on the end and starting to look normal again.

Brad

[Andrew Soh]

Hi Brad,

Whether it will grow back to normal if you transfer to a tank less concentrated with calcium...I really don't know. Sorry buddy.

I believe what is grown is grown. The tearing could be due to change in water quality...and by going through that, there is a possibility that the tail...being fine...may just be destroyed further by normal bac.

If you try to move some into a new tank but with the same water during the transfer, add some antibiotics to prevent tearing and make partial WC with water of different composition (say 5 % per day) over a period of 2 weeks. The long caudal fin may just be there to stay.

Try Brad, I would like to know the result too. We are always learning...and that's great!! Thanks.

Take care, mate
Andrew :angel