gill flukes or normal behaviour?

[rtraher]

Hi all,

I have seen my adult discus swim down above the breeding cone and then turn sideways and quickly rub their face against the cone. They don't do it all the time and their breathing is nice and slow and the movement of each gill cover is symmetrical. I have seen them do it every couple days or so. Is it normal to occasionally do this or do they only do it if they have a lot gill flukes?

Thanks,
Russel

[Ben]

Hi Russel,

This is a classic sign of gill flukes. Because they are adult fish they can cope with them a lot more than very young discus which can be fatal.

The sign as you described means that the flukes are aggravating the discus gills and it is trying to itch its gills, kind of like us scratching a mosquito bite.

I believe most discus have gill flukes and they are very hard to completely rid discus of them. There is a fine line when (using harsh medications) killing the flukes and killing the host)

Discus can live quite happily with gill flukes and breed normally. It is only when discus are stressed gill flukes can affect discus by slowing down the oxygen supply absorbed by their gills. Or gill flukes can infest very young discus with a low immune system.

Depending on water conditions and temperature the life cycle of gill flukes is 5-7 days, so if you feel it necessary a course of prazi can be administered and followed up a week later.
(In saying this it may be possible that the cysts of gill flukes can not be killed and re infestation will always occur with prazi treatment)

But at this stage i would like you to keep up good water changes, feed well with nutritious foods and please keep us posted if there are any changes.

Hope this helps,
Ben