Help! Not sure whats wrong with discus

[wmartino]

First off I have 5 discus. I did a water change on Sunday morning, everything went fine as usual. I also added Excel to help combat algee. We noticed that night one of my discus was very dark and looked like he was peeling. In a panic I put he in a small hospital tank and added some salt. He looked fine yesterday. Went and did a water change on his tank. Today he looked okay. I did another water change and this time it looked like he was peeling again. I posted some pics. They really dont show a hole lot. He seemed to peel it all off quickly. The last pic you can see a piece coming off his nose. I dont know what else to do. How long should I keep him there? Is it just stress?

Any help would be great.

Thks
Bill

[wmartino]

Here is the pic with the stuff coming off his nose. You can also see a big piece comming off his in the second pic in my first post.

Thks again
Bill

[wmartino]

Here is another pic from this morning. You can kind of see the stuff comming off the top of him.


Bill

[fishgeek]

it appears the slime/mucous of the fish is lifting
prehaps this is due to water irritants or external parasites

others with more practical discus experience will surely know better

andrew

[wmartino]

Thanks for the reply. I was pretty sure it was slime, but it does not explain why. All my other discus were not affected by my last water change. I just did another change on his tank and this time no peeling. I am at a loss. I dont want to put him back in until I am sure he is ok.

Thks again for the help
Bill

[Merrilyn]

Hello Bill. He looks pretty good to me. HIs eyes are bright and his fins are up. Good round tummy and he looks alert.

I think this little fish has had an adverse reaction to the Excel you used to control the algae in your tank. The timing seems right, and that fact that he improved right after being put into the hospital tank seems to indicate that he didn't appreciate the water conditions in the main tank. Don't worry about the slime coating peeling off. The salt you added to the water in the hospital tank increases the slime coating that the fish produces. It helps them to get rid of anything that's irritating the skin. So all very normal.

Do a couple of big water changes on the main tank, to remove as much of the Excel as possible, before returning him to the main tank, and I think you'll find everything is back to normal. :P

[wmartino]

Thanks for the reply. I am going to keep him in there a couple more days until I can get a few more water changes in. I am now thinking that doubling up on the Excel was a bad choice as I now also losing plants!

Anyway thanks for your help. I feel alot better about him now. I thought he was a gonner.

While I got you can I ask you another question?

I have one Snow White discus whom I have had for about two months. He is very shy and is alot smaller than the others and has no really grown any. Would It be bad to isolate him in a 10 gal. tank to help him eat better and maybe gain some confidence to come out and play with the others.

Thank

Bill

[sharn]

ohhh yes that algae control is nasty stuff, it does tend to kill plants when you OD on it :?

im no expert on discus but maybe he is getting picked on hence not eating as well and is stressed, that would cause him to grow slower. isolating him would be good but wouldnt he stress even more because hes on his own? just a thought. also re-releasing him back into the new tank will pose a problem as he will automatically be at the bottom of the pecking order... ahh fish.. wouldnt ya think theyd want the smallest to eat more so he gets bigger and has a better chance of survival? obviously not lol