discus breathing heavy (im new)

[azza]

hi guys

great website. Got a question my adult discus of about 2 years is breathing rather heavy. She has 3 white spots around the top of her left gills and tonight i was watching her eat or lack there of, she was blowing at the food rather heavily and then would not pick up anything and ifshe did it would fall out of her mouth. I tried to get images but its very hard to get a photo.

[weird]

I would keep an eye on them azza, sometimes I go through paranoia of thinking my discus are breathing heavier than normal, and sometimes they develop a white spot or two which quickly disappears.

Whenever in doubt , recheck your water parameters and do a big water change.

[marg]

Good advice, Dave.

Regards,

Marg.

[Merrilyn]

Hi azza, and a very warm welcome to the forum.

It sounds to me like a mild case of gill flukes. I think you'll find a routine gill flluke and worm treatment is called for.

Fish picking up food and chewing then spitting is one of the regular signs of gill flukes, along with other symptoms, such as flicking, or breathing from one gill only.

There are lots of good products on the market. The main ingredient is praziquantal, which is very effective yet mild.

A routine gill fluke and worm treatment every 6 months is a good idea for all fish.

[azza]

thanks guys for ur replies i now have images. One of them is one where her mouth locks open for a couple of seconds but its not clear at all and the image is the dots on her gills that i discussed earlier

[azza]

this is the other image any help would be great

[PRESTON4479]

Hi Merrilyn,

I am new to Discus keeping and was wandering if gill flukes can also cause long white stringy poo? It seems like they have the other symptons listed above flicking, eating and spitting it out, very skittish, breathing somewhat fast. Also can gill flukes be brought on by stress? I would really appreciate any advice you can give.

I have ordered a product called Fluke-Tabs. Can you tell me if you think this will fix my problem or not?

Here is the link to what I ordered:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=4760&N=2004+113521

Thanks

Preston

[Merrilyn]

Hi Preston. Looks like a good product. I'm sure it will help to eradicate gill and body flukes, and because it contains a worming agent too, it should go a long way to clearing up that white stringy poo.

With regard to gill flukes being brought on by stress, yes I believe that it can happen.

From my understanding of gill flukes, they are present in very small numbers all the time. When a fish is healthy, it's natural immune system prevents the gill fluke population from getting out of hand. However, at a time of stress or illness, the natural immune system is low, and the fluke population will increase to numbers that begin to affect the fish.

A course of gill fluke treatment will reduce the numbers to a point where the fish can fight them off naturally. I don't believe we ever eradicate them fully from our tanks. We simply keep the population under control.

I'm happy to be corrected on this if anyone has any further information, but this is my understanding.

HTH

[PRESTON4479]

Thank you very much for the reply Merrilyn! I really appreciate all the knowledge you bring to the forum.

If they are eating well,color is good, and behavior is good, do you think it is also possible for their immune system to cure themselves of a small case of gill flukes? Last time I treated the tank with metro it seemed to disrupt the bio-filter. I would hate to try to treat the tank again and take a chance on the filter crashing. I have a 20 gallon quarantine tank set up only about a week ago but I think it would be a great deal of stress on the fish to take all of them out of the 55 gallon and put them in the 20. (9 cherry barbs, 3 discus, 2 plecos) I assume that if I need to treat one I should probably treat all fish in the tank since it is probably contagious. Right know they seem to be happy so I thought I should probably leave them alone for a while and see how it goes.

Preston

[Merrilyn]

The products in those fluke tabs shouldn't affect your bio filter at all. It's a totally different product to metro.

If your fish are showing signs of flukes, like flicking and scratching and breathing fast, then I'd give them a treatment. It won't do any harm, and you fish will certainly appreciate the help.

[PRESTON4479]

Understood.
Is it ok to go ahead and treat them in the tank they are in?
Do you think the Fluke-Tabs will affect the live plants?
Should I keep the lights off and raise the temp while I treat them?

Thanks again

Preston

[Merrilyn]

No need to do any of that. It's quite safe to treat them in the main tank, and it won't affect your live plants at all.

Read the directions carefully, in case there are any special instructions about scaleless fish, like your plecos.

[PRESTON4479]

Thanks!! Merrilyn

[PRESTON4479]

I ordered Big-L (levamisole) from a web site based in Australia.
Do you think I should worm them periodically?
Also when I purchase a new fish and put him in quarantine should I treat him for worms before he is added to the tank?

Thanks

[Merrilyn]

I like to worm new fish before they go into the community tank, and thereafter about every 6 months or so, just as a safeguard.

I also worm pairs before they go into the breeding tank, to make sure they don't pass anything on to their young fry.

[PRESTON4479]

Are there any other treatments you run new fish through before adding them to the tank?

Do you treat your fish for anything else every 6 months?

[Merrilyn]

No, that's about all Preston. I keep a good watch on them while they're in the quarantine tank, just in case they seem to have anything like finrot or whitespot, or any other skin conditions. It also gives me a good indication of what they like to eat too.

[PRESTON4479]

OK, Thanks for your help.