Discus flicking/flashing at random due to Snails ?

[discus123]

Hi all,
My tank has 12 discus from small to medium sizes.This morning I found some of them ,very often,all of a sudden, move very fast and they do that sometimes by rubbing their body to the plants and then go to the corner and stay "still" for a while.This happens only with some of them at random.A couple of them have gone dark in color.I also found today that there are some four small snails moving on the side glass of the tank.What should I do .Water temp-32.Ammonia-0 and PH-6.8 all seems to be O.K.? .About 6 of them had food this morning while others still on one corner.My tank is about four weeks old.
Any help will be greatly appreciated !

Thanks

[sammigold]

First of all: I doubt that the snails will cause this behaviour just to set your mind at rest with that.

There are a couple of reasons why your discus might flick and rub...

a) skin irritation caused by something in water that is irritating.... this can be helped by doing water changes...

b) gill or skin flukes - will cause a fish to flick and rub... they will also demonstrate signs of not using their fins properly.. of clamping one on one side whilst using the other... also some other symptoms...

I would suggest doing a water change for the time being and seeing if this helps.... and hopefully one of the more experienced discus keepers on the forum can help you to diagnose your problem correctly.

Good Luck

[Bill T.]

If you haven't treated for gill flukes & other parasites already, then it would be a good idea. Wardleys fluke & parasite tablets have worked best for me.
Letting the pH drift a bit further down should help also.
If you don't aleady have a U.V. steriliser, I recommend getting one. It will really help to keep pathogen levels under control.

[discus123]

Hi Bill,
I could see positive and negative opinions on internet, about using
UV steriliser for a DISCUS tank.However Iam going to try one.Could you let me know what brand and power(in watts) do you have for your tank so that I know for sure atleast I bought one that did only good in your case and not any harm to Discus.My tank is six foot long ,(assuming a water capacity of 400 litres.) and since I already have a inline external heater connected to outlet of filter,should I better look for a powered overhead UV steriliser ,if at all there exists one like that in market ???

Thanks.

[fishgeek]

sorry did you say your tank is 4 weeks old?!

it is likely that the flicking is due to nitrates nitrites ina still cycling tank
check these and keep doing small frequent(even daily changes)

i would guess you have fish in a tank too early

aandrew

[discus123]

Hi all,
Treated for gill flukes with worm-rid(the only one that was available nearby) and all the Discus fishes are back to normal ,very active and eating food very well.Thanks to Ladyred , Bill.T and all others for their advises .

Great forum !

Cheers!

[Bill T.]

Regarding the UV steriliser, I was initially put off by the cost. Eventually I bought one that was designed for outdoor use, and way more powerful than I needed but cheaper than the indoor versions. I will see if I can find the brand name.
I'm not sure about running the UV & the inline heater off the same pump. I have two ehaim cannisters, one at each end of my tank & I run my inline heater at one end, the UV at the other end.
Still, I don't see why you couldn't run both devices off the one pump, if it's a big one.
On these issues, I think the lfs is pretty reliable - do you live in melbourne?

[discus123]

Hi ,
Iam in Sydney.Which type of UV Steriliser is good to buy.Internal/External ?Also looking to buy an automatic food feeder for my six-foot tank with 12-Discus , 6-Cardinal tetras and 3-Birstlenoses. Any suggestions or advices will be highly appreciated.

Thanks

[Proteus]

Which type of UV Steriliser is good to buy.Internal/External ?Also looking to buy an automatic food feeder for my six-foot tank

Personally I prefer External UV units, De-Bary is a good brand however if they are out of your price range Pondmaster are a great alternative (this is what I have used for years).

As for a feeder, you cant go past the Eheim auto feeders, I have 5 of them and I know many others use them as well. They are very reliable and are fully adjustable (feeding portions) plus can feed up to 8 times a day.

2 of our sponsors have specials which include the products you ask about. APW have both items, Xtreme have the feeder on special (refer to the classifieds section).

HTH

[discus123]

Hi Proteus,

Thanks for the information.