Discus flicking/Flashing-rubbing against plants at random ?

[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 !

[Merrilyn]

Hi discus 123. How often are you doing water changes, and was your tank fully cycled before you put those fish in.

It sounds like a mild case of gill and body flukes. Try doing some daily water changes for about a week and see if that improves things.

If the flicking and scratching continues, then you will need to treat with a medication from from your local fish store. Something like Aquamaster Gill fluke and tapeworm tablets will work well, but there are a lot of reputable brands out there.

[discus123]

Hi ladyred,
I shall go for tablets medication as I have been doing water changes and gravel cleaning regularly once in three days.Moreover one big discus had become so dark that I cannot wait anymore without any medication being done.What Iam not sure is, if the six cardinal tetras and three bristlenose fishes in the same tank have to be separated from Discus, before dropping tablets in tank ?

Thanks again.

[Merrilyn]

Your cardinals will be fine with the meds but I don't like bristlenose fish in with medications. Being what are called 'scaleless fish' they seem fairly sensitive to medications.

Tank your bristlenose out if you can, and put them in another tank during the treatment.

[Bill T.]

I left my bristtlenose in with the discus when I treated for flukes & worms with no apparent harm. Now it is the biggest, ugliest looking fish you could ever hope for. I figured the worst is it might kill the bristlenose, in which case I would get another one. I thought by not treating it as well, it may carry the flukes with it and reinfest my tank when put back in.

[Nathan]

my discus are doing the same thing, they seem like they have a skin irritation, but theres no marks or signs on their body? what should i do?

also can this potentioly kill the fish?
nathan

[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!

[Merrilyn]

Nathan, don't do anything just yet. Simply add the salt, as I mentioned in the other post, and wait and see what happens.

If they continue to flick and scratch, and you're sure that the water is perfect, then you may need to treat for flukes, but wait at least a week or so. Your fish have just been moved into a new tank, and we don't want to stress them any further.

[Merrilyn]

Discus123, glad to hear they're all back to normal :P

That's very good news indeed :thumb

[keinert]

A few of the Discus had white poos so I'm treating with Metro. Most are better now. One or two Discus would flick on rocks but not often. Today, I find my Black Ghost rubbing on rocks alot ! No other visible signs of infection on anyone. 100gal, set up 1yr. Water changes 3x each week. Vacuum gravel 2x per week. Amon & Nit's test at 0ppm. Temp=87F PH=6.8.

From this thread, looks like I might need a fluke treatment (like Prazi)?
My question is, can I add Praziquantel to a tank that has Mertonidazole in it? My "Prazi-Pro" bottle says "Do not use with any other meds".

Thanks, Kevin.

[Merrilyn]

Kevin, I wouldn't add another medication to a tank that already contains meds. Maybe it's just me, but I just feel it's safer to wait until all the previous medication has gone from the water, before adding anything else.

[keinert]

I've been reading other forums. Everyone says not to mix. I will change water and add carbon tomorrow to clear out the Metro, then switch to Prazi.
Kevin.