Brown Discus

[Agent]

HI There all, Have posted a photo of 'Darkie' he/she eatswell, mixes with the pack but has not changed colour since I got him (15 May), noticed a slightly clear poo & he has troulble actually seeing his food & is a bit thin, should I medicate with 'Metro', & iwhile he is in the comunity tank or separate into a hospital tank.
Thanks
Rob...

[marg]

Put him in a seperate tank if you to Medicate him.

[G-1000]

Mate, that dark coloured fish is a definate case for metronidazole. I think it would be best to treat it in a seperate tank.

G

[Merrilyn]

I think you my have a case of hex there. The dark colouring and white jelly like droppings are definate signs.

It is believed that the pathogen responsible for Hole in the Head (also known by a variety of other names such as Hex, head and lateral line erosion and wasting disease) is Spironucleus Vortens.

An infected fish may show one or several of the following symptoms:-

Skin lesions around the head area.
Turning dark.
Refusing to eat.
White jelly like droppings.
Muscle wasting and pinched appearance above the eyes.

The best drug to use is Metronidazole (Flagyl) which you will need to get from your local vet. Ring first to see if he will prescribe it after seeing a photo of the fish, or if he insists on seeing the fish himself.

1. Do a 30% water change.
2. Set the temperature to 30 degrees, no higher.
3. Add 250 mg Metro per 40 Litres of water. Crush tablets to fine powder and mix with water to form a paste before adding to the tank.
4. After 12 hours, do another 30% water change and repeat the dose. This should be done for a total of 3 days.
5. During treatment the tank lights should be left off. Metro is affected by light.
6. A variety of good quality, high protein food with added vitamins and minerals should be fed several times daily. Include prepared dry food, beef heart, brine shrimp, green vegetable matter and blood worms in the diet. Remove any uneaten food and keep the water very clean.

This treatment is effective for early cases of Hex. If however, your fish has been showing symptoms for a long time, or is refusing food altogether, then the treatment needs to be more aggressive.

In that case, the dose rate would be 400mg per 40 litres of tank water, with a 30% water change between treatment. Repeat every 8 hours for a maximum of 10 days if necessary. Usually 5 to 7 days will be sufficient for symptoms to disappear.

Further reading can be found in the excellent article from Discus Page Holland

http://article.dphnet.com/cat-02/spironucleus.shtml#1.%20%20Introduction%20–%20Comm on%20Symptoms .

Move your fish into a hospital tank and begin treatment and you should see improvement within a few days.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

[Agent]

Thanks for your help everyone, the local vet had no problems selling the Metro...., luckily he knows me, my Bull Terrier is one of his patients too. Darkie only has 2 symptons that Lady red mentioned,turning dark & pinched appearance, the droppings arn't clear but not the usual dark colour, hopefully I will be able to nip this in the bud as all the symptoms are not yet evident. Just put Darkie ito a hospital tank @ 30 degrees & the the first dose of Metro, will do a water change in the morning. his colour has been dark for a few weeks now, I have decided to medicate at the stronger 400mg/40lt. Made a batch of Lady Red's Discuss food last night, will also give the shrimp & bloodworms.
Will keep you posted & thanks again friends.
Rob...

[Merrilyn]

Good luck Rob. We're thinking of you mate.

[marg]

Our thoughts are with you and Darkie Rob. Hope he picks up.

Marg.

[Agent]

Hi everyone, an update on Darkie, have done 2 water changes since his isolation to the hospital tank last night and the metro is at the higher dose,(my choice), he is still eating but not as much as usual, I reckon, anything is better than nothing. Not sure if its wishfull thinking but I'm sure that his leopard spots are just able to be seen,guess we'll just have to wait a few days to be sure, keep my fingers crossed, will update tomorrow night again.
Cheers for now,
Rob....

[sammigold]

good luck

[Discus 41]

thats what i call comprehensive LR,can always rely on your posts
Should be writing a book on the correct use of medication,I'm sure you would get plenty of sales.
In the meantime I just gonna keep printing them of and filing them away for future use.

[Agent]

Greetings, LR & friends are really good, very helpful with the medication recomendations, thank you. Today, there is no major change in 'Darkie', although he does seem to have lost his appetite, I think its because he cant see the food that well, he does seem to have sight problems though, will keep you posted.
Rob...

[sammigold]

What are you feeding him? I found that when mine wasnt well and didnt seem to be eating that Frozen Brine shrimp changed his mind very quickly and then within a few days he was back to eating all the other things like flake and pellets etc. HTH

[Agent]

Hi Sammi,
The morning I give 'Darkie' Discuss Granules
Lunch Either frozen Fish Dinner 'Discus" or Lady Reds recipie, nearly out of the bought Fish Dinner, will switch perminently to LR's mix.
Tea same as above but a little Brine Schrimp added.
7.30pm treat, blood worms.
After tonights water change, I left him non medicated for an hour for feeding, wasnt too interested but after half hour he started to peck around for food, he is eating something, normally he's a pig, even takes food from your hand but I guess the Metro isn't the nicest thing ever to flow over his gills, maybe its effecting his appetite a bit.
Still no change in him today though.
Rob...

[Agent]

Hi Sammi,
The morning I give 'Darkie' Discuss Granules
Lunch Either frozen Fish Dinner 'Discus" or Lady Reds recipie, nearly out of the bought Fish Dinner, will switch perminently to LR's mix.
Tea same as above but a little Brine Schrimp added.
7.30pm treat, blood worms.
After tonights water change, I left him non medicated for an hour for feeding, wasnt too interested but after half hour he started to peck around for food, he is eating something, normally he's a pig, even takes food from your hand but I guess the Metro isn't the nicest thing ever to flow over his gills, maybe its effecting his appetite a bit.
Still no change in him today though.
Rob...

[Agent]

Some more advise if anyone can help, I'll use the Metro for 7 days, do I then keep him in the hospital tank or return him to the community tank, will his colur automatically go back to normal or does this take some time?
Rob...

[Agent]

Haven't heard from anyone, ran out of Metro after 7 days, have put Darkie back in comunity tank, he looks really thin but has his apetite back, will concentrate on feeding him up & see if his colour changes.
Rob..

[Agent]

Haven't heard from anyone, ran out of Metro after 7 days, have put Darkie back in comunity tank, he looks really thin but has his apetite back, will concentrate on feeding him up & see if his colour changes.
Rob..

[sammigold]

If he is eating again that is a good step on the road to recovery... how is his colour? Is it getting better?
I've just been on a similar journey with one of my discus, treated with metro... he is eating well but looks quite thin and raggy around the fins... I had returned him into the community but as of today I have taken him out again as although he is looking a little better colour wise he is still getting picked on alot which I think is hampering recovery.. so he is back in hospital/qt tank with my baby discus until I think he has made full recovery and put on some weight...

Hope that your "darkie" makes a good recovery!

[musichocmilkshake]

I have been following your thread and am very interested to see how you go. I am learning more and more about this hex creepy every day and God knows how many discus i have lost to it in the past due to my ignorance. I am currently treating a discus with metro and like you have been wondering how long it takes after treatment to see a recovery. I followed Lady Red's link and was interested in the final paragraph before point 7. I guess he's saying it takes a little time? Don't take too much notice of me though i'm very new to this hex experience/treatment regime.
I also note you're in Port Stephens. I'm in Charlestown and would like to know your thoughts on the state of discus availability in the area. I am continually disappointed with what's available and now only buy in Sydney.
Do you know any good local breeders?

[Agent]

Darkie is being a pig now he's back in the community tank, I think his colour is slowly getting back to normal, but still very brown, he just looked misserable in the hospital tank, not eating much, seems much happier now, only time will tell though.
MM!. (I'm newby too!) I got mine from Slipperry Little Suckers, they flew them up to Newcastle, Darkie was that colour sice opening the box & I have been promised a phone call but 2 weeks later, I still waiting, maybe I just got bad luck as the boss there was getting married & has not had time to answer emails.(or phone calls)
Aquholic lives next door, has 2 in a breeding tank, they have layed a few times in the community tank, so this time should be good, I think they are due to hatch on Wednesday. We buy most of our gear from Crossroads Aquarium, extremely helpful, good pricing too, they have a few Discus in stock most of the time. I also noticed that a forum member in Melb has posted some photos of 5-6 cm for $20.00 each, they look good
& price seems good for the size (compared to a shop), Australian Air Express will air freight.
Wouldn't mind a look at your tank, seeing we are only 45 mins away. I was going to try to get some contacts for all the members near us so we can purchase/trade etc, my work phone is 4982 4858, we are in Lemon Tree Passage, give me ring sometime.
Rob...

[musichocmilkshake]

That's a shame about your experience with SLS - as judging by most of the comments I've seen posted here you'd think they'd be a little bit more on the ball (may-be you should send a note to a bloke on this forum named "kevkoi" he appears to have a lot to do with them). I intend to visit them in a couple of weeks and am quite excited by the prospect of seing a good variety of quality fish??
Crossroad's water quality is good and is one of two places in Newcastle i'd buy a fish (the other one is Krempins - sometimes).
I think discus networking in Newcastle is an excellent idea - but i admit to being shy about showing my tank at the moment with such a crook fish! I'm picking up a lot of info from this forum though and I admit to being motivated by some of the fantastic examples of discus I've seen throughout these "threads". I use to be into discus years ago and am literally stunned by the advances in knowledge brought about i guess by information sharing through technology/internet (I just had broadband connected - where have I been)?

good luck
dave
49432181

[Agent]

Hi Dave, I dont blame SLS, assuming the fish was healthy prior to the half hour flight + packing etc, just a bit disapointed that did not contact me after they said they would, maybe thats normal for busy people.
I have a 2 x 2 x 2 cube tank which I really like, bought a 2nd hand hospital tank from Crossroads (ex display) , couldnt resist a bargain, so got another one last weekend, am trying to grow plants on wood in one of them at present, its great having Aquaholc next door as we went halves in the extra tanks & gizmoes. Sorry for not replying earlier as I made another post in a last ditch effort to keep 'Darkie' alive & have been watching that post, he's gone to the great aquarium in the sky now, I'll give you a buzz soon & introduce myself, you may want to come up to LTP & give me a few hints.
Cheers,
Rob...