DISCUS FREAKING OUT

[williamvo]

I woke up this morning at 7:30am to the sound of water splashing from my fish tank. I found my discus was freaking out; swimming from one end of the tank to the other, bumping itself against the glass. It likes to stay at the top of the water leaning to one side. I did a 30% water change and added two tablespoons of salt. But my discus is still freaking out. What's could be the problem that causes my discus to be freak out like this?

[marg]

Check all your wqater parameters - usually when they freak out like that is is a water problem.

marg.

[Mulisha]

Make sure there is enough oxygen going into the tank becuase that can sometimes cause things like that and maybe turn the lights off and try carm him down if possible.

Good Luck


Rick.

[Merrilyn]

Have you got C02 running into that tank? If so it might be wise to remove it for the time being.

[williamvo]

Ok, I'll try to remove the CO2

[pbates]

Are any other fish acting stressed or hanging out at the surface?

If so you might have a tank starved of oxygen.

It will normally be OK during the day when the plants are photosynthesizing, but at night when they start consuming O2 you can get problems.

[wickedglass]

check your Ph, too, if your tank has had a Ph crash your fish may do what its doing, too. acidosis can often induce erratic darting and intense breathing, as the gills are slowly being destroyed. like pbates suggests, look at your other fish to verify this as a Ph crash will affect all of them. CO2 may cause instabilities in the PH.

[williamvo]

All the other fish is fine except for the discus. So, it's really hard to say that the tank lack of oxygen.

[Merrilyn]

How is your fish looking today?

Any improvement?

[williamvo]

The discus is starting to calm down a little bit. Two days before the discus began to freak out. I change the time of my light on when to turn on and off. I used to have it turn on at 6pm and off by 2am. I changed it to turn on at 12 pm and off at 10pm. Do you think this change somehow could effect the discus?

[williamvo]

Ok, I thought my discus was getting better but I am wrong. The discus is even worst today. It's just laying at the bottom of the tank now. The water parameter is the same. Other fishes is fine. I don't know what to do. I'm currently treating with just salt. Any suggestiong?

[williamvo]

I think my discus is suffering from swim bladder disorder? I noticed that whenever it tries to swim, it pretty much swim upside down or in an angle. How would you go about treating a swim bladder disorder?

[Nathan]

you could try adding epsom salts, it sometimes corrects swim bladder problems, but im not sure it is entirely a swim bladder disorder.

for the salts its 1 tsp per 40 l, give it a try it wont harm your discus but isnt great for plants an catfish.

[mistakes r crucial]

Is the fish still alive William? I've had a similar problem with a couple of fish several months ago and as I said in another post the only thing I could have done in hind sight was to treat it with a broad spectrum antibitotic. However, by the time we know what to do it may well be too late anyway. I hope you have had better luck than I did.
MAC