Discus fish

Hi im new to the group. My name is sagren and i have discus fry. I have 10 of them they are 4 months old. Unfortunately 2 of them are turning black and not eating. I change there water every day. They eat 5 times a day. The ph and nitrite levels are correct. They eat flakes, blood worms and brine shrimp. I have dewormed them. The heat level is correct. I have tried everything. Will someone be able to assist me. I tried lookin for a vet that treat fish but no one in Durban does. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated as i don't want to loose these babies. Thanks

 

Maybe @BoelderBeestie can help you here.

 

Maybe someone like @BoelderBeestie can help you here. He is very clued up with Discus. Sorry to hear about your problems!! Hope you get them back is shape.

 

Tha for yr assistance

 

How do i contact him.

 

@BoelderBeestie will see I mentioned him in the post so he will see your thread. Otherwise you can send him a PM

 

I really do appreciate yr help.

 

some advise
give actual values
ph, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia,% water changed, size of tank, filter, water movement, medication you used and dosage used as well and temperature

will make it a lot easier for people who keep discus to help you

 

Hi @Sagren


Welcome to the forum

Sorry to hear you having a problem, I am sure BoelderBeestie will chime in shortly

It will help if you give him more info like the size tank and filtration you running, how much water changes and the actual readings of your water tests ie, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph

Also what have you used to deworm them and how was it done?

 

Thanks, will do

 

You should be in the clear at 4 months already when it comes to fry randomly dying. I suspect the diet giving them blockages. You are only feeding roughage and no protein. If the bloodworms you are feeding are campcon stop immediately, they are cultivated in sewage and can give your fish bacterial infections.
Remember, young fish gorge when feeding so you have to balance their diet correctly.

 

On the water side of things, how are you doing water changes and with what water and are you cleaning it up first with a filter? Borehole, rain or municipal? You can't just dump straight tap on baby discus if don't know were you stand with your water. My point is, for babies it must be very VERY clean. No extreme hardness, metals or chemicals.

 

Hi is it possible for me to call you. Thanks

 

There's a huge problem with flagellates these days. I had 2 batches of fish myself and a few friends I helped with the same problem. The problem is these things are drug resistant. Metro does nothing anymore. I had them on 35mg\L dosed every 12 hours with zero results, tried commercial products also but nothing helped. I experimented and finally found a way to combat them and get rid of them for good.

 

Are flagellates similar to camallanus worms?

 

Okay. I've used flagyl to get rid of them before. And it does contain metronidazole. It should work with flagellates but it is really harsh on small fry.

 

It's a prescription antibiotic. I can't remember the strength. But I used one pill per 50L and I had to let it dissolve first in a cup before I added it to the tank. I treated the tank and then did a 75% water change 3 days later. I used it on all my tanks and the only ones that were really affected were my pleco fry.