Discus seems to be getting really thin for no reason

Hi Professor.

Heres my story, My DIsucs had come with my tank that i had purchased, These Fish were purchased very young from a pet store by the previous owner, He had kept them for around 3 years before selling the setup to me. The tank had originally come with 3 discus. Some time later a 4th discus was introduced to the group. 1 seems to be really health, and is growing large, The other two seem to grow much slower. The one seems health though the one seems really thin. He eats alot . Behaves as normal but he does not seem to be putting on any weight. I beleive these fish to be around 5 years old now.

I was told that it could be a parasite? My waters always kept crystal clear. And clean. If i medicate this fish , Can i medicate the others as well? seeing as only one seems to be growing large .

The last discus introduced though does seem to be growing in size pritty fast . He was purchased really small and has grown to about 3 times his original size in a very short space of time.



Ive filled in your questionnaire as best i could .

Where do you stay?: Durban
How long have you been keeping tropical fishes?: 15 years +
How long have you been keeping discus? Are these the first discus you keep? 1 year
Description of the sick fish (age, size, breathing speed): Seems normal, Breathing speed is normal,Behaviour is normal, Eats a lot, Gets excited and swims around the glass whens anyone is near the tank. (sort of like a goldfish begging for food) All my discus do that.
Describe the problem that the fish is having: (behaviour, breathing, excretion (droppings), food intake, colour): Seems to be getting thin. Growth seems to have stopped compared to others of the same age.
Has the problem occurred before?: No
Have you treated the problem and how? No (don’t know what to treat)

Have you had any other problems in the past? What were they? Did you treat for these problems? How? No
When and where did you buy these fishes from and what size were they when you bought them?: Fish Came with a tank that I had purchased, Fish seemed healthy, Other discus seem healthy.


What type of discus are these? Wild or hybrid and which type?: Hybrid

Your aquarium (Size; what do you have in the aquarium such as logs, stones; plants; gravel; fertilizer use; CO2? etc.): Jewel Record 160 . 160ltr, 2 logs, Came with tank., One stone, Black lava like Gravel. Tetra Fertilizer , CO2 .


Your filtration (Type and size of filter, what is in your filter, liters per hour) 2 x Filter Systems. Jewel 1000 ltr per hour internal tank filter. And Tetratec 1200 ltr per hour external canister filter.

Aquarium hygiene: (how do you clean your aquarium and your filter, how often do you clean your filter, 30 % water change at least once a week, Vacume of the gravel, Replace floss at least once a month, Rinse our Sponges from filters at least once every 6 months in old fish tank water.
when last did you clean your filter, when last did you clean your gravel?) last night (jewel) a month ago (Tetratec)

How many fishes do you have in your tank (discus, their size and other fishes): 4 Discus. 1 large . 2 med . one small. 10 Cory Catfish , 5 Tetras. 1 Bristle Nose Pleco.


When did you last buy any new fishes and from where were they bought?: 8 months Ago , From Local pet shop Northlands pets

Which food are you feeding and how often do you feed? Tetra Bits, at least once or twice a day.


Water changes? How often, how much, what is the temperature of the water you use for water changes, what is the source of the water (tapwater, well water, borehole water, river water) : 30 % once a week or once in 2 weeks . Tapwater .


Do you prepare your water for water changes? Reverse osmosis, peat filtration, do you add peat extract?: No, Sometimes water is left overnight, Sometimes left for a few hours, Filteration is via water filter . Water does not come directly from the mains.

Water description (smell and colour): Clear , No Smell
Water parameters in your aquarium
Temperature of the water: 28 degrees
General hardness (GH): Don’t know
Carobonate hardness (KH): Don’t Know
Nitrite (No2-): Don’t know
Nitrate (No3-): Don’t know
pH-value and how did you measure your pH: 6.4 Red Sea Brand PH Tester

I look forward to your reply.

 

Hi Zippy,

You have two problems here:

1. A totally inadequate diet, please refer to my thread on discus feeding. You have a major shortage of most things in this diet of tetra bits, you cannot expect discus to thrive on this. I supply food to a discus breeder in Durban, Gavin McCann, and you can get decent food at a reasonable price from him. The vitamin shortages in the diet have most probably resulted in an outbreak of flagellate disease in your discus, vitamin C shortages in the diet cause this. You can treat with metronidazole at 7 mg / litre (ask you pharmacist for tablets), crush tabs between teaspoons, do a 50% water change after three days and repeat the treatment. However, without a diet improvement the fishes will also not recover.

2. You have the typical case of keeping a too small group of young discus together, the one is dominating the rest and not allowing them to get enough food. You need to keep a minimum of 6 discus, but then you tank will also be too small. How big are these fishes?

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Thanks so much for your reply Professor.

Please can you advise me on how I administer this medication? Do i crush it and dilute it in water then pour it into the tank? Should i remove the Activated Charcoal from the filters? Will it be ok to administer it to them with the Cory Cats ,Neons and bristle nose pleco in the same tank? Will the plants and filters be ok? Should i remove the filter media before ?

The tank is to small as the fish have grown a bit , and I will get them a larger tank soon.

 

Zippy, Im going to 'butt in' here a little and suggest that you spend some time this weekend doing some extensive research on Discus keeping. I noticed that all the tank mates that you have named are not suitable companions.

Start your research by reading every single thread in the Professors subforum. Theres enough information there to keep your head buzzing for weeks.

 

Hi Zoom !

Thanks for your reply, I have been doing alot of research in their keeping, Keeping their tank clean, Its well planted, Always checking the Ph levels, The only thing i guess i messed up on is the Food, I have been feeding them tetra bits, Thay also seem to like these tetra logs that i use to feed the Cory Cats. Iv since removed all the neons/Cardinals from the tank. There are only 2 Red eye tetras in now, and 2 "white" tetras, These have been in the tank for around 3 years already. The cory cats, i purchased when thay were about 2 cm. some have grown to around 5 cm with the largest 6 cm long, thay seem really happy. Laying eggs and such. I had a common pleco in their, It has since been removed, and a bristle nose pleco introduced , This was a while ago. I am looking for a larger home for them right now.
I will measure the fish and report back. Sorry for the delay, Estimating the largest is 18cm , the other two are around 10cm and the smallest is maybe 6cm (top to bottom)
I wish to do at least one item at a time.
1st to fix their health,Get them on a good diet then then move then to a larger tank.
I do like jewel aquariums as iv personally found it really easy to keep fish in these tanks, I have had Standard Glass tanks, with Canister filters, Heaters plugs etc , But i find the jewel tanks much easier to keep fish in, i dont know why.

please can you email me your food price-list professor. I have sent you a PM with my email address.
Id really appreciate it, I wish to get them on a proper diet as soon as possible.

 

hi Guys!

Where can i get metronidazole at 7 mg / litre (ask you pharmacist for tablets) ? Iv tried so many pharmacy's , ive even tried the Distributors who supply them these meds and thay dont seem to have them in this mg, only 200 to 400 and above. ? Where can i find it ?

 

will aquarium salt help a little in this case?

 

One more question. I came accross this online
[h=1]Seachem Metronidazole 5g[/h]
If i find this at my local pet shop, can i use this? There are petshops in Jhb selling this stuff so im sure there must be some in Durban. Would this be ok?

 

Hi Zippy,

You must work out how many litres your aquarium contains, say 200 litres. Then you multiply the number of litres by 7 mg for the dosage, which would get you to 1400 mg. Then if you say use 200 mg metronidazole tablets, you divide 1400 by 200 and you then get to 7. If you say have 400 m tablets, you divide 1400 by 400 and you get 3 and a half, 3.5. So now you either buy 200 or 400 mg tablets. If you have bought 200 mg tablets, use 7 of them. If you buy 400 mg tablets, you use 3.5. You take the tablets, crush them between two tablespoons and throw this into the tank. It will take about an hour to dissolve, but it will all dissolve without a problem.

Do you understand? Quite simple right? No need for 7 mg tablets at all!

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Hi Professor

Thanks so much for the advice, I am taking this really seriously. I found the Seachem version of the metronidazole --> Seachem. Metronidazole Its in a powder form.
I do have the tablets as well the 200mg tablets.

As of this afternoon, I did another water change, Cleaned up all filters (Had to remove the Carbon) So might as well do the maintenance at one time. I had also removed Most of the plants. The Driftwood is still in as well as a few other plants but there is now alot more room in the tank.

So the tank is cleaner then it was previously (though my tanks are always kept clean)
Now that the tank has no Carbon, The waters turned brown due to the driftwood tannins, ( this driftwood has been in the tank for over 4 years now and its still turns the water brown)

Regarding the fish and medication.
Iv diluted the Sechem Medication in water, Soaked their tetra bits in the water for about half an hour, and iv fed them these tetra bits. All have taken to it and seem to have eaten well.

Tetra bits is the only food that I have, I still need your Price-list so i may order your food , and hopefully put them on a better Diet.

A larger tank for them is on the cards, as soon as can find one. I wish to add an extra cannister filter as well for more filteration, Right now its just the internal Juwel Filter with 1000ltr motor and the Tetra tec 1200 external canister and the waters always clean, but not as spotlessly clean as my goldfish tank. I believe its due to the plants creating a mess.

Am I on the right track? Is there more I should be doing?

Also to clarify, Do i continue feeding them the medicated food and then on the 3rd day do a water change? And continue with the medicated food?

 

Hi Zippy, see if your LFS stocks Ocean Nutrition Discus Flakes. This could help you add a bit of variety to their diet and I've found that discus really enjoy it. Ask them to get it if they dont stock it.

Best of luck with your fish matey
Eugene

 

also this http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/custom/images/large/4ea478f7e6ece.jpg mine went crazy for these.... but i also varied there diet with other pellet foods,frozen,live ect but this stuff is good has garlic and spurlina