Please help!

Discussion in 'Problems with Discus' started by Steve.S, Feb 16, 2009.

  1. Steve.S

    Steve.S

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    My discus had a stroke! What can I do?

    Dont want him to dye! Please help!
     
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  3. Dirk

    Dirk Dwarf Catfish

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    Hi Steve,

    Please give me some more details. I do not understand what you mean by a stroke. What sort of discus are these, wild-caughts or hybrid strains.

    I am in and out of lectures and will try to answer asap.

    Kind regards,

    Dirk
     
  4. OP
    Steve.S

    Steve.S

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    Hi

    This is a blue discus with stripes. Bought it from a petshop. I did not catch it.

    One side off his face is not moving. His not eating. He falls over sometimes and slides over the gravel.

    Steve
     
  5. Dirk

    Dirk Dwarf Catfish

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    If you say one side of this face is not moving, is the one side of this head black, and if so is his front half black or is there a certain portion of his body that is black, or is he just dark all over.

    I assume this is a sudden thing and that he was OK yesterday?

    Kind regards,

    Dirk
     
  6. OP
    Steve.S

    Steve.S

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    He is little bit more dark all over. His face is not black. One side of his face stopped moving today. His bumping into things for a week.
     
  7. Dirk

    Dirk Dwarf Catfish

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    Discus very rarely get parasites which burrow into the brain and from the symptoms that you explain which are clearly nervous symptoms, I can only conclude that this is the problem. Unfortunately this also means that this discus is not going to recover, as the nerve damage is permanent. The fish will continue to try to swim normally and will crash and bash into everything in the tank and continue to damage itself externally. You can try and see if the fish gets better, but treatment is not recommended as the nerve damage is permanent. As a result, I would suggest that you euthanase the fish, in other words that you will have to kill it to put it out of its misery.

    Sorry about this negative diagnosis, but this is something that everyone that keeps any live animal is faced with at some point. If you need advice on how to euthanaze the fish send me a PM please.

    Kind regards,

    Dirk
     
  8. Arthur

    Arthur

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    Sounds like gill-flukes to me.... :dontknow:
     
  9. Dirk

    Dirk Dwarf Catfish

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    Arthur,

    I would also feel more comfortable if I knew more of the detail of the whole disease picture, but what has been described here with regard to the nervous symptoms, in other words, this imbalance, cannot be ascribed to gill flukes only. Gill flukes are often a source of additional complications, but I think that they can be excluded as the actual cause of the problem here, and treatment for gill flukes is not going to solve the problem. A diagnosis such as this based on description given is not so easy, and it would obviously be more accurate if I were to be able to see the fish and what it is doing. It is the best I can do.

    Kind regards,

    Dirk
     
  10. OP
    Steve.S

    Steve.S

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    Please, I do not want to kill my fish! Will the petshop do it?
     
  11. Arthur

    Arthur

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    Difficult indeed. Which is why I feel it is premature to make a definite diagnosis that dictates euthanasia.

    Steve, is the fish bumping into decor with his mouth, or with the side of his head/body?
     
  12. OP
    Steve.S

    Steve.S

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    Uhm, kinda with the side off his head
     
  13. Arthur

    Arthur

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    And does he just fall to the side, or does he actively rub against things?
     
  14. OP
    Steve.S

    Steve.S

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    Im not sure. He swims, then he swims with his face against things or the ground. Then he swims again.
     
  15. Arthur

    Arthur

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    What does his face look like? Are both eyes moving and clear? Is the mouth moving? Are both gill-covers moving when he "breathes"?
     
  16. OP
    Steve.S

    Steve.S

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    Eyes are looking ok. Mouth moves. He breaths just 1 side. Other side is paralised.
     
  17. city bowl

    city bowl

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    It would be good if you could post some pictures, perhaps a clip of him bumping into things, so we can see if he is rather flicking against objects or as the professor suggests he has gone mad! That he is using one gill sounds to me like it maybe flukes.
     
  18. OP
    Steve.S

    Steve.S

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    I do not have a camera. Will ask a friend to come take fotos.
     
  19. Dirk

    Dirk Dwarf Catfish

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    OK Arthur,

    I can agree with you, let us hear what Steve tells us. In my experience a fish that has been doing this for a week is suffering unnecessarily, but again, let us hear what Steve has to say. I would also be much happier if we can save this one.

    Thanks,

    Dirk
     
  20. OP
    Steve.S

    Steve.S

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    Uhhhh sorry what must I tell?
     
  21. Dirk

    Dirk Dwarf Catfish

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    OK Steve,

    During my reply a string of additional messages came through so my comment is somewhat superfluous.

    CB and Athur, if the gill cover on the one side is not moving at all, would you agree that the fish is paralysed? I agree with you that if one gill cover is more open than the other then this can be caused by gill flukes, but if the other gill is not working at all and this fish is showing nervous symptoms, can we assume that gill flukes are the only cause? I have my doubts. What do you think?

    Let us get back to the start: Steve, you started off by saying this fish had a stroke. What did he do on the day after he started this funny behaviour? Has it got worse since then or has the condition stayed unaltered?

    Is he together with other discus? Why I ask is because if one discus does this sort of thing the others get pretty psyched out.

    Dirk
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2009

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