Are my discus sick ?

[dangdang]

5ft tank, 4 smaller discus, 2 medium size discus, 60 tetras (neons and glow lights), 13 clown loachs, 13 small bristle noses.

Tank is only 4 weeks old. Discus have been in there 3 weeks. All fish except for the two medium size dicus are doing very well.

First discus started not eating about 2 weeks ago, second discus wouldnt eat about 1 week ago.

Second discus's fece is a big long white mucus. Have only seen first discus excret waste once, and it was half white and half black.

Both discus's color looks fine, a little darker maybe, but not that noticable. They are shy during feeding, hiding at the back. When the lights are off, lounge light still on, i see them swim out and seem to be enjoying themselves.

Both body shape looks healthy, not skinny.

Second discus looked like it had a bloated stomach. Big round, looking like it had swallowed a marble. But since the last two days, it has been excreting a lot of white mucus feces and is looking less bloated.

These two are the biggest two fish in the entire tank. No one else is picking on them. They are always together like best mates, so not picking on each other.

I had first suggested them to be constapated, so i had them in a hospital tank with epsom salt for 10 hours. but after returning to the main tank, their conditions have not changed. This was done 3 days ago.

Are they sick? I have also suspected hex or worms, but am shy to treat with prassi if not. If i do need to treat, do i treat entire tank? or return them to hospital tank?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Dan

[dangdang]

Also, i've been feeding them on ox heart, tetra color bits and blood worms.

Water changes have been daily since this tank was first set up. I didnt wait for the nitrogen cycle to mature before adding fish, so hence the daily water change. 20% to 30% each WC.

It's a planted tank. and still struggling with brown algae.

Dan

[ryanjury]

Id say if they're not eating and having white stringy poo's sounds like internal parasites.. Quite common in discus (or it affects them more than other fish) treat them asap as for treatment just wait for discusguru to see this and tell you what to do..

[Billaney]

I'd say far too many fish to be in a 4 week old tank , whats the ammonia like ?

[ryanjury]

lol yeah just read how many tetras are in there? And how big is the tank?

[herefishiefishie]

As above. To many fish to soon. But the food your feeding is one concern.

I would be getting hold of some metro & treating your tank as some aren't eating. You can drop the water level down, therefore not as much water. You will have to keep up with the water changes.

Mix some in food, therefore those that are eating, will get straight into there system. Prevent them from getting worse, will say they are probably infected.

Also, i've been feeding them on ox heart, tetra color bits and blood worms.

2 of the 3 foods you mentioned are products I don't feed to my fish. Stop with the beef heart straight away. Fish are cold bloodied, therefore can not digest warm animal bloodied fat.

Frenchy

[jayci]

Fish are cold bloodied, therefore can not digest warm animal bloodied fat.

I guess that does not apply to great white sharks that love the odd baby seal here and there.

[dangdang]

All the water chemistry are showing very low levels. Amonia being Zero, or as low as my test kit can detect. Both nitrite and nitrate levels are very low, both are the lowest on the charts for my kits.

All other fish are thriving.

[dangdang]

Where to buy metro down here in chch ? the 3 vets i've phoned/visited have no idea what it is.

[ryanjury]

Did you go in and ask for metro or metronidazole also know as flagyl..

As far as im aware its pretty common I haven't been to the vets here to get it yet though..

Heres a link

http://www.medicinenet.com/metronidazole/article.htm

And the beef heart and bloodworm debat will go on forever, I dont feed either for various reasons after doing research on the internet.. But I know that people will probably always continue to feed it and thats fine but may cause problems in the long run..

[dangdang]

Thanks Ryan, they understand Flagyl , now to convince them i wont be drinking it myself, and it really is for sick fish

[Caryl]

Print this thread off to show them. You will also find metronidazole under Trichozole as well as Flagyl

Flagyl comes as a liquid and suppositories (not that you could get one into a discus :lol: ) whereas the Trichozole is pill form only - 200 and 400mg.

You can also get Rozex which is metronidazole in topical form (with benzyl alcohol and 70% sorbitol added). It is an oil in water cream base so not sure if it would stay on under water.

[herefishiefishie]

For getting metro. If you can get a hold of a discus book. Or do a google, search for Discus hole in the head or Discus hexamita. Print of symtons sheet or take book to the vet. Say fish are to sick to travel, they look just like this in the text or book. I need some of this please.

I did this before I had contacts & it worked. Vet did say he wasn't allowed to give to me, but took my word.

I guess that does not apply to great white sharks that love the odd baby seal here and there.

I believe there is a difference, in the make up of sharks to cichlids. But I could be wrong.

I have never done much reading up on sharks. From what I saw once, they need the seals fat as a slow release energy source. Great Whites live in cold water, yet maintain a body temp higher than the water temp. I can't really remember much from there.

But when I have a few texts which include, one person; a degree in biology, specializing in ichthyopathology. 25 years experience in daily research on fish diseases.

& 2 others who both have 25 plus years plus experience in cichlids. One is the Publisher of Back to Nature books. The other studied biology. I will sort of take there word.

Sorry but when people then say of discus breeders who say they do this or that.

Well they are only into getting their fish to maturity quickly, get them looking great, pump out a heap of young. Thats it. Short life span for the discus, but who cares. Their selected off spring are already up to size.

{That story in various forms comes form 3 discus breeder/importers I know here & their experiences of some practises overseas.}

Frenchy

[dangdang]

Managed to get some metro from the After Hours Vet, corner Antigua and Desreali in chch.

He was quite happy to sell it to me both in liquid and pill form after i showed him this print out

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VM053

so ...here goes....

[jn]

Wow! The after hours vet? That's so good to know! I'm sure alot of folks will thank you for posting that.

Good luck with the treatment!

[ryanjury]

Awesome good luck with the treatment let everyone know how you get on..

BTW if you dont mind me asking what did the metro cost you? Did the vet charge you a consult?

[dangdang]

The pills were a lot cheaper. They only cost $8.20 for 10. But i was rather concerned so i asked for the liquid. A bag of that (100ml) contained 500mg of metro, that cost $28. So i got a bag of liquid and some pills. Liquid for first treatment.

First treatment was for entire tank. Then moved the two discus to a hospital tank for treatment. Added metro to their food.

After 18 hours in hospital tank, i found some black feces floating around. That's a good sign Will keep them there for another two days.

[dangdang]

I found that it wasnt necessary to buy the liquid. My initial concern was that it wouldnt disolve properly.

I placed the pills in between a folded piece of paper, (the vet's invoice in fact), and rolled on top of it with a jar (a Moccona coffee jar in my case) on a hard top surface until it was a real fine powder. This was achieved with very little effort. First dissoved it in warm water and added to tank.

[dangdang]

forgot....each pill contains 200mg of metro