dimebag Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 hi all, last night i got home 2 find 1 of my juvenile discus dead it had been looking a bit dark the last week but has been eating as normal and seemed to be ok. obviously not. now this moning my female cockatoo is lookin pretty sad. does anyone have any ideas about what could b wrong in there?? i did tests last night b4 a 30% waterchange: ammonia-0 nitrites-0 nitrates-10 ph-6.6 :-? thanks for your help, duncan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 sorry for your loss hex is common in discus, did you see any white stringy poops? they normally darken up, get the white poops, stop eating and then die (if its not treated) however i dont know if that would affect your apisto too :-? did you do any water changes in the last two or three days with straight tap water? cause i cant do them for a few days after big rains because te puke water people put lots of chemicals in it afterwards, might be the same for papamoa (assuming you got the nasty rain too lol) sorry i couldnt be of more help, chin up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 Hi mate learnt this lesson the hard way as well but this well be your problem I think. nitrates-10 do a couple of 50% water changers and things should be ok. What are you feed the Discus. Beef heart if there young and less then 2'' or trying to breed them other than that if your feeding beef heart you'll have to do a change of water the same day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimebag Posted March 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 hey sharn & bk, thanks for your replies. ok heres the answers 2 your questions: didnt see any white stringy poos and i usually use rainwater for water changes not straight tap water if i have to use tap water i use stress coat. however i havent used tap water in the last 2-3 weeks anyway. dont feed any beef heart, just tropical flakes, color bits & tubifex occasaionallythe other 3 discus seem fine, bright colours, eating heaps. cockatoo still alive but lookin sad is still in the same place as when i left 4 work. :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 Yeah that's the thing everything looks ok but that "nitrates-10" is making them stressed which will led to other problems (one of mine hit the side of tank and was all down hill from here tell death next day). Lots of water changers will get them looking ok. What is your local water like, here in CHCH it can go straight in from the tap. Bring the ph down could be a go as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimebag Posted March 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2006 found my female cockatoo dead this morning :-? hopefully there will be no more casualties. anyone have any suggestions?? have been doin water changes daily and nitrates r down 2 5 or less thanks, duncan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted March 26, 2006 Report Share Posted March 26, 2006 Sorry about your losses dimebag...how are things going now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted March 26, 2006 Report Share Posted March 26, 2006 NEVER FEED DISCUS TUBIFEX!!!! Sorry, just saw that in the post and had to jump up and wave my arms and stuff. Blood worms are fine but tubifex are well known for causing heaps of problems in discus. As for your juvenile discus dying it was most probably hex from the colour and appearance you mentioned. Treat with Met as sharn or antwan will tell you how. I'm trying a new med over here called Spirohexol that I got sent to me as a pressie from overseas but don't know how effective the stuff is yet. Keep your nitrates down and add some plants to the tank so they use it up naturally. If it's a bare bottom tank ignore that advice and just up the water changes and test the water to make sure all levels are at 0. How often are you doing water changes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimebag Posted March 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2006 hey everyone no more deaths in the weekend, and everyone else seems fine. i do 30% water changes every 2 days but the last 4 days have been everyday. already have heaps of plants in there(anyone want some val??)thanks blueandkim for your advice and also bk. what kind of problems does tubifex cause?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted March 26, 2006 Report Share Posted March 26, 2006 Morning, Tubifex are typically pathogen infested and the eggs are known for surviving the preservation process. Here's a few threads that cover this topic - http://www.simplydiscus.com/forum/showt ... ht=tubifex http://www.simplydiscus.com/forum/showt ... ht=tubifex Glad the rest of your fish are okay! Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK Posted March 26, 2006 Report Share Posted March 26, 2006 Bummer about the female. Do or did your Discus have stringy faeces if so this is worms or Hex as Blue&Kim said or Hole in Head, hard to tell unless you have microscope. If so worm with dog wormier or if your vets nice he might get some Metronzindola (sp). If you think fish are ok and eating and on sign of stringy pooh just mix in with food some how. Get some white worms for them they will love u for it. If you can't get any up your way I will send you a starter culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted March 27, 2006 Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 hey dimebag, if they do infact have hex (pretty common) let me know and i can tell you where to get some metro from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimebag Posted March 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 hey guys, i didnt see any white stringy stuff coming out? all other fish seem fine so hopefully there will be no more death thanks for your replies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimebag Posted March 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 aaaaaaaaarrrgh woke up this mornin g to find 2 dead!! another discus and my big male cockatoo done tests againthis morn ph6.4, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 nitrates 5. been doin waterchanges everyday lately so dont really know what to do?? im just about ready to take all fish out and scrub it all out and new water, wood etc although this will probably stress the fish bigtime. any input will be appreciated, cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 I'm so sorry dimebag I wish I could help if i have to use tap water i use stress coat I know you said you haven't been using tap water...but just thought I'd mention but isn't stress coat just that to help the fishies with their...ah, shoot...is it slime coat, hoping I'm thinking the right thing here...those with more experience, please correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, if you're tap water does have chlorine/chloramine you would need a water ager as opposed to stress coat. Have you added anything new to your tank an ornament or such? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimebag Posted March 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 hi caper, as far as iknow stress coat removes chlorine and makes tap water safe, but hasve none at the moment so cant check the bottle. if anyone knows let us know. cheers, duncan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 yep duncan your correct, i have a bottle of stress coat here and it says it is used to remove chloramine etc. etc and make tap water safe...just not in those words hehe and caper you are right aswell... it helps the slime coat in fish!!! thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 the only thing i can think of, though its a long shot, would be ph shock? when you leave water sitting for a bit the ph drops (i think it only drops) but if you add it straight to the tank (say its a ph of 7.4) your upping it quickly if you do largish amounts, then it drops back down? i always had problems with my babies when i used tap water but now i age it everything seems to be ok. did you normally age it? if your doing water changes daily from the tap you could be add nasties, we had big rains the other day and that would stress your fish. i know theyre pretty far off but thats the only thing i can think of other than some sort of parasite etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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