Urgent HELP...SICK DISCUS

[bristlenosekarl]

Hi guys,
I've tried sifting through the forums to find out how I can help save one of my discus sunburst discus. I bought 2 discus to put in my 300litre tank about 3 months ago, 1 sunburst and 1 red tourqoise.

From the begining the red one bullied him quite a bit and sunburst ALWAYS stayed hidden and hardly ate. I was told that they settle down a bit over the first week or 2 so I waited, but nothing changed. During a period of time he did start to come out and bit was quite happy, but now he's REALLY worse for wear.

He never eats, now has lost his really nice yellow sunburst orange color and doesn't swim much. I could pick him up with hands and he wouldn't do a thing. I didn't realize he was this bad till last night when I spent a bit of time just watching him.

The thing though is that it's a public holiday tomorrow so no fish shops are open, so I'm feeling pretty worried. He's such a cool discus and I don't want to lose him.

I have a spare tank, 45 litre one that I used for quarantine in the past, and thought about setting that up, I only shut it down the other week. Should I put him in this???? and then just wait till I can go to the fish shop on Tuesday?

Please any advise would be great. I was just gonna take some water from the tank main tank and put it in this tank.

For the record I do water changes 30-50% weekly to biweekly, feed twice a day, and my water tests are pretty spot on all the time. I only realized the other day it's good to watch the softness of the water. I've had this tank set up for a few years now, with only 1 move that I did over 7 months ago. Haven't lost any fish, and the other discus is looking great.

Please help with any advise that I can use till I go to the fish shop in 2 days. I'm gonna start working on helping him out now, and don't want to spend too much time answering too many question on here if I don't have to. I will if you think it's necessary. Thanks guys!!!!!!!

[bristlenosekarl]

Oh yeah...also my signature hasn't been updated in a long time, so don't pay attention to the fish described in there. Changes have been done long since that was made.

[Rbishop]

Is there a significant size difference between the two?

I would move him over to the other tank and nurse him back to health. You can use water changes to keep his health up if you do not have a spare filter and used media to put on the other tank.

Put something in that tank so he has a place to hide a bit and feel secure.

When he is ready to return to the other tank, I would completely rearrange it.

[lizziotti]

If he still won't eat. I'd slowly raise the temp up to 90 in the quarantine tank. I'm no Discus expert but have been reading alot about them in hopes of someday having a discus tank in my dining room. From what I understand they like it hot esp. when sick. This should stimulate eating. He may have internal parasites and the bullying lowered his immunities. Or maybe he just needs to be alone. He may perk up once he's out of the main tank and yes I would give him some more hiding places when you do return him to the main tank.

If only they could talk!

[lizziotti]

Here's a great Discus site that may help also http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/index.shtml

[pinkertd]

It sounds like he hasn't eaten in a very long time and the most critical thing is to get him to eat. Discus can go a very long time without eating due to stress factors alone, but it is tremendously difficult to turn them around. It's like they shut down and give up. He might have even stopped eating before you purchased him. Is there any way you can get some live food for him? It's good that you isolate him and keep him in warmer temperatures. And good that he feels secure with something to hide near. But see if you can locate a source of some live food for him. I know this is no time for a lecture, but keeping less than 4 discus together results in this kind of pecking order until the one being picked on gives up. When there are 4 or more, the aggresion is spread out more.

[bristlenosekarl]

rbishop: When I bought the 2 of them, the red one was probably 1/3 bigger than the other one, and now I'd say he's about 1/2 bigger than the sick one.

At the moment my quarantine tank is ready to go, water moved over, temp at 30, would you recommend higher? The only thing is that I only have a air pump in there, without a filter will it not be effective. how often should I do water changes, and how much? I also wanna make sure the PH, is good. Anything else?

pinkertd: When I bought the 2 discus I had a feeling that I should get more, and was told. Just couldn't afford it, and the dude from the LFS said I should be alright (he's not just someone trying to get a sale, but a guy who knows his stuff). I'm planning on getting 2 more soon, but I wanna make sure I got this guy all good before that.

So the consensus is get him out of there.

[lizziotti]

At the moment my quarantine tank is ready to go, water moved over, temp at 30, would you recommend higher? .


yes, I think that makes it only about 86F. I would try to increase it to atleast 90. What else was in your tank? I know you stated your sig. was not accurate.

[bristlenosekarl]

Update....
I went to store...came back and was gonna go to bed (I'm in Australia and it's 12:30am now) when I went to the tank, he was just being pushed around by the currents of the filters. SO I thought he's going into the quarantine tank now.

Checked the PH and got it to 6.5 now, but the only thing I'm worried about it the fact that the tank doesn't have a filter, only an air pump and a heater. Got the heat going at around 30, but might pump it up if need be.

Put some frozen shrimp brine in there but he didn't go for it. Sucks that the shops are all shut tomrrow....here's hoping he pulls through!!!!

Got a few mugs in there, and he can hide behind the air pump sponge if need be. He's resting in between the 2 mugs at the moment.

Any more suggestions till then? Anything I should alter, check and or change?

[pinkertd]

My suggestion is definitely get him into the QT tank and away from being picked on. You can raise the temp just a bit more, to 31C. Without a filter in the tank, as long as you have the air pump, I would say you should start off doing a daily water change of about 1/4th the tank volume, as long as you don't have food waste lying around, but monitor your water parameters to be sure you have no ammonia or nitrites. Replacement water must match the temp exactly, this fish is not going to be able to handle any temperature variations. To begin with, what I would do is fill the QT tank halfway with water from the 300L and half fresh water. Is the QT barebottom? If not, you'll want to put something underneath it so the discus cannot see it's reflection in the bottom glass, they don't like that. And something on the back of the tank as well, even if it's just paper, gives the discus more of a feeling of security. I'm sure your friend at the LFS is very knowledgeable, but unless you watch the discus everyday at feeding time to ensure you see it eat, not-eating can go unnoticed for quite a while. In the beginning they come right forward as if they are going to eat, but they actually don't take food in or they take it in and spit it out. It is also possible that the discus has internal parasites, but I'd like to see you get him in a stable environment and try live food before hitting him with any meds. As weak as he sounds, meds could push the rest of the life out of him. What have you been feeding?

[bristlenosekarl]

My little heater can only go to 32...which is 89.6 I think. So lets see. Man it sucks possibly losing this little guy, he was so vibrant. Pretty dirty on myself that I waited this long to do something about him.

update the signature too.

[bristlenosekarl]

pinkertd: Thanks for advise. As I said above he was pretty worse for wear, and I did my weekly water change of the 300L tank yesterday, so I took the QT and used all the main 300L water.

So 1/4 water change daily, and what do you mean by food lying around, are you saying get rid of it? How often should I feed him too? I've been feeding them a range of pellets, flakes, frozen shrimp and blood worms.
What should I feed this guy till I get the live food?

Thanks for all the advise.

[bristlenosekarl]

Thanks for the help tonight guys.
Going to bed now, and he's moving around every so often, which is more than I can say before.

Ammonia and Nitrites are both 0, and PH is 6.5, so I'll do a water change tomorrow night, as I have to head out for the day.

Appreciate all the help and anything else please let me know.

[pinkertd]

Yes, get rid of it with a little siphon if he doesn't eat it within say 30 minutes. Don't leave any uneaten food lying about on the bottom of the tank. You may see ammonia develop in a small tank with no filter and uneaten food lying about. And I say 30 minutes since he may be very timid to try the food in his new surroundings at first. Remember, he's used to being picked on every time he came out of hiding. Give him a little time to feel better in his new surroundings before trying to feed him. The increased temperature may help stimulate his appetite as well. I would not offer anything except a bit of bloodworms. I know discus, and know in his state he will not touch the other foods for sure! Good luck to you and keep us posted!


And PS - Congrats on the bristlenose babies. I've been raising them and they are awesome little guys!

[Rbishop]

Good luck..keep us updated.

[Draal5]

add garlic to the food this will help stimulate his apatite you can use powder of fresh soak the food in it.

[yogias]

add garlic to the food this will help stimulate his apatite you can use powder of fresh soak the food in it.
how does this work? how much garlic powder do you add? i too have a very poorly discus with identicle symptoms

[Star_Rider]

if you have fresh garlic..crush it and add a bit to the food..it's the oils you are really after.

[yogias]

only have powdered, is that any good? if so, how much ?

[bristlenosekarl]

guys....really sad day, woke up this morning and he was sitting between the 2 mugs...and not moving. thought he was just resting, but nah he's gone. really dirty on myself. First big casualty I've had since starting up my tank 1 1/2 years ago. Don't really wanna have to learn from a beautiful fish like this, but it helps know how to take better care and act fast!

thanks for all the help guys. wish he could've pulled through, but I guess it was a little too late.

[pinkertd]

Sorry you lost the fish. A lot of us have been in your shoes at one time or another. Better luck to you going forward!

[yogias]

sorry for your loss. My little guy didnt make it either. Sometimes i hate keeping fish......

[crazycanuck]

sorry for you loss... i was going to get into discus,and have researched them ALOT.. i just couldnt take the chance of paying 100 bucks a fish and having them die,they are to sensitive for my liking