Discus not looking too hot :(

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soo88

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Dec 18, 2002
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I've had my 6 discus for about 6 months now, they have been great since the beginning... although the pecking order has definetely been made. The particular discus i'm talking about was one of the top in the order, always big and robust eating everything i put in the tank.

Lately he's been a little quieter and just today noticed it breathing very heavily and darkened in colour, eyes also look a little cloudy. I raised my temp from 86 to 88. I do a 10% water change every 3 days (RO/DI water), they're housed in a 40G tall planted tank.

It's as if he was posing for me to get a pic of his heavy breathing.
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Any ideas? Thanks!
 
Likely for the same reason as fishguysj, I would certainly be inclined to take a look at the tank parameters to see if anything is out of sorts. This is just my opinion here, but 10% changes every 3 days might not be sufficient for a discus tank, particularly with 6 living in a 40g tank. Granted, it is a planted tank, so that will help with waste removal as far as ammonia and nitrates are concerned, but things such as hormones and various other contaminates to the water would likely increase in concentration until removed via water changes. I used to be more paranoid than I am now about my water changes, but I still try to get 2 50% changes done weekly on my 55g tank, preferring to do more if I have the time. Are there any other inhabitants in the tank?
 
Pretty discus! Is it just one gill flaring when breathing and one gill clamped or are both gills flaring? Have you introduced any new fish to the tank lately? And if he's been eating, is his poop brown or white? And I do agree that you're not changing enough water out of that tank. If small water changes aren't bothering all of the discus now, it will.
 
If you have an empty 10 gal and heater and good air flow. I would consider moving the fish to an H tank. I would begin adding salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon every couple of hours to reach 3/10 gals. I would also raise the temp to at least 90F, a degree or two more wont hurt. This should help buy some time while you try to figure out exactly what is up. It will also let you check its poop and observe it more closely. Also some nasties wont do well in the salt and the discus can handle a lot more than that dose. (I have had as much as two full cups of salt in 10 gals with a sick discus at 90+F for a couple of days before replacing the salt with meds.)
 
Guys!

Thanks so much for all your responses, I thought I was doing ok with my water changes, but will definetely try for a 15% change every other day. So much work between this tank and my reef! Anyhow, last I tested (about 4 days ago) Nitrites 0, Nitrates were at ~15, PH at 7.11

The only other fish in there are 4 small bushynose, 3 cory's (surprisingly doing well with the high water temp), and 1 german ram.

pinkertd said:
Pretty discus! Is it just one gill flaring when breathing and one gill clamped or are both gills flaring? Have you introduced any new fish to the tank lately? And if he's been eating, is his poop brown or white? And I do agree that you're not changing enough water out of that tank. If small water changes aren't bothering all of the discus now, it will.
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You nailed it on the head. One gill looks to be clamped, the other ones flaring big time. I added an airstone to the tank for the time being to see if it changes anything.
 
TwoTankAmin said:
If you have an empty 10 gal and heater and good air flow. I would consider moving the fish to an H tank. I would begin adding salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon every couple of hours to reach 3/10 gals. I would also raise the temp to at least 90F, a degree or two more wont hurt. This should help buy some time while you try to figure out exactly what is up. It will also let you check its poop and observe it more closely. Also some nasties wont do well in the salt and the discus can handle a lot more than that dose. (I have had as much as two full cups of salt in 10 gals with a sick discus at 90+F for a couple of days before replacing the salt with meds.)
Click to expand...
this is the same course of action i would recommend

bump the temp and slowly raise the salt level.
 
soo88 said:
You nailed it on the head. One gill looks to be clamped, the other ones flaring big time. I added an airstone to the tank for the time being to see if it changes anything.
Click to expand...

Serious case of gill flukes. The whole tank should be treated. Something like PraziPro or Jungle Parasite Clear. Salt and higher temps won't help.
 
What is your GH/KH?
 
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