Will troubles never cease?! Discus show signs of tail rot?

S

sushiray

AC Members
Jan 14, 2009
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new windsor, ny
so now a few have tail fins & some have dorsal fins splitting. some show a little cloudy outline at the splits.

is this beginning signs of tail rot?

have been treating with pure metro for hex but only 2treatments since friday, another due this evening (missed sunday)

prior to metro treated with prazipro then jungle clear for parasites.

API Master Test

pH = 7.4 (recently on the hi side, will check with water co tomorrow if they increased sodium hydroxide or other buffers)
AM=NI=NA = 0

any clues now?

did 20% w/c last nite will do 75% tonite then add metro again to continue treatment. says not to use with any other meds.

so what do I do??
 
Man-oh-man Ray!!! Sure hoping this stuff all starts to go to the good really, really soon! All I can suggest is loads and load of fresh water to help those fins heal up. I don't know if it's possible that the meds could have caused it, but in any case, just lots of clean water for them for a while.
 
I have been reading through your threads and I have a couple questions.

Have you given a break to the fish in between the different meds? Medicating fish is stressful on them and sometimes a few days or week in between will give them a chance to regain their strength.

Are you certain the tank is cycled (some meds will affect and kill the biological bacteria)? I know with my discus tank, even with daily water changes, I still register nitrates. If it isn't cycled, it could be one of your problems.

Are you sure it is tail rot? In other threads you speak of pecking order aggression. Is it possible that the tail fins are split and healing from them fighting amongst each other?

I am pulling for you Ray!
 
W/o knowing full story behind, I can not say for sure but I would really take precaution when switching/mixing meds one after another.

Dont know much about your set up and tankmates thus I can only speculate the possibility of being stress by all the meds applied and/or pH being higher than should be.
I would not mess with pH at this point using chemical additives. I rather would like to recommend to use clean Driftwood. DW will definitely will change the color of the water but no big deal if fish can be saved or at least reduce chance of further complications.
Althopugh I personally have kept numerous Discus at various pH level for long long periods but I discovered that they seemed to prosper with higher rate of breeding/growing/displays better colorations when given the water conditions which their physiological needs have evolved to.
Again, fast/sudden/abrupt changes in water chemistry is not good for fish thus strongly recommend natural methods of changing their water chemistry (should take DW out if pH goes too low/fast).
Another thing with water changes, I used to always had water running with all the changes (chemical/natural) which may have to be applied in the RESERVE before using in the tank during pwc (Adjust pH of water in reserve to your need before using).
I even have done drip method of changing water chemistry using IV/diy IV when acclimating new arrivals from far (sometimes as much as 2 days in transit/box) and have done it for few days to few weeks with great success (higher rate of survival)
With more attention/proper care given, definitely lowered their mortality rate.

Do some research on pH/GH/KH which will assist you in understanding water chemistry, that is if you have not done yet.

Once the water conditions are w/in reasonable range, should consider Antibiotic ONLY if they need such treatments. I've seen in numerous occassions where fish recovered on its/thier own when conditions of water were improved.

I doubt meds you have used have disturbed BB, but it doesnt hurt to check for Ammonia (NH3) and nitrite (NO2) very often. Check pH of your tap and also see if you have added any new rocks, etc to tank!

Hope all goes well!
 
thks folks for staying with me thru my trials & tribulations. it has been rough & some of the pts you all make may be good clues.

note - after the since metro dosing friday (5doses out of 7days) last nite being the last one, all my discus are eating including my once QT now stunted one. in fact it has taken part in the chasing. so my hunger strikes are over T.G.!

w/c last nite was 50%. in fact if some maybe have read, the bubbling I had (which probably had to do with the juices I let in with the frozen brine/bloodworms residue on the surface) has abated a lot after I w/c & skimmed at the same time last nite.

so 2 good turns to the positive.

they still chase each other but as far as I can observe (for an hr or 2 at a time sometimes) I can not see them causing the splits in some of their finnage. they all now come to the surface expected to be fed. T.G. no solo hovering at the corners.

but latest observation is 2 tail finnage has worsen. they look like white smears - hope this is a big clue. one has left caudal fin now showing signs of a smear.

It is possible they could have been stressed from the w/c & meds & chg in meds but if i can relate to a recent baby angel koi purchase from another member, stress was definitely a factor in the travel to me - their finnage showed deterioration & a bit of white smear also, so bad one's caudal fins were all but gone to the knubs (that died b-4 ever intro'd to the tank). the other survived & its "tail rot" disappeared & all grew back including one of it's damage caudal fin. but alas that died as it stop eating (not sure why but not from being picked on) & my other mature angels are rambunctious voracious eaters seemingly in good health.

so my discus tank readings last nite b-4 50% w/c were:
pH 7.3
(found out local tap pH did go up last week due to more buffers added went to 8.8! they federally mandated to target 8.4-9.2pH) (but I can't understand why my pH over the summer consistently was 6.6 even with all my w/c's)
AM = .25
NI = 0
NA = 5

also was my last metro dosing. will test again this evening on next w/c but no metro this time.

I am very concerned hard to sit back & not dose with something else. one member suggested I finish metro then do quazi (I have pure powder) to finish off eradicating any possible leftover worms.

but I so bad want to treat for tail rot (again those white smearing any clues?)

but I will hold off another day & hear from you folks again. but it has worsen for some.

another observation: all my "some blue" colored discus have the condition but the orange/red colored pidgeon/marlboros do not nor my one dark brown discus. not to say they won't get it soon enough.

so thks again for bearing with me reading thru all this. I await your good advice.
 
pH = 7.2
AM=NI=0
NA=5

so AM went down but NA remain the same.

white smearing conditions remain the same since yesterday/other nite

any clues & any treatment recommended yet? have done nothing so far.

thx
 
Yeah, post pics if you can. I am still sticking with stop the meds and give them lots of clean water. That is the best medicine for fin damage.
 
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