discus plague?

[jazmynne]

Hi,

We made a bad decision and introduced some new discus and angelfish into our tank without quarantining them. These were fish we had gotten from a farm so they had already been thru the stress of being transported cross-country. All the new discus and all but one of the angelfish died within a few days. Now our old wild discus that we've had for 6 months have turned dark and their eyes are cloudy. Our old angelfish are not as active as they used to be and we've lost a few other fish as well in our community tank. Any suggestions on how to treat them? We tested the water and everything checked out perfect, so we're wondering if they've contracted some disease from the new fish? I read about the discus plague and even tho it says it's supposed to be rare, I'm wondering if that's what they have. Also, it's only been a week since we introduced the new (now deceased) fish...can it hit that quickly? Thanks for any help you can offer. :)

[Dangerdoll]

hmmm... cloudy eyes signal underlying problems. What is your maintenance schedule like on the tank?

[jazmynne]

it's a 60 gallon tank and we do a 10 gallon water change about every 3-5 days. everyone was doing great until this last week. we tested the water as soon as we saw everyone getting sick but all the factors came out perfect. the ph is 7, no ammonia, no nitrites and the nitrates were less than 25. we did a water change then to bring those down. we also have german blue rams, neons, danios, rummies, brilliant rasboras, plecos, a black ghost knife fish, and catfish. all the other fish, except the rams, are doing ok. we had a balloon ram before we introduced the new fish, then we added 5 new german rams. we've lost one, and have another that is not looking too good, but that might be loss from shipping. any ideas? thanks :)

[Dangerdoll]

hmmm......what's important now is to jump up those water changes. If this is cloudy eye, pristine water is a must. The new fish you introduced to the tank may have been kept in less sanitary conditions and when exposed to the clenliness of your water, sparked the cloudy eye amongst other things. I believe cloudy eye can be contagious. Be sure the water is up in temp for the discus too, they like a warmner tank.

[jazmynne]

thanks for your response :) how warm do they like it? we have it at 80 now.

[Dangerdoll]

try 82

[jazmynne]

sorry one more question...will this temp be ok for my other fish? thanks :)

[Dangerdoll]

hmmmm... I'll have to tally that up and get back to ya.....

[Ghost_knife]

Discus, or atleast mine are at 84 with some neon tetra and Bronze Corydora. how many discus are in your tank at this moment?

[jazmynne]

we have 3 large ones, as well as neons, german rams, rummies, angelfish, danios, brilliant rasboras, plecos, a black ghost knife fish and catfish. The largest discus is about 6-7 inches, the other 2 are 4-5 inches. I don't know how old they are...we got them at a trade show. they're wild discus.

[jm1212]

we have 3 large ones, as well as neons, german rams, rummies, angelfish, danios, brilliant rasboras, plecos, a black ghost knife fish and catfish. The largest discus is about 6-7 inches, the other 2 are 4-5 inches. I don't know how old they are...we got them at a trade show. they're wild discus.
you should probably up the temp then. be careful though, higher temp mean lower oxygen levels for the fish and the bacteria that get rid of their wastes.

try testing the water again and she what happens.

[Dangerdoll]

I agree with Ghost on the temp but for discus the bare minimum should be 82F.... however you will need to find out if your other fish will be negatively affected by that.... the one I find questionable is the catfish, what type is it?

[jazmynne]

I have a corydora and a synodontis and another one that I don't know what type he is....we got that one and the synodontis at a trade show. He's a lot like the synodontis, but a little smaller and striped instead of spotted. I also have a baby (really small) malawi cyclid in the tank because we found one baby in my other tank, which is all malawi cyclids, and we moved him to the community tank because we didn't want him to get eaten.

[Dkarc]

First step whenever you have problems with discus is to INCREASE THE WATER CHANGES!! This is extremely important. 50% a day is the norm for most discus tanks...I myself do more than that. Next is to identify what all of their symptoms are, if there is any excess slime production, their breathing rate, and how dark they are. If they are just acting sick and have cloudy eyes, then it may be one of two things. #1, it could be bacterial. Or #2, it could be parasitic. Either case I like to use formalin, followed up by a mild salt bath (4-5 tablespoons per 10 gallons) + acriflavine. Now this will need to be done in a separate hospital tank since im sure the other fish cant handle the salt concentrations and formalin. In the hospital tank, bump the temp into the upper 80's. Dose 2 drops of formalin per gallon and make sure there is extra aeration as formalin will strip the water of some oxygen. 24 hours later, do a big water change...50% would be great. Follow this up with the salt and acriflavine (follow dosage instructions on bottle). Continue to do the large 50% water changes everyday, with the replacement of the salt and acriflavine at a pro-rated dosage (what you take out, you put back in...50% out, 50% of meds back in). If no improvements are shown within several days, then it would be time to step up to a broad spectrum antibiotic, like Furan 2. Double dose the entire treatment and continue with the large, daily water chages (add back antibiotic at pro-rated dosage...). Continue this treatment for a full 10+ days. If things still dont improve, send me a PM and i'll decide what to do next.

-Ryan
Orlando Discus

[jazmynne]

thanks Ryan for your advice. I've been wondering if they caught something from the new fish. Do you know anything about dosing them with terramycin? they are very dark, still eating but kind of listliss, don't seem to be sliming but have some whitish marks on their side - we weren't sure if that was from being sick or being sucked on by a pleco - and cloudy eyes. anyway, I'll definitely try your advice - thanks again :)