Discus - Need Help, HITH, not eating

[coolnicks]

if they are bloated that would point to possible constipation.

They do not seem bloated at all, quite the opposite.

after using the meds you did a large water change?

Ive been doing lots of smaller water changes everyday as not to change the PH too much, as im changing water types slightly.

I hate to say this but you can perform and 'autopsy' on the deceased fish..I did it once on a keyhole that was fine then died..i found it was a she and had become egg bound.

I'm ok with that, I currently have the fish in the fridge, but have not done one as Im not really sure what Im looking for, I guess that state of the stomch, and kidneys, gall bladder, and state of the intestines - if its normal, scar tissue etc

do you have qt tank available?

Yes, many many tanks available

Also the other smaller discus passed this morning.

 

[Star_Rider]

They do not seem bloated at all, quite the opposite.

this indicates it probably is not constipation..but more likely another internal ailment



Ive been doing lots of smaller water changes everyday as not to change the PH too much, as im changing water types slightly.

why and how?



I'm ok with that, I currently have the fish in the fridge, but have not done one as Im not really sure what Im looking for, I guess that state of the stomch, and kidneys, gall bladder, and state of the intestines - if its normal, scar tissue etc
you won;t be able to see flagellated protozoans or capillaria but you may see some abnormalities or larger parasites


Yes, many many tanks available

Also the other smaller discus passed this morning.
I'm curious why the water 'type' change??

 

[coolnicks]

I'm curious why the water 'type' change?

Since I’ve kept the discus, until a few months ago, I thought everything was fine. I kept it very very soft, and at PH 6.8, using RO & TMC discus minerals, until a few months back when I had a bad PH crash, for what I can see, no reason, since then I’ve bought 2 ph monitors/controllers, and ever since I’ve seen the PH just fall constantly, down to ~4 when I have to bring it back up, then it falls again - even when I was doing massive water changes everyday, next to no KH.

I think its a product designed for everyday water changes, or there is something drastically wrong with my tank - but I've now ruled everything out I can think of, so I'm moving over to TMC tropical minerals, harder, and a higher PH, but the higher KH should be enough to keep the PH stable.

On a separate note, I’ve been feeding the discus dry/frozen food soaked in esha hex, morning and evening for the last few days, and I noticed tonight the one I thought was ill, has started to do white/clear stringy poo, so hopefully its killing the parasites and flushing them out.

 

[Star_Rider]

just curious.. do you run carbon?

I wonder what mineral is used to stabilze the pH. it may be possible that it was precipitaing out and you were losing the buffers.

why RO? is there something wriong with other source water? is it possible to mix ro with source(tap)?

 

[coolnicks]

just curious.. do you run carbon?

Yes, I do.

I wonder what mineral is used to stabilze the pH. it may be possible that it was precipitaing out and you were losing the buffers.

Calcium and Magnesium I believe

why RO? is there something wriong with other source water? is it possible to mix ro with source(tap)?

My tap water is very very hard, and is full of nitrates. I could mix, but would be adding a lot of nitrates back in.

 

[Star_Rider]

try removing the carbon..many discus advocates seem to think that carbon is a breeding ground for Protozoa.( critters responsible for hexamita)

given your tap water I would continue to use ro with the right buffers.

I have 20 ppm nitrates in my tap,,I keep my discus in a planted tank and nitrates are not a problem as they are used up by the plants.
I also keep discus..mine are domestic tho and are pretty tough.