discus rehab project

Definitely keep the tank bare bottom but throw in a couple handfuls of gravel from a cycled tank to help get the cycle started. Seed the filter too, if possible. I used small terracotta pots in my discus tanks filled with peat, gravel and a few plants just to be able to put plants in a bare bottom tank. The peat keeps the pH at around 6.5 - 6.7 and the discus appreciate the pots and the plants as furniture to hide behind when they get nervous. I would bump the temperature up to about 85. Do you have an RO unit? I have a 100 gallon stock tank with a mag-drive pump and two 300 watt heaters. I keep it topped off with 95% RO water and 5% tap water. I float a lady's stocking filled with peat and keep the temperature at 85 degrees. I use this for change water and do a 30% change daily.

Best of luck, let us know how you make out.
 
if they are sick, raise the temp up slowly to 92*over 2-3 days.

try feeding them small amounts of everything in their diet.

also, congrats on the fish. that is one time i would say to myself, I hope these dont turn out to be free"
 
Alright, thanks for all the input. I will definitely check out that disease.

I am definitely going to clean the tank out well, and also test fill it. I got it free and it leaked, so I resealed it then put the snake in, so I never tested my sealing job. I'm pretty sure it will be alright, but its al old tank, one onf the ones with a slate bottom and the metal frame around the whole thing.

I can add some peat, I have some for my amazon tank, and definitely have enough filters running that I can probably almost fill up the new filter with established media. I'll still get it running for a few days before putting the fish in, I have to wait for the heater to show up in the mail anyway. Ordered from Big Als this morning, so should be a few days.

Thanks for the help everyone and I'll keep you updated.
 
The discus are stressed. Right now, your main goal is to increase the temperature and decrease the stress as much as possible by keeping the lights off and let them settle. Add in the salt, it will help a lot with the stress. When you are able to move them into a larger tank, keep up with the salt and see if their slime coat is still peeling off. If it is, then go with a double dosed round of antibiotics...I prefer Furan 2 for this since we dont know exactly what it is. Also, if you have it around, add in formalin into the tank along with the antibiotics at 2 drops per gallon and maintain this for the entire treatment of the antibiotics (replace when you do water changes). This is like a shotgun method of treating discus, but since we dont know if it is being caused by bacteria or parasites, it is your best option. Also, maintain a low salt level in the tank during the entire treatment...about 3-4 tablespoons per 10 gallons. Keep the temp in the mid 80's and be sure to keep up with your water changes. 50% a day atleast is ideal when dealing with a disease.

Also, discus wont go after mysis. They will, but it takes a while to get them to eat it. They will go after things like bloodworms or live BS MUCH easier than mysis. When they are sick like this, they wont eat...or atleast wont eat hardly anything. Let them be and they will eat when they are feeling better. They wont die of starvation, trust me on that, lol. Ive had adults not eat for a month straight and still look fine and spawn the next month.

-Ryan
 
Well I tried the 30gal today, and it was leaking all over the floor. They're in the 15 now, a little more room, and its barebottom with a lot more filtration. I'm going to start creeping the temp up, its about 82 right now, and there's about 1tbsp/5gal of salt in there. They're in the basement now, so it will be darker and quieter. There are some guppy fry in there that one of them was eating yesterday, so I'll just leave those in there and stop adding food for now, and see how things go over the next day or so.
 
Will using Furan2 and/or formalin wreck my biofilter?

Also, I read that formalin removes oxygen from the water...coupled with the higher temps, should I add an airstone?
 
sploke said:
Will using Furan2 and/or formalin wreck my biofilter?

Also, I read that formalin removes oxygen from the water...coupled with the higher temps, should I add an airstone?
Click to expand...

The formalin/Furan 2 combo will kill your bio.

Yes, formalin can deplete the oxygen a bit...it is ALWAYS a good idea to add in extra aeration when ever you are treating with formalin.

-Ryan
 
Ok, I've been treating with salt (2 tbsp/10 gal) and keeping the temp around 85. Haven't seen too much change so I'm going ot start treating with Furan2 tonight. The LFS didn't have formalin, so I picked up some Jungle Parasite Clear as well. Should I use this at the same time, or jus thold off and use the Furan for now and see how it goes?
 
Well I started the Furan 2 last night. I'm already seeing some improvement, the one guy who had eye cloud is looking a lot better. I'm going to continue the run for hte whole week, but at least I'm a little hopeful that this should have some effect.
 
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