Should I euthanize my discus?

A salt bath can do a lot for external conditions but I'd be intrigued to know how it's meant to do anything for internal problems.
 
believe salt aides in respiration.. the better it can breathe the better it can heal. as far as my pH comment, i was only saying to be aware. i also agree that there is no way this fish could hungerstrike for months. i am truly sorry for any misleading advice/info-- all i know is how my husbandry works for me and i hate throwing in the towel (even if it could be my own pride/selfishness) on a possible save despite the odds
 
There is some truth in the idea; fish gills exchange bicarbonate for chloride across the gill membranes, so if there is a serious dearth of chloride, gill function is inhibited. However, I don't see any evidence that any aquarium water we're likely to use would be deficient.
 
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I agree with Ryan! Be kind and end her suffering. You're fortunate to have had her last for months with the headstanding/swim bladder problem. It is very hard to do, I had a young female develop this out of the clear blue last year. She was strong when the problem started and she fought it best she could for 2 weeks. When she'd see me come to the tank she struggled like heck to get up to see me, she wanted to eat, just couldn't get her body under control in order to hit the food. I swear that fish begged me with her eyes to help her...she wanted to get up in the worst way. But deterioration is fast once they are down on the bottom of the tank, so then it is time to say goodbye. Please don't let her suffer.
 
I put her down using clove oil.....
 
Sorry for your loss Vixor, it's never, ever easy.
 
Draal5 said:
A salt bath can and will do wonders for a sick discus 83 is a little low IMHO I have mine at 85

this fish must be eating there is noway it has not eaten in a month let alone months.

Which leads me to believe that this fish can be saved.

your sig says you have 4 but you post suggests only 2 ?

could it be that the other(s) are just picking on this one?

put this fish in a hospital tank if you have one it can even be a 5 gal bucket dose it with salt 1 tbs per gallon of water heat the water up to 90 2 degrees per day from the 83 its in now you should see improvement almost right away.

If you do decide euthanize an over dose of co2 is quick and painless it in effect puts the fish to sleep till it dies
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This statement is incorrect. I have an old wild blue right now that hasn't touched food for two months. She is very emaciated and has lost probably 75% or 80% of her body weight but continues to hang on. She still schools with the others, though as days pass she spends more time by herself. I'm sure she'll pass soon. Even though the OP has euthanized the fish and this thread is for all intents and purposes over, I felt that this tidbit of misinformation should be corrected.

Mark
 
Mark you are correct. Discus can and do go a very long time not eating before they die. I've seen it happen before. I currently have 2 sibling female discus, at one time you couldn't tell them apart they are marked so similarly. For a few months I'm thinking that one is getting gigantic, but it's the other way around. One is getting smaller and thinner. She schools, she holds her own with the group, she's never off by herself, no indication of internal parasites, her poo is brown, her breathing and her gills are fine. She eats like a bird now, but she is eating some. And when I add live white worms, she'll graze for a couple of hours like the others. One day I know she'll stop eating altogether. She's just not destined to have a real long life.
 
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