White stuff on discus (fin rot) ???

T

thewarning

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Apr 29, 2007
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I bought 5 discus online and this is my fourth day with them. Two of my fish's eyes seem to be a little cloudy. Although Im very new with discus its hard for me to tell if there eyes are normal or not.

Also, one fish has a very small white spot on its back fin, the back fin itself seems to be a little frayed. My other fish's top fin is frayed and theres white stuff on the frayed area, also a little on the side of its body, and bottom fin as well! Is this fin rot? Should I buy one of those meds that treat a variety of diseases and treat the whole tank???
 
if you just got these discus I hope they are in a qt tank.

what size are these?
what are the water parameters and include temp.
can you get a picture of the damage.possible rot?
clean water..I would suggest daily water changes or at minimum every other day.

the disuc should be kept in a tank that is warmer than what most tropical species stay in I keep my tanks of adults at 82-84 the juveniles at 84-88.
 
I just had some new discus die from something similar. It was some kind of bacterial infection but I didn't really know what and they died shortly after treatment began. If they are under 4" you should keep the water at 88° and are they black or dark? that would indicate there is really something wrong. If you really want some good ansewers go on Simplydiscus.com
 
All my water conditions are fine. Remember, they came that way. I've been doing 40% water changes every day since I got them. I was just wondering if medication is the way to go.
 
the first course of action is bump temps and add salt.

the amount varies but it is similar to treating ich..mix the salt in tank water and add slowly.

getting the salt level up should be done slowly over the course of hour even days.

if you add meds do it as a broad spectrum anitbiotics..


how do the discus act?

btw stating the water parameters are fine is objective at best..discus fare well in 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and low nitrates..less than 20 on nitrates

I have seen some folks say their water parameters are fine only to post ammonia .5 nitrites .25

knowing what those params are is very helpful. even more so if the fish came with the problem.

are they in qt??
 
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Discus are difficult to keep in general, but they really demand prestine water.

This sounds like a poor water issue maybe during transport? How long was the shipping? Also, these fish would have been under a LOT of stress during their move and as such would be more susceptible to ailments such as bacterial and/or fungal.

However, without knowing much more and without images, I would error on the side of keeping their water in excellent condition, but when changing the water in the QT do your very best to match the water as closely as you can (temp, pH, etc.).

Adding meds to "treat" for something that doesn't exist will only further stress them, and Discus are already a sensitive fish...

Until you really know what's going on I would advice that you watch them for a day or two and track their progress. If it worsens you really need to contact the supplier and ask if there are any issues in their stock/other shipments, and ID any ailment that they may develop.

See here for a decent photo ID site to help: http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html#Cloudyeye

EDIT: Just saw Star's post, good advice, and I would definitely raise the temp at a minimum (they like 88+ anyways).
 
The fish were sent out over night. I did not use a qt tank because this is my first tank and theres no other fish in it. The ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all at 0. Their behavior is much improved and the fish that appears to have the fin rot even gained a little color in its body. I think the white stuff might be ich. I will try to get some pics up as soon as I could.
 
ich looks like the fish were sprinkled with salt..generally discus don't get ich since they are kept in warm water. 84-88 is a common tank temp for young discus.

if you add salt it will also kill the ich keep the temp up high as young discus can take water temp in the 90's

discus are not that difficult to keep..they do like clean water but many of the discus have been tank raised for several generations..as a result they have become more adaptable to water params.

it bothers me tho that yor readings are all 0.
nitrates in a cycled tank should have some readings.

i suspect your tank may not be cycled
"I did not use a qt tank because this is my first tank and theres no other fish in it. The ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all at 0."

did you do a fishless cycle? if so there should be some nitrate readings.

you will need to keep an eye on the water and be prepared to do water changes
any ammonia in there will not be good for discus.
 
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