does my discus look sick

[indianornemental]

Hi all. My discus has been acting somewhat strange. Being more picky eating, flashing up plants on odd occasions. And looks slightly thinner then the others. There is no visable signs on the exterior including stringy poo, white spot, fin rot or leisions. And the the fish is not rapidly breathing.
Any ideas or help?
Amonia 0
Nitite 0
Nitrate 20
Ph 7.4
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[brewmaster15]

Hi,
Your discus does not look well. The color is off and its definitely not growing well. It could be because its a runt genetically unable to grow or because its growth has been stunted by something like disease or sub optimal care.

I would suggest copying and pasting this questionaire..
https://forum.simplydiscus.com/showt...lease-complete

To this thread and filling it out so we get a better idea of the situation.

Also.. can you post pics of the other fish too.

Thank you,
Al

Ps..Welcome to SimplyDiscus!

[indianornemental]

1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them?

This fish in particular has always had the faded colour since i put him in the tank four months ago also it has always flashed up plants from time to time.


2. Symptoms (i.e. turning dark, excess slime, not eating, clamped fins, flashing, darting, clamped gills, white/yellow/green poop, hiding, headstanding or tailstanding, white on tips of fins, rotting or fungus, blisters/white zits on fish, bloated, cloudy eyes, wounds).

Other than the flashing i have noticed no further symptoms


3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.

cloverleaf invert safe absolute wormer

active ingredient levamisole hydrochloride

half a gram for 250l



Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.

Fish

4 discus 3 inch i got them as juveniles

3 Torpedo barbs all 3 inch got as juveniles 4 months old

5 neon

2 Rasbora harlequins

3 rummy nose

tank size 250l


5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).


30% twice a week with a gap of three days

6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?

the tank 5 months

sand substrate 3cm deep


7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.

no

8. What type/brand water conditioner do you use? Do you add it to the tank or aging barrel? How much do you use?

seachem prime,added to tank before new water, 3ml

9. Parameters and water source;

Note: Water Parameters are important in diagnosing problems within a tank. If you don't own test kits for the following information, you can purchase them, test your parameters and post this info as soon as possible.


- temp _____28.5

- ph _____7.4

- ammonia reading ____0

- nitrite reading ____0

- nitrate reading ____10

What type of water or combinations of water sources do you use? If it is an RO/tap/well water mix, please list percentages in the mix.

- well water ____

- municipal water ____100%

- RO water ____


10. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.

no

11. Please tell us what you feed your fish and how often. This can be critical information for solving the problem so be as specific as you can.

brine shrimp and garlic frozen, daphnia frozen, beefheart frozen, live daphnia&brine shrimp

12. Include any pictures or videos you have which shows the symptoms. If you can't add them to this post, please provide a link to them.


13. What do you believe is the problem? ( many times hobbyists asking for help have already formed some opinions or sought help elsewhere. Being upfront here will save time and effort on the part of members trying to help.)

possibly Gill flukes

Thanks for your reply

Kind regards Paul

[indianornemental]

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[brewmaster15]

Paul, Thanks for the info and pics. Given you haven't seen any off colored feces or other behavior that would indicate disease..(flukes aside) I think the problem you have is stunted fish.. The pigeon with faded color is also in decline. Without seeing the fish when you got them Im going by the physical appearance here. They look like they are stunted..this could have started before you got them but I think your diet

brine shrimp and garlic frozen, daphnia frozen, beefheart frozen, live daphnia&brine shrimp

isn't helping. I dont know how many times a day you are feeding but 3-4 x aday at that fishes size with good high protein foods that have strong lipid profiles are needed for good growth. Daphnia is okay for fry but you would have to feed alot for discus that size. Brine shrimp is okay protein but not a great overall profile. The beefheart you are feeding is probably your best food on the list but it should be a good quality mix .. avoid commercial ones like sanfrancisco bay brand...its mostly water. If you can add a good pellet or flake it would be great. Increasing their nutrition and food should help here alot... you may want to increase their water changes as well.

The faded fish may turn around with just that but if its being bullied you may need to separate it. Often the weak fish in a tank like yours will get bullied.

Flukes.. wont generally cause stunting and runting and can be treated by several methods depending on what you have access to. Praziquantel is a good option followed by formalin.

Hth,
Al

[indianornemental]

Thanks Al,
I have at hand the medication called API general cure. Should I follow the guidelines it says or can you treat it for longer? As I know metronidazole can be treated for 10 days alone.
And of course will it work for my dilemma?
I tried to get them to eat flakes for 5 days, and only 2 of them will take to them.
The others were starving out.As a result one of the discus died. But it was extremely stunted, more than the ones you are looking at currently.

Thanks Al, I appreciate your quick response and sharing your knowledge.
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[brewmaster15]

Paul, both those ingredients can be dosed daily for 7-10 days. The mfg recommendation is basically 2 doses.. 48 hours apart. their directions mean the meds are in the water 5 days. For Flukes that may not be enough.I would add on another treatment if the fish are not stressed that would give you at least7 days.

Understand that Flukes are really hard to get rid of 100%...especially in a tank with substrate.

hth,
al

[indianornemental]

hi al,

I bet its hard to get rid of. what is easy in this hobby
I have also noticed that my discus brush up plants after water change even with Seachem prime

Regards paul

[brewmaster15]

7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.

no

Paul, if your fish are brushingup against things after a water change you probably have dissolved gases in the water.. Tiny air bubble form on the gills...Its an irritant, so the fish tries to brush it off. Aging your water should stop that.

al