Need help; temporary home . . .

[wvufan788893]

This is probably off-topic insofar as this is a reef forum but I digress . . .

I need a temporary home for my Discus. Yea, the freshwater cichlid type of fish.

I have some hellish bacterial or parasitic infestation (or both) in my 125 that I cannot kill. I've tried everything known to man and nothing will take it out. It starts with the fins clamping, then the fish turn dark, and finally, they get this slimy patch stuff that begins to erode until it appears someone sandpapered their sides.

I thought Maracyn had it gone but when I looked today several have their fins clamped. Accordingly, I have removed the fish and housed them in a rubbermaid tub. I'm tearing the tank down and bleaching everything in it.

My problem is that the water won't hold out in the tub while the tank cycles. I need somewhere to put these guys or 1) I'm going to have to change the water daily or 2) they will die.

Sucks, eh?

If anyone has the room, I'll bail them out to you. I will pay if need be.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Aquayne_wv]

Sounds like Discus plague.
Search the freshwater forums for treatment.

IT IS VERY CONTAGIOUS DO NOT MIX WITH OTHER DISCUS OR ANGELFISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GregDoug]

I have not had discus but for several years but what you are describing seems to be stress related. Discus do very well with daily water changes but their temp needs to stay around 90 or so, not the standard 80 degrees most fish tanks use. What is your temp? Also, check the PH and make sure its in range.

 

[H.crispa]

I used to do the discus thing. My suggestion is to do daily massive water changes. In my experience, most aquarium problems can be rectified with water changes. Especially with FW fish. Make sure your water temp is 84-86 and change water like a madman! If you are terribly concerned, add a teaspoon of seasalt per gallon and change water like a madman. When the crisis subsides, change out the water as described above until the tank is returned to the normal state.

Also, in my experience, discus adapt quite well to a huge variety of hardness and pH-- as long as it is consistent. If you seek to breed these fish, soft water with a low pH is an absolute must-- otherwise the eggs will turn white or orange and die. If you just want to keep healthy discus without breeding them, and you don't like what I have said, send me a PM and I'll put you in contact with my dad.

His discus spawn regularly in water with a pH of 7.8 and hardness of about 300-350 ppm. The eggs do not hatch, but that is because of the pH and hardness. He keeps these fish in plain tapwater and has them in a heavy-planted tank-- absolutely beautiful tank! Honestly, I STOPPED keeping discus because they are a much bigger pain in the butt than a reeftank! My father disagrees. Whatever. Point being he is much more up to date on the discus thing, as I have not had them for about a decade-- I suspect however, things have not changed that much.

 

[wvufan788893]

You're right . . .

You're right . . .

It's plague allright! It's the only thing it can be and the symptoms match. I wish I had known that about two months ago.

Unfortunately, I made this issue worse albeit ignorantly. This started with my two Adult discus when I switched them over to my 125 and subsequently added a few fish; i.e., new discus. They looked healthy enough because they were just carriers. My two adult Discus died as a result. Then the Discus I purchased started to exhibit the disease when, guess what, I added two more Discus. I got them through it pretty much with Maracyn. So when they came out of it a bit I wanted to finish off the tank with a few more nice specimens and guess what, plague all over again for the new fish and others.

I didn't know this stuff worked like this but here is what I do know. This disease runs a course of 7-20 days and is somewhat treatable with antibotic remedies. Salt is of no use and really, either is anything else. Ph values are of no consequence in my opinion. The fish will eat so feed them, however, this fouls the water in conjunction with the anitbotics. The fish either live or die, but they remain suspect to re-infestation.

Therefore, buy all Discus in a lump sum and add nothing else. You will be able to save yourself a hell of a lot of trouble. I would recommend quarantining new fish but under these circumstances I don't think it really matters insofar as the disease manifests itself when a carrier is exposed to an otherwise healthy fish. Only sure bet is not to buy fish.

Now, with that said, let's see how many I can save.