Discus At Deaths Door!

[Jim Curtis]

So I just came home from work to find my largest juvi discus floating upside down with his mouth at the surface gasping for air. I put my hand in to move him because it almost looked like he was trapped at behind the cord for the heater. He wasnt. He is totally listless and just barly swimming and when he swims he hes running straight into everything. He has a gash on the front of his head and a white spot possible burn on the left side of his body. Right now I have him trapped under a net to prevent him from doing anymore damage to himself. His left eye is turning slightly white his other eye looks normal. What should I treat with? All other fish are acting totaly fine. He is also extremely bloated and has not been feed at all since last night!! Help! I have 3 hours til the fish store is closed so thats my window for buying meds!

Tank stats are all perfect! Temp is 85F
Ive had him for 4 months.

 

[rallyingmick]

unfortunately its not sounding good. The only thing i would do is place him in a q t with good oxygen and a full dose of melafix. . Carry on dosing daily. . Is this fish young? I knw u had him 3 mnths but it may be old, as i had a fish for many years and old age got the better of him. (i think) Resulting in pretty much everything ur describing.

 

[julioarca]

Hmmmm....Discus are beautiful fish and its awful when u come across things like this. I lost a Discus yesterday, dont know why, others are fine, not changed my regime at all..Was away a year ago and wife said she heard a clunk in the tank, when she looked, one Discus was speeding around, I lost him after about 3 days...He was displaying same symptoms, I got him into a breeding trap our of the way....Good luck bud.

 

[Jim Curtis]

unfortunately its not sounding good. The only thing i would do is place him in a q t with good oxygen and a full dose of melafix. . Carry on dosing daily. . Is this fish young? I knw u had him 3 mnths but it may be old, as i had a fish for many years and old age got the better of him. (i think) Resulting in pretty much everything ur describing.

Not old age.

Blockage affecting the swim bladder, treat with epsom salt. Should be ok in a few hours.

Got my answer at Bidka. Thanks for the wild guess tho.

 

[rallyingmick]

so ok its a young fish, either way buddy i would quaranteen it as im sure u have many other lovely discus. The main issue is the fact its bloated, and if it is young strong fish this could be a type of swim bladder. Good luck

 

[WILDER]

Epson salt baths to help draw the fluids out.
Bacterial med if you can issolate.
Can you describe the white patch on him, does it look like bleaching beneath the skin, or fluffy looking, does the spot have any redness around the edges of it.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.
<a href="http/www.flippersandfins.net/SwimbladderDisease.htm" target="_blank">http/www.flippersandfins.net/SwimbladderDisease.htm</a>

Cloudy eye is a symtom of a desease not a desease in its own right.
Causes.
Bad water quality.
Stress.
Old age.
Poor diet.
Parasties to bacterial.

 

[Jim Curtis]

The white patch looks more like scales that are half torn off after closer inspection. I suspect he was being nipped at by other fish or maybe even burned himself on the heater.

 

[WILDER]

Can you issolate.
Is he still bloated.
I would treat with a bacterial med to stop the wounds getting infected.

 

[Jim Curtis]

Hes alone in a bare 20 gallon high. Treated with epsom salt plus melafix. Hes currently on the bottom laying on his side. Not looking too good.

 

[WILDER]

I would of gone in with maracyn.
Melafix is only good on cuts and wounds.
If you have maracyn 1 0r 2 I would add that to his tank,
Good luck.

 

[Jim Curtis]

Word, I dont have any yet ill have to go pick it up early tomorrow before work. Somebody recommended I use a mix of 1 and 2.

Wilder is it safe to mix those with Melafix since its essentially tea tree oil?

 

[WILDER]

You can use melafix with internal bacterial meds.
Also you can use maracyn one and two together to cover all bases.

 

[Jim Curtis]

Hes on Maracyn one and two since this morning. Still looks the same but I guess thats to be expected, the bloating went was gone yesterday but his color is gone, he is almost black. Still isnt eating. Anything else I can do or is this the best course?

 

[WILDER]

You mean his colour gone completely black.
Black patches can be ammonia burns that are healing.
Black can mean a number of things.
Has his eyes gone black.

 

[Jim Curtis]

His eyes actually look white. Discus often turn black when they are stressed. I dont think that can be linked to anything specific.