Discus Not Eating - Help Needed [Pic Included]

[RobRocksFishTank]

I'm not arguing ethics, I'm stating facts but bad mouthing a place with nothing more than one thin fish is a bit extreme. Using a vet for sick fish is also a bit extreme, at the retail level. I'm fairly certain that is only found at very high end places. We, as hobbyists, need to make responsible purchases. Only then, if the fish gets sick, can we hold the store responsible. Bringing home an obviously sick fish is the responsibility of the buyer, IMHO.

 

[mark4785]

I'm not arguing ethics, I'm stating facts but bad mouthing a place with nothing more than one thin fish is a bit extreme. Using a vet for sick fish is also a bit extreme, at the retail level. I'm fairly certain that is only found at very high end places. We, as hobbyists, need to make responsible purchases. Only then, if the fish gets sick, can we hold the store responsible. Bringing home an obviously sick fish is the responsibility of the buyer, IMHO.

 
 
My response to you is this:
 

• I have stated that the fish was in a dimly lit aquarium so it was not, in your words, "obviously" sick. That is your quote, your painting a different picture to what I was faced with on the day of purchase.
• The "responsibility" for the this fish nearly dying lies with the people/person who caused the fish to nearly die, this person/people not being me as I am not affiliated in anyway with the store and I was not privy to the way they had been treating it (i.e. starving it to death for months).
• As you well know, you do not hold a monopoly over what actions shall be considered 'extreme' from the perspective of another person of a given social status as it is just your opinion.

 
I am happy to have a peaceful discussion with you but I will not continue it where you are changing the material facts. I have described the situation I found myself in at the LFS, that it was not easy to view the fish, in plain english for you to read and understand in your own time so there should be no warped conception of what came about and equally I should not have to come back and repeat the OP for the same reason.

 

[mark4785]

Its probably entirely the wrong season for you over in England, but if you can get your hands on some live mosquito wrigglers your discus will probably go nuts for them. I havent found a fish yet that refuses these little treats. Another option would be live blackworms, feed via one of those little cones that suction onto the side of the tank.
 
Hopefully the worming treatment will do the trick and your discus will get its appetite back and thirve in your care.

 
Thank you for your suggestions and for not having a go at me like some people. I have ordered some more freeze-dried food for now for it. Where would I get live mosquito wrigglers? I would have to buy them in, but I'm sure we get these growing in our pond filter in the summer.

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

I stand by what I said. You did not get stuck with a thin fish. All you had to do was ask to get a better look at it before you bought it. That is our responsibility as consumers. We all make mistakes. I lost nearly $100.00 of fish doing something that I knew I shouldn't. The fish store knew it too. I blame myself. Will I go back? No, because they could have said something. Good service is hard to come by. That is why we have to look out for ourselves.

 

[Baccus]

In Australia I know it is possible to by frozen blocks of mosquito wrigglers, so I can only guess they would also be available in other countries too.
Almost any tub of water during the right season will allow mosquitos to breed and lay eggs. I know I also get bloodworms occuring in any water I allow to sit with either leaves or timber in it, the fish really relish these live bloodworms and the beauty is I know exactly where they came from.

 

[WILDER]

Glad he's still eating. It's a good sign. But i have seen fish improve only to go downhill again.
Just hope this will not happen to him.
 
At least he's in good hand now.
Thank you for keeping us all updated on his progress.

 

[mark4785]

Glad he's still eating. It's a good sign. But i have seen fish improve only to go downhill again.
Just hope this will not happen to him.
 
At least he's in good hand now.
Thank you for keeping us all updated on his progress.

 
I don't know what will happen for certain but the fish is eating like there's no tomorrow at the moment so one would hope that it puts on some weight and becomes more energetic.
 
Unfortunately, the plants I recently introduced to the aquarium seemed to have come inclusive with skin flukes (as determined by the fact that my Rams are flicking/darting about in discomfort) so I've had to do a water change and put a stronger treatment in (Waterline Sterazin) to prevent it from spreading to the Discus. 
 
Are there any plant disinfectant methods that are 100% effective at killing any parasites that they have? I currently place my plants in a bucket of water with an overdose of Sterazin (with malachite green and formaldehyde) but this doesn't seem to be working.

 

[WILDER]

I would maybe ask in the plant section about sterilising plants before adding to tank.
 
Sterazin not that good on flukes that's my opinion. You have to keep treating every few weeks as some
flukes are egg layers, so you have to keep wiping them out as they hatch.
Also you have to back up with a bacterial medication as flukes cause bacterial infections.
Once the fluke pierces the fish skin bacteria goes into the bloodstream of the fish from the fluke hooks.
 
This is a good medication for flukes.
JBL Gyrodol plus 250

 

[colleen0309]

in my opinion, a Q tank is a good idea for any aquarium, but a necessity in a discus tank. Nothing, not even plants go into my discus tank until it is quarantined for at least 4 weeks. A simple plastic tote, air pump, heater and sponge filter will save you a lot of heartache.

 

[WILDER]

Hows the fish doing Mark. Need an update please!

 

[mark4785]

Hows the fish doing Mark. Need an update please!

 
Hey WILDER,
 
The fish appears very happy now. It darts around the aquarium, weaving its way around bog wood and plants. I've taken a lot of bog wood and plants out so that about 70% of the tank is open space.
 
Here is a video I uploaded of the discus: https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVLK-nsUDD4 .
 
It is eating around 70 Hikari micro pellets per day as well as 3-4 freeze-dried blood worms. Is this a good diet?
 
Things appear to be on the up at present for the Discus

 
Edit: the Discus appears to have less of a sunken belly in comparison to the first image I posted in this thread.

in my opinion, a Q tank is a good idea for any aquarium, but a necessity in a discus tank. Nothing, not even plants go into my discus tank until it is quarantined for at least 4 weeks. A simple plastic tote, air pump, heater and sponge filter will save you a lot of heartache.

 
Thank you for mentioning this.
 
When I want to add new plants to my koi pond they go into a bucket of part water part bleach and are left there for 30 mins. They are then dunked in 10 separate buckets of fresh water to get all the bleach off. I've honestly never had a parasite issue in my pond after employing this disinfection regime. When it comes to the aquariums I don't employ this method as it would cause such a mess indoors. I think what I need to do is get a good quarantine aquarium for plants; I have a three different empty quarantine tanks and one has a hood with lights so this might be what I could use!

 

[WILDER]

Bless him. He's so cute.
I can see some improvement and he feeding well.
Your time and effort that's  made all the difference.
 
Need to go to bed now well past my bedtime.
 
Thank you for the update. Enjoyed looking at the video of him.
 
Thanks Mark.
 
What does it say on the worming instructions when you have to go in with another round of medication?
 
Just looked at the video again and he looks so good.
Glad to see he feeding so well.

 

[mark4785]

Bless him. He's so cute.
I can see some improvement and he feeding well.
Your time and effort that's  made all the difference.
 
Need to go to bed now well past my bedtime.
 
Thank you for the update. Enjoyed looking at the video of him.
 
Thanks Mark.
 
What does it say on the worming instructions when you have to go in with another round of medication?
 
Just looked at the video again and he looks so good.
Glad to see he feeding so well.

 
Well I'm still using Sterazin and this needs to be dosed on days 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8 (or something similar; I will have to double check) to deal with the body flukes. However, I believe this also treats internal worms as well.
 
When I have finished the Sterazin dosing I will switch back to Kusuri Wormer Plus and use it as as preventative rather than a treatment, the former being what it was designed for. I think this can be dosed again 4 days after the first dose.
 
The fish is still eating. He has eat about 40 Hikari micro pellets and 3 blood worms today. In my view it should be able to fit something bigger than micro pellets into it's mouth but it currently isn't able to; I know the Jaw can lose strength in cichlids that haven't eaten so this may explain why it prefers smaller pellets.

 

[WILDER]

Thank you for the update.
It depends on which internal worms the sterazin medication treats. I'm doubtful if I'm honest.

 

[mark4785]

Thank you for the update.
It depends on which internal worms the sterazin medication treats. I'm doubtful if I'm honest.

 
Ok thank you. I've not found Sterazin to be bad when treating my Koi but I guess different species react differently.