Discus - The Fish Is Dying No Chance Here..but My Angels Are Breeding&

[newfishaddict]

I started up my first discus tank 4 months ago. I bought six 2-3 inch discus and all have been doing well, except one. This one has been on a bit of a hunger strike. I have seen this fish eat and not spit it out VERY rarely in the past month. In the past month the fish has got very thin. I would have quarantined this fish earlier but my 21g quarantine is full now with an angel. I could set up my 10g if I go buy a heater for it…Today the fish is very bad, resting on the bottom on an angle breathing slowly….

My question is: would you move this fish to a newly set up 10g? to try to get it to feed/survive? What would you do?

I have moved the fish into a breeding enclosure within the tank, it is clear this fish has been severely bullied in the past 8-10 hrs.I dont think it will survive. Anyone ever do force feeding? The fish has not eaten well in a long time...

Tank size: 90g
pH: 6.9
ammonia:0
nitrite:0
nitrate:8ppm
kH:90
gH:150
tank temp:29.0 (+/- 0.3)

 

[crazie.eddie]

How would you force feed the discus? I can force feed my angelfish, becuase it is used to eating food from a turkey baster at times. The angelfish is in my QT tank for swim bladder problems.

Many people suggest treating fish not eating, with Metro. Unfortunately, metro must be ingested. Metro also causes the fish to lose it's appetite.

What do you feed the discus?

How often do you do WC and how much?

Any other fish in the tank?

I know people have trouble placing young juveniles in a large tanks. The fish do not see the food in the large tank and will often starve.

 

[Tolak]

I've had good luck treating angels that refuse to eat with metro. It's usually caused by an internal protizoan.

This is what I do for angels, you may want to look into the maximum temp your fish can handle. Metro was originally designed for humans, the closer you can get the tank to 98.6F the better. Discus can handle quite a high temperature, I've had angels up to 100F.

Put the angel in a quar tank, I usually use a 10 gallon. Increase the temp over a day or so to 90-94F. Treat daily with 40 mg/gallon metronidazole, with 50% water changes daily. If the fish isn't eating, don't feed for the first 3 days. After 3 days, get some frozen brine shrimp. Take a portion about the size of a few match heads, and sprinkle on some metro. You have to eyeball this one, make the shrimp look kind of like a tiny powdered donut. Once it thaws, mix it in & feed. Sometimes they still don't eat for a few days, but once they start to mouth the food & spit it out, the meds seem to get in their system real good. Continue medicating the water & food for 7-10 days.

Metronidazole is sold as flagyl, het-a-mit, and a few other names I can't recall offhand, used to treat hexamita & hole in the head. They usually suggest 20mg/gallon, this often isn't enough. Metro deteriorates in 8 hours, so you could do twice daily water changes. I've done this on the weekends when I have time.

I've also added epsom salt while using metro, this helps with any constipation issues, cleans out the digestive tract. I start with 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons of water, increasing by 1 teaspoon daily for 2 more days to bring it up to 3 teaspoons per gallon. You will have to adjust how much you use when doing water changes. You may want to give this a try.

 

[newfishaddict]

The fish is dying now for sure, I have him so he can die alone in peace...

Good news is my angels are breeding!