Discus woes.

[Trinity]

Help! Need some advice / opinions

We have a large discus in a community tank and he has been there for some three years perfectly happily and without causing us any major concerns.

We came in today and he was leaning on a piece of wood at an angle at the bottom of the tank. He's lost all of his colour apart from his stripes which are very dark. He is breathing very heavily. Also, on a second look, I think he may be a bit thin around the front part of his body...

I thought he wasn't looking too hot this mornnig but didn't think much of it as he's not much of a morning fish but now it's looking bad!!

Any ideas?? Maybe it's just old age or something... will be gutted if he pops his clogs, we've had him for ages and I really like him!

thanks for input

 

[ryan]

Three years is not old for a fish by no means. Could you tell us your water parameters, do you have any new fish? and what is currently in the tank with the Discus?

 

[Trinity]

the water parameters are all spot on, I am not concerned about the water at all. We have done a water change recently, we are on RO water that we make ourselves.

there have been no new fish for about three months (been concentrating on buying new stock for our reef tank instead) and everything else in the tank is happy and looking grand.

it is a big tank (240L) so there is a lot in there but basically:
rummy nosed tetra
neon and cardinal tetra
2 plecs of different variaties
pearl gouramis
a siamese fighting fish
another smaller discus
2 dutch rams
algae shrimps
and lots of plants!

everything has lived in there in perfect harmony for the last five years and the discus sonce we added them about three years ago so I am not even convinced anything has been attacking him... am completely baffled

we have switched off the lights and he seems to have got a little of his colour back but still very pale around his chin

 

[ryan]

Maybe a hospital tnak would help, try to PM Ken g w he is knowledgable in Discus and willbe able to help you.

If you put him in a hospital tank I would advise cranking up the temp to around 85.

 

[Trinity]

thanks for the replies, the temp was at 80 anyway and had put it up to 85 but by the time I had come up here, typed the post and gone back down thinking I would QT him he was already dead.

it's a mystery to me... no new fish, nothing had changed in the tank... water perfect, not new to discus, experienced fish-geek etc etc, who knows... this one has me puzzled!

 

[Opcn]

could it have been an old fish when you got him? how big was he? was it fully grown?

Opcn

 

[Trinity]

yeah, I think he may have been fairly old. He was about 3 inches across wen we got him so he certainly wasn't new born.

He was about six inches across before he died.

Still have no clue what it was so I think we may put it down to old age for now and keep a close eye on the other one we have for signs and symptoms for th next little while.

He didn't eat anything this morning but that may be down to him pining as they were close tankmates.

 

[Trinity]

I have QTd the little discus and treated with an anti-bacterial thinger (as he was looking a bit rough by lunchtime. raised the temp to about 85 in there.

He seems to be perking up somewhat, hopefully he'll just keep getting better!

Talked to the LFS today when we were there and they were as baffled as I was as to the reasons for the other discus dying but felt the same way as I did - can only really be old age or a bacterial infection.

Hopefully we will have caught the little one in time and he'll make a speedy recovery. 8)
shame about the big one though, he was a beautiful fish.

not to worry, made myself feel better by buying lots of bits for my reef tank today anyway

thanks for the help guys

 

[Cian McLiam]

Hi Trinity,
Sorry to hear about your Discus. I hope you will replace him as the other Discus really will get lonely if he is only small. The cause of death is probably going to remain a mystery, but I could guess at internal parasites, if the forehead had narrowed and he had gone pale. Did you notice any stringy poop?

Anyway, 80F is quite low for a Discus, they really feel more comfortable at around 85-86F and this helps with their immune system too. Its possible that the parasite/disease may have only struck this Discus because the low temp weakend his resistance over time, and may not affect the other fish as they are ok at this temp.

I would raise the tank temp up to 85 anyway, the other fish should be ok at this temp, the Batta would be most at home around this temp too. The neons might get a little un-comfortable but its a better compromise than having expensive Discus getting sick.

You deserve a lot of praise for keeping Discus for so long with such fish as gouramis and Bettas, I hope they dont get chased by any of the faster fish, they like chilled out fish like themselves in their tank.

Best of luck with the replacements and I hope the little Discus gets better soon too.

Ken