Quick Question About Discus

[FishHobbyist1564]

Hi everyone,

I have a group of 6 discus that are social and do not tend to hide too much. However, I have recently found the largest of the group hiding behind some plants, and it will not usually move from that spot. At first, it was very social like the others. It does not appear sick at all, and it has it's normal color (although it is still quite young and does not have too much color yet). It eats perfectly fine when food comes close to it, and it will occasionally come out of the spot to "show off" to many of the other discus. The funny thing is that it is behaving like a normal and healthy discus would except for the fact that it doesn't often leave that spot. The water parameters and the temperature (84 degrees Farenheit) of the tank are all what is recommended for discus, and the rest of the discus are all swimming at the front of the tank. Again, the one discus that is hiding does not appear sick at all, and I'm not sure what I could do other than frequent water changes. Is it just a shy discus?

Thanks for any help

 

[FishHobbyist1564]

Also, I forgot to add some more details about the tank...

The tank is 75 gallons and contains gravel, fake plants, 2 large filters, and a heater. I have provided many hiding spots for the discus just to make them feel more comfortable in their environment.

 

[hillmar77]

Sounds like he is marking his territory in the tank.... does he chase other Discus from that spot, especially if food lands close to that spot?!

 

[FishHobbyist1564]

I haven't seen it chase anyone, it just peeks out from the plants pretty much all day long. It will sometimes come out with all of the others during feeding times, and most times it will be the one to back away if others want the food. I found it unusual because many times the largest is the most dominant, but this doesn't seem the case. It's also unusual because none of the other fish ever chase it, it just drifts back into its "spot" all by itself.

 

[hillmar77]

I really wouldn't worry about him then, only time I worry about my discus is
1) loss of appetite
2) turned dark and stressed out
3) white poop
4) no signs of a bloated stomach or fin rot, white spot ( visual indication of any problems)

 

[FishHobbyist1564]

Thanks for the reply. It actually keeps coming out of it's "spot" tonight, so hopefully it's making progress. However, when it was swimming around, I saw it looking like it was shaking or twitching its fins. (It wasn't the normal shaking of the body when "showing off" to others). It almost looked like it was shivering, so I looked to see if maybe it was external parasites. It looks completely healthy though, and it's color is great. It doesn't shake like this very often though, but I do keep seeing it happening. And every once in a while it will kind of jolt forward while shaking...

Should I be medicating the tank? If so, I would like to move the fish to a smaller tank (for ease of dosing and performing water changes), but I'm afraid that keeping it alone will make it feel uneasy and stressed.

 

[hillmar77]

You can do a 1 hour quick parasite dip, I've done it as a preventative measure on all my new fish's and seem to work pretty good. Only thing I trust for our discus is using Seachem paraguard, instructions as follows:
For 1 hour dips, use 3 mL per 4 L (1 gallon*). Dips may be extended if fish show no evidence of stress.

Then after an hour I quickly do a big water change and add recommended salt for the remaining day before putting him back into the tank.

 

[FishHobbyist1564]

Hi again, I just made some trips to some pet stores, but I could not find Seachem Paraguard in any of them

Are there any other medications that you would recommend for this?

 

[hillmar77]

I honestly don't know... the problem with using full out meds for parasite is that it might do more harm then good for a questionable fish! That's why I can't recommend using full out Medication for your situation. If you can find a comparable parasite guard in your market then I guess that would be okay. The only reason I would only recommend Seachem paraguard is because it was created not only for treatment of parasites but a preventative measure ( hence the name guard) and doesn't have the dosage strength that a full pledge parasite medication would have. If you have something in the lines of this in the bottle, then I can't see why not:


ParaGuard™ is the only fish and filter safe aldehyde based (10% by weight) parasite control product available. Unlike highly toxic and difficult to use formalin based medications, ParaGuard™ contains no formaldehyde or methanol and will not alter pH. ParaGuard™ employs a proprietary, synergistic blend of aldehydes, malachite green, and fish protective polymers that effectively and efficiently eradicates many ectoparasites on fish (e.g. ich, etc.) and external fungal/bacterial/viral lesions (e.g., fin rot). It is particularly useful in hospital and receiving tanks for new fish and whenever new fish are introduced to a community tank. For use in freshwater or marine.

 

[FishHobbyist1564]

Thanks hillmar77 I think I'm gonna have to find some other type of parasite medication. I've seen the other fish starting to shake like the hiding one. Also, one of the others that is starting to "shake" began to hide as well. Something's definitely going on, so I have to treat them (as well as performing frequent water changes). I've been trying to search for parasite medications or other parasite guards that I can get a hold of (and that are good for discus). Any other suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks again!

 

[hillmar77]

You can try prazipro if you are definitely coming to a conclusion that they have parasites.

 

[FishHobbyist1564]

Hi everyone, I just saw today that one of the discus that has been hiding has begun to have white stringy feces. So I'm thinking that's a sign of internal parasites... my local fish stores barely have good medications, only "general cure" medications, when I'd prefer something like Metronidazole or Prazi-Pro... Which of these medications would be a better treatment for something like this? Also, any other recommendations would be great, because the more recommendations, the more likely one of them will be held by my local fish store!

*EDIT* Also, should I be putting some salt in the tank? (If so, how much per gallon?)

Thanks!

 

[kevinjames]

i use either kusuri wormer (gold packet) or waterlife sterazin. my discus supplier swears by sterazin. treats flukes aswell as parasites. how often are you doing water changes?

 

[FishHobbyist1564]

Thanks for the reply! I have been doing 50% water changes 3 times per week, I also increased the temperature to 86F for now.

 

[kevinjames]

id use sterazin then and do every other day water changes. with sterazin you dose every other day so administer the meds after each water change. what does the belly of the fish look like? let us know how you get on.