Sick discus need help!

[Lindat]

Lajos_Detari Thank you so much for your advice. I am gutted that I lost my fish so quickly. I will read the info you've given and take it on board. I was thinking about doing a 75% water change in case of disease/bacteria. Do you think this is necessary? How long do you think I should wait before putting new fish in. The smallest fish does get butted away sometimes but not always. So I was thinking more fish would help it.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Yes, doing large water change is very useful in case of emergency, as it will remove most of the parasites, bacteria, virus and dilute all the toxic, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate as much as possible.

Colin (one of the expert contributor here) oftens recommend making a large water change for most of the problems you encountered with your fish.

For myself, I change about 90% of my Discus' tank water every week(once a week).
Some Discus breeders change 100% of their tanks water everyday.

If your fish died due to some bacteria/fungal infection, I don't think you need to wait long before adding new fish.
Usually, if you change your tank water frequently enough and keep your water clean, it will clear your tank from most bacteria and fungus. Also, if I'm not wrong most bacteria and fungal can only attack the fish when the fish has an open wound/injury. The fish naturally has the protective slime to cover its body.

But if your fish died from parasites infection, then you will have to wait longer probably 2-4 weeks or longer.

Did you observe any symptoms of disease for the past 9 weeks ever since you started keeping the Discus?
Usually I try to observe/monitor my fish every day whenever I feed them.

Did you observe any of the following symptoms with your fish?
1Fish scratching against the tank or any object in the tank.
2)Fish breathing very fast
3)White spots on their body/fin/tail
4)Any tumour/growth on their body?
5)Body turn dark
6)Sunken belly
7)Fish hiding in a corner
8)Fish having clamp fins
Any other symptoms based on the websites that I posted earlier.

Perhaps, you can observe your Discus for 1-2 weeks and ensure that there is no symptom at all before adding new one.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

By the way, if you want to do a fast clean up of your Discus tank, you can try to use Potassium Permanganate(PP) to treat your tank.
Most Discus breeder will use PP to treat their tank once in a while as PP will kill all the bacteria, parasites(in swimming form, not sure about the parasites in eggs/cysts form) and virus.
But take note that when you use PP, you have to turn off all your filters to prevent the PP from going into your filters as it will kill all the beneficial bacteria in your filters.

I'll try to search from the internets the details on how to use PP if you want to try this method.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

For extra reading, something interesting about fish feeds:

http://www.tilapiastichting.nl/Downloads/6%20-%20AHM%20Terpstra%20-%202015%20-%20The%20Composition%20and%20Production%20of%20Fish%20Feeds.pdf

 

[Lindat]

Thank you so much. You have been very helpful. I will continue to do big water changes and think I'll wait 3 or 4 weeks before I add any more fish to be on the safe side. Thanks again.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

I think since you have low bioload with 300 liter tank, you can change your tank water probably 50-70% once a week.

But you may have to change up to 90% of water once a month or once every two months to keep the nitrate low.
Nitrate can only be removed by water change or plants.
Your nitrate level will keep accumulating as the beneficial bacteria can't remove it.

 

[Lindat]

I think since you have low bioload with 300 liter tank, you can change your tank water probably 50-70% once a week.

But you may have to change up to 90% of water once a month or once every two months to keep the nitrate low.
Nitrate can only be removed by water change or plants.
Your nitrate level will keep accumulating as the beneficial bacteria can't remove it.

Thank you. I'll bear it in mind. I am adding some moss balls and a few more plants too.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Take note that whenever you put new plants in your tank, you can bring parasites into your tank. Some plants may carry parasites with them.
Rinse your plants well before putting into your tank.
It's advisable to dip/soak the plants in some chemical to kill off the parasites and snails.
If I'm not wrong you can use Potassium Permanganate, Coppersafe, etc.

 

[Lindat]

Hi Lajos_Detari. I've bought some PP in preparation for buying new plants. Going plant shopping today at LFS. Will also take the video I have of the sick discus, before he died. It was too big to upload to the site so I'll show it to the LFS for advice. All of the other fish continue to be ok and are feeding well. So I decided not to disinfect the tank with PP. Oh, I also bought Kinari micro pellets. Thanks again for your advice.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Here a a link on how to sterilize/clean aquarium plants. See method no. 5 for PP:

3 Ways to Clean Aquarium Plants - wikiHow Pet

Aquarium plants liven up your fish tank and provide interesting places for your fish to swim, hide, and play. To keep your tank healthy and the water quality high, regularly clean algae and other debris off your aquarium plants. If any of...

www.wikihow.pet

 

[Lindat]

Here a a link on how to sterilize/clean aquarium plants. See method no. 5 for PP:

3 Ways to Clean Aquarium Plants - wikiHow Pet

Aquarium plants liven up your fish tank and provide interesting places for your fish to swim, hide, and play. To keep your tank healthy and the water quality high, regularly clean algae and other debris off your aquarium plants. If any of...

www.wikihow.pet

Thanks again.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Hikari Micro pellets is good especially for Discus fish that are picky eaters. Discus have small mouth and they like to chew the food unlike African cichlids that will gobble up the food quickly. Discus don't like food that are hard to chew.

By the way, Dr Bassleer Regular food (L size) is also very good as it has higher percentage of protein and fats than other brands of fish food. Protein and fats are useful for the juvenile fish to grow. Your Discus are still consider very young and they require higher protein for growth.

But for overall nutrients, I think New Life Spectrum(NLS) is still the best.
Recently, I bought "Grow formula" by NLS which has higher nutrients especially the protein and is smaller in size.(0.5mm). It's suitable for Discus at 2.5 inch size.

New Life Spectrum's GROW Formula

RRP: $24.99 / 75 Grams$34.50 / 120 Grams $51.99 / 275 Grams$209.99 / 1600 Grams This High-Protein food is an excellent diet for young or sickly fish requiring high quality foods for growth. Micro-Granule sizes of 0.5mm make this a great transition food for juvenile fish, and is also useful for...

www.fishwise.co.nz