Sick Discus - Please Help

[KingBrian]

I've successfully kept Discus in our 60 Gal. tank for the past 4 years. A few weeks ago, I noticed our oldest discus was dark, and not swimming too well. Later that day, he turned white then died. It was so sudden, there was nothing we could do.
So we started looking at our other fish in the tank, and noticed another fish was dark, but swimming fine. We did notice that her abdomin (sp?) was caved in a little, but she still ate.
Fast forward a few weeks now, we tried treating her with "Hex-A-Mit" by aquatronics (recommended by our fish seller) for 2 weeks, which appeared to do nothing. It still eats fine, but is still getting thinner. Her face is starting to cave in. It isn't quite as dark.

We feed them frozen bloodworms and flake food once a day, keep the aquarium at 84-86 degrees F, pH is about 6.9-7.0. GH & KH are in the recommended range. No nitrites (or) nitrates (forget which is which), no ammonia.
Meanwhile, while this fish is sick, the remaining two are laying eggs (and eating them as they come out). So they are not too badly stressed.

Any recommended treatments/suggestions is more than welcome!

[vjvl51]

First, let me say welcome.

When a fish is eating and getting thinner, my first thought is worms/parasites. While I do some more reading, let me ask you a couple of things. Do you have a spare tank to quarantine the healthy fish? Is this a bare bottom tank or substrate? What kind and how deep?

Vickie

[KingBrian]

I don't really have a spare tank, our 10 gal tank has a bircarti and a pleco in it. I'd have to do some water adjusting (hardness, pH, temp) before the discus goes in.
The 60 gal tank is either 18 or 20" deep, it has aquarium stones on the bottom, with about 4 large live plants.

[vjvl51]

Ok, I thought if there was a worm/parasite infection that it may be a good idea to get the uneffected fish out.

This web site has some good disease info. If you read down far enough, you will find a chart for discus that don't eat and possible causes and cures.

http://world.std.com/~enjolras/symtreat.htm

This web site has some more info, mentioning the medicine that you have started

http://members.aol.com/bgdiscus/disease.htm

Between these two, you should get some good ideas on how to treat this.

Keep us posted.

Vickie

[KingBrian]

Thank-you, I'll give it a look.

BTW, do you think it was possible that it was the same thing that killed the first fish?

Also, could this have been stress related? We were in the process of getting rid of one of our 10 gal. tanks, so we put the bircarti in with the discus. The Bircarti would sneak up and strike the discus and then go hide before the Discus knew what was going on.

[vjvl51]

Could be. The Discus are not aggressive fish, as a rule and will not fight for food. If they have been chased away from the food, they may wait until none is left to start feeding. Stress will cause many fish to stop eating. You will want to try to reduce the stress by keeping perfect water conditions and separating your trouble makers. A piece of plexiglass separating the discus from the rest of the tank, will give the discus some peace and quiet while you get your tanks settled. You can also buy proper tank dividers in aquarium stores.

Vickie