My discus is sick !!!

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candymancan

candymancan

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Aug 6, 2013
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This sucks, i woke up this morning to my one my blue turqs floating at the top.. I imediatly thought it was lack of o2 but the other fish are fine, and closer examination he is heavily bloated and when he tried really hard to swim to the bottom of the tank he just floats back up top really fast like he has a life preserver on..

Is he constipated ? I just added 12 10ml cups of epsom salt to my 92g and im increasing the temps from 82-84 to 86-88.. I hope this helps.. not sure what else to do... This is gonna suck if he dies.. I have had him for like 2 years now almost
 
My guess would be swim bladder issue. But not sure without seeing.

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I got two pics this is the best i could get, because he is laying sideways on the top.. He doesnt look "sick" he tries so hard to swim to the bottom and when he does swim he swims fine, minus the fact that his body is pulling him to the surface it litterally looks like he has a life preserver on and its pulling him to the top... And his belly is just huge compared to the other discus, its also kinda purple on one side. It also looks like hes trying to poop as i see a little bit coming out but nothing big like normal.. None of my discus have white poo coming its always dark colored so i dont think its parasites but i dunno. I feed them a mix of flake foods twice a day, then Beef heart once or twice a day with frozen blood worms
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img_3247420_1_9facfa5e97db552c7f64c8d2a08fb483.jpg
 
Ease back on the feedings. I feed my discus twice a day. It does seem like a swim bladder issue... Lemme look through my stuff and get some solid info for you. Hmmmm......

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Definitely sounds like a swim bladder issue to me. Pretty certain bloat doesn't cause the struggle in swimming downward and staying afloat and upright. Although the clearly bloated or 'angular' stomach is confusing...


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Its from too much beef heart or possibly an air build up in the swim bladder. Definately not bloat. Are any others looking rather "plump", even the slightest?

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Well from what i researched on google.. Discus can get constipated and when they do they get gas build up inside them and they float to the surface like this.. It could explain why he is really bloated.. He looks like he is about to explode... The other discus are fine shaped.


I feed them 3-4 times a day because a lot of my discus are still Juvies.. I have 3 or 4 outa my 9 discus that are only 3 3-1/2 inches in size. The rest are all 4-6 inches. I am not going to feed them for the next day or two, and I hope this epsom salt works.. I didnt really wanna put epsom salt in my 92g tank, and hurt my plants.. But i dont have a suitable tank temperature wise to just throw my discus in with salts and i dont wanna shock him anymore then i have.


Do you think the epsom salt will work ?


Also i will cut down the feedings as it probly was this, but are you sure its the beefheart ? And not the tetra min flakes i feed ? And i havent medicated my tank with metronidizole in like probly 5-6 months now.. I dont have any on me per say.. But i do have some left over from when my cat who died a few weeks ago from cancer.. The doctor gave me some little moist pellets of food with metronidizole in them, and im thinking i could actually feed this to my discus to help if they have flagelets or however you spell it. What do you think ?
 
Well if hes constapated an epsom salt bath ina barebottom qt tank over 2 days will help. It helps unblock intestinal blockage. Assuming this isnt bacterial. If its a swim bladder issue.... You could be in real trouble. Depends on how early its caught.

If the distention is rear of the ventand at a position approximating the lateral line it indicates organs and possibly failure of organs is involved.

Swim bladder treatment:
QT. Methyl blue @ 2% (.5ml/gal)
Erythromyacine @ 200mg/gl
Epsom salt @ 1Tsp per 10gl

Use all together in a bare bottom qt

Treatment #2:
Furan2 and antibiotic
Tjis is much slower to work but has worked as well.

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Also water quality has a ton to do with swim bladder issues. And beefheart at that high rate of feedings is going to dirty the water quite a bit. Discus dont get beefheart in the wild. I use it as well, but more for priming my breeding pairs or as a treat. Its also highly recommended to do a 50% WC after beefheart feedings.

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Hope this helps and use your judgement. This is just what has worked for me and others ive helped with this issue. But all situations are different, si be careful.

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PoppaRyno said:
Also water quality has a ton to do with swim bladder issues. And beefheart at that high rate of feedings is going to dirty the water quite a bit. Discus dont get beefheart in the wild. I use it as well, but more for priming my breeding pairs or as a treat. Its also highly recommended to do a 50% WC after beefheart feedings.

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Click to expand...

Well There is no need to do a 50% water change on a beef heart feeding. Thats really exessive IMO.. This isnt a barebottom tank, nore a smaller tank my nitrates only get to 20ppm after about 4 days.. I do 80% water changes every 3-4 days. This deff isnt a water quality issue i am deff 100% certain on that..

I am watching the discus and he is pooping now. I just saw him push out two of the biggest " girth wise" peices of poop ive ever seen a discus poop out.. He has some still on his anus hes trying to push out.. So i think he is just heavily constipated and from what i read this causes swim bladder issues where air doesnt get past something in them and this causing them to float like mine is..

So i think maybe the epsom salt is helping ? It has been in the tank for the last 2 hours now. I put in alot too, like 12 Tablespoons for my 92g..

I guess all i can do now is just wait and hope he keeps pooping
 
Ok. Sounds like your doing fine then. Sorry for the drawn out info. Good luck.

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No its okay all info is very helpful, It just isnt the water quality i take care of my discus tank extremely well.. Better then myself lol.. I think I'll lower the amount of feedings though as you guys are right i probly feed too much, but i think its the flake food that caused this from what i read flake food can cause bloating,
 
candymancan said:
No its okay all info is very helpful, It just isnt the water quality i take care of my discus tank extremely well.. Better then myself lol.. I think I'll lower the amount of feedings though as you guys are right i probly feed too much, but i think its the flake food that caused this from what i read flake food can cause bloating,
Click to expand...


It's possible. You could try merging to pellet foods. Just make sure to soak them first or you could get the same result.


Caleb
 
Yes flake can cause bad bloating. I use COBALT pro breeder flake, and sera discus pellets as well as an asstmnt of live foods. But cobalt is fantastic for not causing bloat as far as flake foods go.

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PoppaRyno said:
Yes flake can cause bad bloating. I use COBALT pro breeder flake, and sera discus pellets as well as an asstmnt of live foods. But cobalt is fantastic for not causing bloat as far as flake foods go.

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Click to expand...

I use cobalt as well, they contain probiotic, aids in digestion and pooing

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