Potential Discus Fin Rot? Help

[m0chan]

Hi All!



I have been away for 3 days from my tank and I believe one of my Discus has fin rot, I have only had these fish for 2-3 weeks so not sure whats up with it.



I have been feeding tetra pro food & bloodworms daily since, except the last 3 days where I did not feed them at all.



Pictures attached: https://imgur.com/a/aKArSSY


What could have caused this, It looks like my air stones have been off for the last few days but can't see this being a huge issue. I have also tested the water levels and all seems ok.



Also, I have just treated the water with this stuff, let me know if you recommened anything else. (https://imgur.com/a/R9wADPD)



Worth noting I only use RO water for my tank & I have 6 discus in my tank, the rest of the fish seem okay, however I did notice one of my clown loaches also has a black spot on it?



Please help before I start losing fish



Thanks!

 

[Aiken Drum]

Please take a read through the "unhealthy fish" sticky and provide as much information as you are able.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/before-posting-about-unhealthy-fish-read-this-32451.html

I wouldnt advise medicating a tank without knowing what the issue is. Water quality would be the first thing to look at. If you cant test your water take a sample of water to test later, then do a big water change.

The active ingregient in that medication is formaldehyde, and as a treatment its a little harsh. Best way to use it IMO is buy it, read the box, show the fish the box, explain that if they don't get better then they're getting this stuff. It will terrify them back to health. Its more likely to kill healthy fish than cure sick ones.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Can we get a picture of the entire aquarium?

Do you have any pictures of the fish under normal white light?

Do you normally have pink/ purple light on the tank, or is it normally white?
If you have live plants, they need a combination of red and blue light. Fish need a combination of light too and generally don't do as well when under just pink or just blue light.

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Fin rot is usually caused by poor water quality that damages the skin and tissue, and this allows harmful bacteria in to infect the fish. The best treatment for fin rot is big regular water changes (75% every day for 1-2 weeks) and salt.

As Aiken said, don't add medications unless you know what the problem is. Most fish health issues are caused by poor water quality and adding toxic chemicals to an aquarium with poor water quality can kill everything in the tank. Even if the water quality is good, adding poisonous chemicals to an aquarium will stress healthy fish.

Most aquarium fish medications are made of poisonous substances and treating the fish is a balancing act where you add enough chemical to kill the harmful pathogens, but don't add too much and kill the fish.

If you have concerns about fish health, the first thing to do is wipe the inside of the glass down, clean the filter, and do a big water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the problem is identified. This removes a lot of disease organisms and dilutes nutrients in the water, thus giving the fish more chance of recovering and fighting off any disease/s they might have. It also buys you time to find out what is going on.

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How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have you had the other fish for?
Did you rearrange the aquarium decor just before adding the new fish?
Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this happened?

What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH in numbers?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium?

Do you have any live plants in the tank?
Discus need lots of plant matter in their diet. See the following link for more information about their dietary requirements.
https://moam.info/the-discus-fish-symphysodon-scielo_59c411371723ddc7f4532afc.html

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If you have older bigger discus in the tank, and you added new younger fish, the older ones could have attacked the new ones when you left. This might be from lack of food, whereby the older more established fish tried to drive the newcomers out of the area because there was not enough food for them all when you went away.

If you have a mature pair they might have attacked the new fish because they went into the pair's territory.

 

[m0chan]

Hey both thanks for the reply, apologies I didn't follow the normal format, please see below details.

How long has the tank been set up for? - 10 Months
How long have you had the other fish for? - Had some fish for 10 months, and some for 6 months

Did you rearrange the aquarium decor just before adding the new fish? - Only slightly


Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this happened? - Negative

What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH in numbers?

What sort of filter is on the tank?

How often and how do you clean the filter? Filter was cleaned 3 weeks ago as well as a water change. I also did a water change this morning


How often do you do water changes and how much do you change? - 25-35% every 3-4 weeks



Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change? - Yes

Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the aquarium? - Yes if using tap water, but I mainly use RO water

Do you have any live plants in the tank? - Yes, various live plants.


Full pic of tank -> https://imgur.com/a/Q9XFUBh

I run primarily white light for about 6-7 hours then end the evening with a mix of red/blue spectrum.

 

[Aiken Drum]

As said, water quality is the most likely cause. 25 to 35% water change every month isnt much of a water change (especially for discus as they need pristine water), and you havent been able to provide any water test results.

If you arent able to test the water, get a sample before you do a water change to sample later. Get a test kit. Or at least take a sample to a fish store and ask them to test for you. Get actual numbers and let us know what they are. Things like parameters are good doesnt tell us much as we have no idea what whoever did the testing considers good.

Up the water change frequency. Maybe 50% twice weekly.

Do you remineralise your RO in any way? Or mix it with tap water? Or is it neat RO?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Educated guess. Your medication is commonly stocked in UK pet chain stores, so im presuming you are UK based.

Where did you get your discus from? Would it have been a Maidenhead Aquatics centre?

 

[m0chan]

Yeah UK Based and also was from Maidenhead.

I just visited the local fish store with a sample of water and they tested it for me and confirmed all looks okay, there certain its not fin rot but perhaps another pair of discus ganged up on the fish and attacked it.

Only using neat RO also, and noted re. water change will do 50% twice weekly now

Thanks all,

 

[Aiken Drum]

The discus from Maidenhead Aquatics arent typical of discus found in the hobby. I think they get them from a German breeder, and they are bred to live in the harder water found in tap water rather than soft water you would normally keep discus in. Your RO which will be extremely soft might not be good for them. I would speak to maidenhead about the water and if your RO is suitable for discus bought from them.

I wouldnt trust a fish store to tell you if the water is okay. Get actual test results and post them.

 

[Colin_T]

The tank looks nice

You have a pair of angelfish controlling one side of the tank, and the group of discus on the other side. The newcomer is hiding in the middle. I would put money on it being bashed by either the angels or the other discus.

Monitor the fish and make sure everyone gets fed well, especially the injured one. If it doesn't eat and doesn't join the other discus in the next week and continues to hang out in the middle of the tank, then find another aquarium for it because it will die if it's left there in the middle of two disputed territories.

You might want to add some floating plants to shade the area. Discus and angelfish come from blackwater and your tank is nice and bright. They won't be liking it. Some floating plants might encourage them out more.

 

[Andy Sager]

The tank looks nice

You have a pair of angelfish controlling one side of the tank, and the group of discus on the other side. The newcomer is hiding in the middle. I would put money on it being bashed by either the angels or the other discus.

Judging from the picture, I'd almost put money on that bet because I also see body bruises as well as the damaged fins. More decay of the fins will probably occur if the fish continues to be attacked. It's going to take good clean water, good foods, time and possibly isolation for that fish to heal. I'd also consider adding a vitamin supplement to the food or tank to help aid in its recouperation.