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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Sick Discus

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02 Jul 2014 18:28 #1 by Inza (philippe launois)
Hi everyone:

So this is my pair of snakeskin. I have theme for about 2 month and they do spawn every weeks.
But i am very concerned about the male. This fella does not eat, is very shy and his eyes are a bit cloudy (not the vibrant red the female show...)

So yesterday i di set up a breeding/hospital tank.
reading on this tank are as follow:
T*: 30*C
Ph: 6.5
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 15 (just did a 50% wc so will check up later on accurate reading.)

I really do not know what to do or how to treat him. Darren advised me to do a salt bath for him which i did (3 tblsp of rock salt /gallon for about 30 min)

Even if he his sick, they spawned 3 days ago but instead of fertilizing the eggs, he ate theme. I believe it is because he does not eat anything else...
They came into the new tank yesterday only, i will do a 50% wc every day hopping to see him improve.

Please let me know if you had similar problems and how you got it sorted.

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the female:
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Thank you, Inza.

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03 Jul 2014 17:03 #2 by Inza (philippe launois)
Replied by Inza (philippe launois) on topic Sick Discus
So for the first time today, i saw him eating a little bit of beef heart mix ! :woohoo: :woohoo:
there is still a long way to go to get him back to full strength but a small step for the fish, a huge step for me !!! :laugh:

Thx.

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03 Jul 2014 17:32 - 03 Jul 2014 17:35 #3 by ger310 (Ger .)
Replied by ger310 (Ger .) on topic Sick Discus
Good to hear mate,hopefully he's on the road to recovery.....................The pics wont load for me but his eyes might be a little cloudy because of a little bit of stress from the move but thats a wild guess.

So are you saying apart from eating there weekly spawns he hasn't eaten anything else in 2 months? now this does not seem right!!

Apart from this latest move has there being any other disruption for them in the 2 months you have them?

What do you call a three legged Donkey?

A Wonkey....duh ha :)
Last edit: 03 Jul 2014 17:35 by ger310 (Ger .).

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03 Jul 2014 17:39 #4 by Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
Following from Gers questions Philippe. What colour are his faeces? White, stringy? I have had a discus not eat for over a month when first added to tank. Adults can be very particular and pernickety. Salt bath will ease and major constipation and bloat. I'd move to treating him with Octozin from Waterlife - active ingredient is a metronidazole derivative. Any flashing? He has clamped up fins for sure but doesn't look bloated to me. Internal parasites are possible but come back on colour of faeces? Brian

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03 Jul 2014 19:29 #5 by Inza (philippe launois)
Replied by Inza (philippe launois) on topic Sick Discus
They've laid eggs for about a month and a half before he start eating them (fry went up to free swimming phase).
They were added 2 weeks before my 2 other pairs.
Just did a small feeding of bh and he went for it. He is very shy tough. I have to hide myself in order for him to come off the sponge filter where he hide. I will do a 50%wc later on and will monitor him for the next couple days.

As for the faeces, i have no ideas as he did not eat. And they were in the main tank so it is kind of hard to know which poo is whom :blink:
He does swim around with his mate and the fins are wild open but as soon as i get near the tank, he hide in a corner and crawl on himself.

From what i read, a fish with parasites would try to scratch himself on any surface on the tank, decoration ect... I am not 24/7 in front of the tank so i can't say for sure but i'd never observed that kind of behaviour with him. Also it is something that i read and never experienced myself so can't be sure !

thank you.

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03 Jul 2014 20:32 #6 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
It would only be certain parasites that would cause a fish to scratch. So, not scratching is not an indication of anything.

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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03 Jul 2014 23:36 #7 by ger310 (Ger .)
Replied by ger310 (Ger .) on topic Sick Discus
Ok man,listen i've read your first post and your last and i'm slightly confused but not to worry.................great that he's eating 'normal' food again..........i would do nice big daily water changes over the next few days and if your seeing improvement then great,but i would only use medicine as a last resort.....................There was a thread on here a while back about what essentials a fish keeper should always have that i forgot to write on.......my main two are Polyfilter and epsom salt.........because of these two i cant remember the last time i medicated a tank......thankfully!!

keep us posted dude

Ger

What do you call a three legged Donkey?

A Wonkey....duh ha :)

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04 Jul 2014 11:04 #8 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)
Replied by hammie (Neil Hammerton) on topic Sick Discus
You say when your not "in sight" his fins are wide open and he swims around his mate happily!!!
It could be just he is shy and doesnt get on well in an overly populated tank.

Just like some people, Some fish prefer to be in more open spaces and less population.

Keep the pair in the new tank for a couple of weeks and see if he starts to improve much
It sounds (without properly observing or knowing more) that his only issue is he has some kind of shy complex



Hopefully there is no other issue and being on their own in the tank will be better for them both?

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05 Jul 2014 16:20 #9 by Inza (philippe launois)
Replied by Inza (philippe launois) on topic Sick Discus
Thanks guy for your input.
So again today i was standing near the tank during a small feeding, the female came to me but he went straight behind the sponge filter. After seeing his female eating on the bh, he came out chewing a little bit on it. He then went straight back to the filter.
Was looking at them last night, with no light directly at the tank and could see them swimming around the breeding cone in the higher part of the tank.

Apart from eSHa 2000, i have no treatment at home as i never had to use any. This product was advised by my lfs to treat a tetra that had a bloated belly.
Do you guy's think i should use that product as a preventive solution ?

I remember when i got this fish that he was happily swimming in his tank where he had around 12 mate with him. Could a fish really become that shy ?
igmillichip, I have really no ideas about what parasites can do to a fish apart from what i read, which does not seems to be covering everything.... Would you know of an article or a good site to read from ?
Also would you have any suggestions on what to do ?

Thank you , Inza

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05 Jul 2014 17:00 #10 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
It doesn't take much for a Discus to become shy.
And, it takes even less for a top-dog to become bottom of the pack and to fade away in depression if ever toppled.
That is Discus for you.

Most of my texts on diseases are mainly scientific papers (which are expensive unless you have an Athens account or similar).
I cannot recommend any websites that are any good.....there are probably some out there but I have yet to see any.

But, when it comes to general fish-keeping books you are not going to stray too far wrong with Dieter Untergasser's book on Discus Health.
There is an English translation available. It is good as it is not too deep yet the author shows he knows what he's talking about.
You have to be careful of any non-Irish book when having any medications recommended as not all would be available in Ireland or to a non-vet.

Now, wrt eSHa 2000.....it is a nice mild medication that has quite a good degree of safety built into it.
It would be a medication I would recommend to people I don't know for fungal and simple bacterial diseases (on the basis that does work for some things and is one of the medications). It is, however, not the best medication off-the-shelf.
For Discus I would recommend Waterlife's Octozin for a number of diseases. It needs care in use, and requires very good water before adding.

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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06 Jul 2014 16:36 #11 by Inza (philippe launois)
Replied by Inza (philippe launois) on topic Sick Discus
Thank you Ian, I will definitely look for this book.

I had no idea a fish that you could consider top-dog could become depressed if taken over by an other fish !
This is very interesting indeed.

Do you believe that my male could "suffer" from depression ?
Once the hierarchy is made within a group of discus, would the dominant one stay dominant or would they fight from time to time in order to reorganise the group ?
I am guessing i won't be able to reintroduce this pair in the main tank for a while, at least until i am not satisfied with the health of the pair.
Saw some faeces coming of the male, they where a dark brown, black colour. Is that a good sign ?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thank you. Inza.

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30 Jul 2014 17:15 #12 by Inza (philippe launois)
Replied by Inza (philippe launois) on topic Sick Discus
Hi guys, so this is a quick update on my male ss, it seems that he is looking better, his eyes is getting some colours, he eat properly and come to me as soon as i get to the room for feeding or wc.

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here he is with his baby:

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will keep monitoring this pair and when i will have to separate the pair from the baby, i will probably keep him separated.

Thank you. Inza.

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31 Jul 2014 00:15 #13 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
He is looking a lot better.

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22 Sep 2014 22:30 #14 by Inza (philippe launois)
Replied by Inza (philippe launois) on topic Sick Discus
quick update, there he is back in the community tank:

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colours are slowly coming back, same for the eye. He is eating a lot more and is swimming around the tank with the other discus !

BUT today i saw those white thing looking like they are coming out of the discus. I have never seen this before and it freak me out !

I immediately contacted Stephane, miamiheat, and he told me that it happen to discus and that it would go away by itself.
I am just looking for someone to confirm that and give me peace of mind. I treated the tank just after my water change with a wormer as it is the only product i have available.

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Please can someone tell me what it is, why, and if it is harmful to the fish and it can be passed on to other fish.

Thank you, Inza.

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24 Sep 2014 05:53 #15 by tetdiscus (Maritess McCarthy)
My discus had that before, i added aquarium salt and increased the temp to 32-33 for two weeks. It should go away after a week. Yes, the other fish may get it too IME.

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24 Sep 2014 22:55 #16 by Gonefishy (Brian oneill)
Hi Philippe, long time no speak and hope all else is well. I have seen this a few times before on my discus. I never found out what it was but I treated them with an anti-fungal and it went away as quick as it came. Protozin by Waterlife. Increasing the temp a bit and using salts should also do the trick - it never caused me a big problem to be honest and has always resolved. Brian

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