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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

Bloated Discus???

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11 Mar 2012 21:21 #1 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
hows things lads i just noticed in the tank tonight that about 3 or 4 out off my 8 discus have have a bloated tummy and looks kinda black?

dose this mean they have to be wormed i havent wormed them yet and i only have them a few weeks apart from that they are doing great the growth rate off them is great they are very active and eattin very well any ideas?

here a pic to let yas see wat i am talkin about hope yas can make it out its not the best pic








also while im here there seems to be some sort off black spot after coming on to my yellow discus would this be part off there strain and is only coming out now

would be great if yas could help

thanks

Sean Crowe

ITFS Member

Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving
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11 Mar 2012 21:37 - 11 Mar 2012 21:40 #2 by dave k (david)
try reducing food and try epson salt..2 table spoons per 10 gallons...let it sit for a day or so....that is the first step.. see how that works..

dave

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Last edit: 11 Mar 2012 21:40 by dave k (david).

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11 Mar 2012 21:37 #3 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
Do you mean the fish is black or the stomach area?

Now, looking at that picture.....the fish looks in pretty good health from what I can see in the pic. I do see some big belly, but I can't see a general ill health.

The best advice I can give is to get a fresh bit of faeces and get it under a microscope to get an ID on any potential worms.

You could start dosing with something, but that could be willy-nilly dosing.....and some worming medication is pretty potent.

Ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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11 Mar 2012 21:52 #4 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
thanks lads ill reduced the feed by a bit for a few days and see wat happen ill always get a wormer and use that i went to seahorse today to get one but forgot about it silly me ha

as i have never used a wormer befor ill be askin for advice on that to

@ian as for gettin the fresh bit of faeces and get it under a microscope to get an ID on any potential worms.

i think that would be a bit out off my knowledge :L and also wouldnt have access to a microscope

as for the black spots as anyone seen this befor?

Sean

Sean Crowe

ITFS Member

Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving

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11 Mar 2012 22:13 #5 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Sean,
I've used the Kusuri Wormer Plus.
Seahorse do stock this item.
Just follow the dosage instructions. I find if you put in a container with some tank water first and give it a good shake to disolve it then put into the tank near to the filter outflow and it will distribute through the tank very quickly.
Possibly feeding them some live brime shrimp (Seahorse also sell these 2.50euro per bag) may help their digestion and possibly shift any blockage. Ian may have more to say on this.
Some of the yellow malborough discus do show a number of black spots which is part of the breed so this may not be of concern.

The swollen abdomen could also be down to a bacterial infection. You need to Google this one for Discus cures.

Best of luck

Greg

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11 Mar 2012 22:36 #6 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
thanks for lettin me know about the yellow malborough discus issues thats one thing i dont have to worry about now thanks mate

as for the rest as this is my first time keepin discus i dont know much about the bacterial infection with them

ill pick up some kusuri wormer plus i meant to get it today but forgot all about and walked out without it im a joke ha would that wormer be ok with the other fish in the tank

Sean

Sean Crowe

ITFS Member

Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving

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11 Mar 2012 23:24 #7 by ghart (Greg Hart)
I've used wormer in my tank for the Discus with rummynoses ; cardinal tetras and sterbi corys present without issues.
Talk to the guys in Seahorse when buying the wormer.
There is a recommended product for the internal bacteria though I have not used it. see below URL. Seahorse may also have this product..
wormerplus.co.uk/retail_shop/index.php?productID=59

Let us know how you get on.

Greg

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12 Mar 2012 00:04 #8 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
On the microscope....some LFS may have one and be able to diagnose if your fish have worms.

As a side thought, cheap digital microscopes are not bad for these types of things. In being slightly cheeky, maybe the next piece of kit could be a microscope.
You don't need a very expensive one for spotting worms and many fish disease.....but forget it if you wish to ID bacterial or fungal infections as that requires a lab microscope and some additional facilities.

If you are considering looking at a bacterial infection, then any cure has to be appropriate. Not just any old anti-bac will do. The safest of the off-the-shelf anti-bacterial agents for gut infections in discus is Waterlife's Octozin.

Food??? what have the discus been eating?
Too much unbalanced soft-digestible food such dried food and beef-heart poise discus for internal bacterial infections or a gut dysfunction.

If you can get your fish to eat spirulina then that is good no matter what.

Ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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12 Mar 2012 21:55 #9 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
thanks for gettin back to me ian on the microscope ill try pick one up soon enough

i think im better off treatin for worm and also treatin for a bacterial or fungal infection

they are on a diet off bloodworm,beefheart,prima.tetra crips i thought prima was a very good dry food for discus to eat thats wat everyone told me to try feeding them?

i was lookin at them today and i seen one haven a s**t and it was a redy colour like a dark red is that ok or???

always on a better note they dont seem bloated anymore but around the bloated area last night was kinda black lookin that is still there but they are not bloated anymore

Sean

Sean Crowe

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Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving

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12 Mar 2012 22:10 #10 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Bloated Discus???
I have some Anti-Parasite stuff for you Sean.


Kev.

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12 Mar 2012 22:12 #11 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
Tetra Prima was the first of the dried foods that is great for discus.
Since JBL brought out their equivalent to Prima, and it is cheaper, I have used that extensively.

The food you are feeding would tend to give their faeces a red colour. If the faeces is slightly chunky and not stringy then that is a good sign.

In the wilds, the main diet of discus is quite high in chitin.....that acts as 'fibre' and forces the gut to work hard. It is when the gut gets lazy on soft digestible food that you can end up with problems (very much like ourselves).

I personally thought your fish looked in good nick....it did look a discus that had had a good meal.....but there is always the possibility of a rapidly developing early infection.

It is, however, no harm to be cautious.

Ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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12 Mar 2012 22:15 #12 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Bloated Discus???
Ian, would you advocate the feeding of Daphnia to Discus, given the high Chitinous content of them?

Kev.

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12 Mar 2012 22:20 #13 by igmillichip (ian millichip)

Ian, would you advocate the feeding of Daphnia to Discus, given the high Chitinous content of them?

Kev.


Yep. If they eat them then good. The living are not always easy to obtain, but even the frozen do a good job.

As it happens, it is only my wild greens that eat the frozen daphnia.....all of the captive bred turn their noses up at it, but go mad for bloodworm and the JBL granules.

ian

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12 Mar 2012 22:25 #14 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
i have a lot off prima as i got a great deal on it and always have another 2L off it on order
it took me a good while to get them feeding on the prima but now they cant seem to get enough off it

but if u think id be better off feeding the JBL product that u where talkin about i would

yeah the faeces is slightly chunky so as u said that is a good thing

i think because it is my first time keepin discus that i am very cautious so i could be just over reacting

yeah all 8 discus i have seem in great shape and the growth rate is very good so far

thanks for everything ian ill try anyway just to be on the safe side

@kev thanks very much ill try my best to get up to u soon for it and the other few bits

Sean

Sean Crowe

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Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving

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12 Mar 2012 22:28 #15 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
i didnt know it was good or not to feed frozen daphnia to discus so i have stopped but in sayin that, thats all they ate when i first got them frozen daphnia and bloodworms

Sean

Sean Crowe

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Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving

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12 Mar 2012 22:29 #16 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
The only reason I changed to the JBL stuff is price for what amounts to almost the same product.

There is, though, still one big advantage in using Prima.......uneaten Prima does not tend to go moldy as fast as the JBL equivalent.

So, stick to the Prima. It is a great food.

Variety is the spice of life.

Ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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12 Mar 2012 22:47 #17 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
yeah ill start back feedin the frozen daphnia so there will be a Variety off five different types off food which should be good for them

have to say they are great eater though at the start it was a bit hard but now id say they would take anything although they wont be juts gettin anything ha

ian sent u a pm there

Sean

Sean Crowe

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Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving

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12 Mar 2012 23:14 #18 by ghart (Greg Hart)
The Aquatic Village Britas sometimes have live daphnia. They breed them out the back in mild weather.
I go some a few weeks ago and kept them alive in a container outside in the garden (once the water contains algae they will survive) until the frost came and froze the water and the remaining daphnia died.
I did get a few days of live daphnia that way for my initial outlay of 5 euro. :)
With the good weather on the way I hope to keep a supply of live daphnia in the garden. Anyone with a pond would have the ideal setup for this.


Greg

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12 Mar 2012 23:33 #19 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Bloated Discus???
Just a word of advice, Daphnia don't die during the Winter, they either produce specially protected Eggs or pathenogenic males that can reproduce , they overwinter in mulm at the bottom of Waterbutts or Ponds, just leave them till the weather improves and they pop back, I donated the seeding Stock to Brittas and have a few if you want to set up a colony Sean. My colony are nearly 10 years old.

Kev.

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13 Mar 2012 00:18 #20 by BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
kev i have being thinkin about doing this for some time now i am just tryin to source cheap big drums to hold them in out the back i remember u showin me that stuff u got in a heakth shop i think u said it was and that is all id need is it

do u change the water in it ?

Sean

Sean Crowe

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Location: Navan

Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving

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13 Mar 2012 11:49 #21 by ghart (Greg Hart)
Interesting Kev,
I would also be interested in getting a seeding stock if you have enough available before you leave the country.

Greg

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