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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
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31 May 2011 18:16 #1
by Xaribdis (Lorcan O' Brien)
Having a bit of a problem with one of my wild discus. Have him a few months now and he has been fine up until the past few days, when he turned very dark and has his fins 'knifed back'. I have a feeling it could be either flukes or worms, as he seems to have a problem breathing and his gills seem to be extended. I did quarantine and worm them when I got them first, using Kusuri wormer plus.
He's still trying to eat sometimes, but doesn't have much of an appetite.
Last week my external was blocked, so I was relying on the other two filters, so got a slight ammonia reading, but readings back to normal now- Am= 0, Nitrite= 0, Nitrate= 10ppm, pH= 6.5, GH= 5d, so doubt it could be a water quality issue.
Any help much appreciated.
L
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31 May 2011 18:26 #2
by JohnH (John)
L,
I'm no expert on Ailments of Discus - but I would suggest an internal parasite could well be to blame, flukes are a distinct possibility as well.
I'm not too confident it's worms as in the early stages of worms the fish still tend to eat heartily but their faeces are very 'strung-out' with what looks like very fine 'air bubbles' in it - for want of a better description.
There are remedies available, but in the main they aren't all that effective.
Antibiotics are the solution, but not easily obtained - send a PM to Stretnik, he did have access to some.
John
Location:
N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
ITFS member.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
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31 May 2011 20:33 #3
by calvusklein (David K)
How many discus are you keeping? Are they all wild? What size? The reason I ask is that it could be possible that the discus has taken a beating from the most dominant fish in the tank. Being cichlids obviously they are capable of serious aggression when they want to, and the jaws of a large male are misleadingly strong. I've seen it happen many a time where a discus (or any cichlid) loses a battle for dominance and almost just gives up the the will to live, as strange as it sounds. They lose their colour and their fins become shredded as you have described. As discussed in the recent breeding thread, a slight deterioration of water quality, followed by an increase may have triggered some terriotial behaviours from the more mature fish. All speculation of course, but often its easy to jump to the more complicated causes (ie worms or flukes) when in fact it could just be natural behaviour of the fish, and so out of your control. If it is what I have suggested, removing the fish from the group and placing in quarantine is probably the best bet to try and save him. Also, soaking food in garlic extract may help it boost its immune system.
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31 May 2011 20:42 #4
by igmillichip (ian millichip)
ditto All of the above posts.....
and do you have any photos?
ian
Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.
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31 May 2011 22:59 #5
by Xaribdis (Lorcan O' Brien)
I'll try get a photo up tomorrow if I can. He doesn't seem to have any physical damage to him, and the knife back appearance is not due to any fin shredding. When he does raise them again, they seem to be perfect. I didn't see any aggression other than the normal bit of chasing around the tank on a rare occassion, but not even any of that since he went dark.
The extended gills and slightly heavier than normal breathing is why I thought it was some parasite.
He's in with 4 other discus, one of which is also a wild.
I'll steep the food in garlic extract and quarantine him from tomorrow morning if no improvement.
Terrible to see him like this, as he's usually a beautiful looking fish.
L
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