Discus fish illness - skin inside throat blocking airway

[Kevin-Mc]

Hello all, I am new to this forum and looking for some advice. I have a discus fish that is 18 months old. A few months back he started getting cotton growths and hole in the head. I have treated him several times in a hospital tank and raise the temp to 94 degrees for 4 days along with “API general cure” and this usually cures home for a few months. However the last two times it seems as if he gets skin growth inside his mouth. A layer of skin that grows down from the top of his head. Which makes him have to open his mouth really wide just to get air. He will go after food but can’t get it to suck in.
I treated him with the above treatment with “API general cure” and “fin and body cure”, the blockage goes away within a day or two. I kept the water at 94 for 5 days and kept on with the treatment of the two meds for 10 days. Put him back in the 75 gal and he was acting like he never was sick. Social with the other discus, eating extremely well, showing dominance (he’s 2nd in charge)
Anyway, I can’t figure out what this is and if it’s treatable or if I am just going to have to put him in the hospital tank every two months. It’s terrible to watch him go through this.
His illness hasn’t effected the other fish. I hope someone knows of a permanent fix.

I attached some videos, I just moved him so his slime coat was going crazy when I took these

Normal tank conditions:
75 gal, 83 degrees F, weekly water changes, large canister filter (for 150 gal). I have 6 discus and 2 angel fish, a few smaller fish like otos, kuhli loaches, rummy nose, red tail shark.

 

[Kevin-Mc]

The videos didn’t upload here are better pics of his mouth

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The fish is covered in excess mucous, which is caused by something in the water irritating the fish. The most common cause is poor water quality, followed by external protozoan parasites.

Using antibiotics like Metronidazole on a regular basis might have caused a drug resistant infection in the fish's mouth/ throat, or the fish has an infection caused by something that isn't a pathogen that is treated with Metronidazole.

What do you feed the fish?
Research from 2008 shows discus are primarily vegetarian and have lots of intestinal problems when fed meat based diets. See following link if you want more info on that.

the discus fish Symphysodon - SciELO - M.MOAM.INFO

Dec 22, 2008 - of the lake hosting more than a thousand discus. Only 16 of the 41 ..... ing free-swimming B. cichlae wit...

moam.info

 

[Kevin-Mc]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The fish is covered in excess mucous, which is caused by something in the water irritating the fish. The most common cause is poor water quality, followed by external protozoan parasites.

Using antibiotics like Metronidazole on a regular basis might have caused a drug resistant infection in the fish's mouth/ throat, or the fish has an infection caused by something that isn't a pathogen that is treated with Metronidazole.

What do you feed the fish?
Research from 2008 shows discus are primarily vegetarian and have lots of intestinal problems when fed meat based diets. See following link if you want more info on that.

the discus fish Symphysodon - SciELO - M.MOAM.INFO

Dec 22, 2008 - of the lake hosting more than a thousand discus. Only 16 of the 41 ..... ing free-swimming B. cichlae wit...

moam.info

Thank you Colin, I appreciate all this info. This is the first I have heard that discus do better with a veggie diet, I’ll have to check that out, thank you. We feed a mixture of dry food in the morning, frozen beef heart and spirulina shrimp for lunch and dinner they get bloodworms and frozen veggie cubes. Beef heart is the favorite.

I don’t think I’ve tried Metrinidazole yet, I just ordered some from seachem and will see if that is a better treatment than the API brand.

The excess mucus was because I just moved him to the hospital and he stressed out. He is already back to normal, I should have waited to take a picture until he calmed down.

Thank you again for your help!

 

[itiwhetu]

Can you post a photo of the fish side on? This fish doesn't seem to be the best shaped Discus, some of the more inbred fish come with all sorts of underlying medical conditions, that can be hard to control. It would be nice to see a photo of the whole tank as well, thanks.

 

[Kevin-Mc]

Can you post a photo of the fish side on? This fish doesn't seem to be the best shaped Discus, some of the more inbred fish come with all sorts of underlying medical conditions, that can be hard to control. It would be nice to see a photo of the whole tank as well, thanks.

Thanks for responding, Here are some photos to better help diagnose.

 

[Colin_T]

Thank you Colin, I appreciate all this info. This is the first I have heard that discus do better with a veggie diet, I’ll have to check that out, thank you. We feed a mixture of dry food in the morning, frozen beef heart and spirulina shrimp for lunch and dinner they get bloodworms and frozen veggie cubes. Beef heart is the favorite.

We only found out about it a few weeks ago and it was purely by accident. I'm still freaked out about it because we have been told to feed discus on meat foods for decades, and then the scientists do a study on wild discus diet because there has never been one done. It blew my mind.

Your fish are probably doing ok because of the planted tank and the plant based food you give them.

The tank looks good too

If you can get pictures of the other discus fish mouths, we will have something to compare the orange discus to.

 

[itiwhetu]

I'm not a big fan of Discus and Angels together, are you sure this guy isn't just getting stressed from all the action in the tank.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Thanks for responding, Here are some photos to better help diagnose.

I'm no help I'm afraid, just wanted to say that your tank is lovely, and that black angel is beautiful! Really stunning, and I really want one now! I won't, but I want a pair!

 

[itiwhetu]

I'm no help I'm afraid, just wanted to say that your tank is lovely, and that black angel is beautiful! Really stunning, and I really want one now! I won't, but I want a pair!

Black Angels are beautiful, and are good little money spinners. The second was at the National fish Show

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Black Angels are beautiful, and are good little money spinners. The second was at the National fish Show
View attachment 164447View attachment 164449

Right now I'm looking at a 4ft tank and thinking about black angels! They always draw my eye, they really look stunning against a planted tank background.

 

[itiwhetu]

Right now I'm looking at a 4ft tank and thinking about black angels! They always draw my eye, they really look stunning against a planted tank background.

Black Veiltails like in the first photo are the most beautiful fish in a large tank. That photo was taken as I was shutting down my fish room. In a planted tank they are magnificent

 

[itiwhetu]

The first photo was taken in 1980 and notice the price $10

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

OP, the discus is beautiful, can still see that under the excess slime coat. Haven't heard of a condition like this before, but I trust @Colin_T to steer you right! Hope he makes a recovery soon and it doesn't reoccur.

 

[Kevin-Mc]

I'm not a big fan of Discus and Angels together, are you sure this guy isn't just getting stressed from all the action in the tank.

I would agree that I’m likely pushing the limits on the bioload, but I don’t think it’s an activity issue. The angels get along fine with the discus, in fact the angels breed, we have had several successful batches of angels, I have two of the adult babies in another tank. For the most part the angels stick together and the discus don’t bother them. The only time we see stress bars or signs of stress are when the discus are fighting for dominance or territory, this last for a day or two, if it last longer then I move things around and they calm down. Im about to post some other pictures of the other discus and you can see that everyone else in the tank is in good health.