Discus Not Eating.......

[mattlee]

i bought 2 discus from the same place at the start of the month 1 is fine and eating very well the other isnt eating a thing....

i have put the non eating discus in a bare bottom tank on its own as it was staying in the corner of my main tank and i thought it was just down to bullying. since being on its own its swimming about but still not eating.

ive treated with wormerplus and sera nematol incase it was due to a worm problem but it still wont eat. its about 4 weeks now and im getting worried it wont last much longer.

ive tried feeding bloodworm, brineshrimp, beefheart, prima, flake and it just wont eat anything

all my discus are from the same supplier and the others are fine and the 2 newest ones were taken from the same tank they are the same size and strain etc so its puzzling me.

its not flashing and doesnt have any obvious spots or marks etc and as far as i can see the gills seem fine. ive been doing plenty of water changes to try and flush anything out i can but still nothing is eaten.

i do have interpet anti internal bacteria med which i was going to try next unless anyone else can advise me otherwise.....

 

[WILDER]

Not eating can mean the fish dosn't like the food being offered, stress, desease.

What does it look like when the fish goes to the toilet.
Does the fish spit it's food out.

Soak the fish food in garlic juice to stimulate appetite, and boost the immune system.

 

[Tolak]

Metronidazole, which is something you will have to get from a vet seeing as you are in the UK. 40mg/gallon, with daily 50% water changes & remed. Bring the temperature up to 90F, make sure you have plenty of aeration, warmer water holds less O2.

On about the third day of treatment sprinkle a little metro on some food, frozen brine shrimp works wee, and feed this only, once daily. Continue for 10-14 days.

This sounds like typical behavior for an internal protizoan, common with discus & angels.

 

[mattlee]

Metronidazole, which is something you will have to get from a vet seeing as you are in the UK. 40mg/gallon, with daily 50% water changes & remed. Bring the temperature up to 90F, make sure you have plenty of aeration, warmer water holds less O2.

On about the third day of treatment sprinkle a little metro on some food, frozen brine shrimp works wee, and feed this only, once daily. Continue for 10-14 days.

This sounds like typical behavior for an internal protizoan, common with discus & angels.

how do go about getting it? do i just go to a vet and ask for it?

Not eating can mean the fish dosn't like the food being offered, stress, desease.

What does it look like when the fish goes to the toilet.
Does the fish spit it's food out.

Soak the fish food in garlic juice to stimulate appetite, and boost the immune system.

ive never seen the discus poo yet.........!

it doesnt spit it out as it doesnt even want to try any in the first place.

ive offered it bloodworm, brineshrimp, prima, beefheart, flake it wont eat any of it

 

[Tolak]

Best bet is to call around, ask if their practice has any experience with ornamental tropical fish. This is a fairly common problem among breeders, especially cichlids, hexamita or spironucleus are commoinly found in the normal digestive floura of these fish. When the fish is healthy their natural immunity keeps them at a normal level. When the fish is stressed for whatever reason it's immune response drops, allowing these protizoans to multiply to a level where they do affect the fish.

http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/spironucleus.php One good reference to show the vet.

http/www.nationalfishpharm.com/articles/hexamita.html And another.

 

[mattlee]

Best bet is to call around, ask if their practice has any experience with ornamental tropical fish. This is a fairly common problem among breeders, especially cichlids, hexamita or spironucleus are commoinly found in the normal digestive floura of these fish. When the fish is healthy their natural immunity keeps them at a normal level. When the fish is stressed for whatever reason it's immune response drops, allowing these protizoans to multiply to a level where they do affect the fish.

http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/spironucleus.php One good reference to show the vet.

http/www.nationalfishpharm.com/articles/hexamita.html And another.

thanks for that Tolak, its a bank holiday this monday so im not sure if vets will be open but ill try anyway, if not it will have to be tuesday. is it worth treating with an internal bacteria med or hexamita med in the mean time?

 

[mattlee]

after using the metro should the discus start eating? because its not eating at all at the minute and feeding metro on/in the food may be difficult.....

 

[Tolak]

I wouldn't bother with the internal bacterial med, as it will do nothing for internal protizians. The heximita med depends on the ingredients, if something worked better than metro I would use it.

As far as feeding, that's why you wait until the third day to start feeding. When they even mouth the food & spit it out some of the medication is getting to where it needs to be by the best route. The increased temperature increases metabolism, thus appetite. A few days with the medication in the water gets it started. Often they won't eat on that third day, but sometimes they do, especially if caught early enough.

 

[mattlee]

I wouldn't bother with the internal bacterial med, as it will do nothing for internal protizians. The heximita med depends on the ingredients, if something worked better than metro I would use it.

As far as feeding, that's why you wait until the third day to start feeding. When they even mouth the food & spit it out some of the medication is getting to where it needs to be by the best route. The increased temperature increases metabolism, thus appetite. A few days with the medication in the water gets it started. Often they won't eat on that third day, but sometimes they do, especially if caught early enough.

ok thanks Tolak ill try the vets as soon as they re-open after the holiday