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[codpiece]

Hi, hope you guys can help the girlfirend has posted this top elsewhere but is driving me mad with worry so i have copied it to post here, hope you can help

Help me dont know what to do, just fed the fishes and was trying to take some pics and i noticed a white spot on one of my black skirts... it does not look like white spot as it only the two marks on either side of his top fin (technical terms now) it seems to go right through and it is protruding from the fin quite obviously maybe about 2mm.................

he is in the discus tank should i seperate him??? should i medicate?? help dont ant the discus to get sick.. the last fish added were these 10 tetras
two weeks ago

nitrAte 25 mg/l
NitrIte 0
Ammonia 0
P.H 7.2

all seems well with water specs, sorry folks it's an emergency cause he is in with her discus

 

[snotirl]

ok isolate and buy some drugs

 

[dolphin]

Hi Codpiece

As a fellow discus keeper/breeder. I can understand your concerns.

Firstly, were the tetras quarantined prior to adding to the tank? All new fish that I add to my 1000 gall fish house system get a 6 week quarantine.

If not, I would suggest removing all of them to a quarantine tank.

This will probably be the best idea anyway.

You say you were trying to take some photos of the fish. Do you have any photos of the white thing? If you do, can you post them, to aid identification of the problem?

Awaiting your reply

Dolphin

 

[codpiece]

no they were notquarentined.. all her fish come from the same supplier.. suppose that does not make it okay...... remove them all after two weeks? we removed the little one last night but my hospital tank is only two gallon dont think it is big enough for ten tetras!!

She did not managed to get a good pic of the tetra i'll have a go today, thanks for your help though!

should i medicate the discus tank too or just the individual

 

[mrV]

http/www.vet.cornell.edu/Public/FishDise...hts/Ich/Ich.htm Looks same? If does, then you have to medicate tank immediately, don't remove any fish from tank:

- buy waterLifes Protozin (seems to work better than Tetras same)
- add it like it is said in instruction
- turn lights off for couple days (light dissolves medicines)
- raise temp 2 degrees (celsius)
- keep them at least 2 weaks in medicine water (parasites has long life-circle and medicine only destroy spores in water, not parasites in fishes)

For discus, water values should be different: slighly acid, soft water.. Nitrate seems to be too high too.

If it's not Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, then remove this "odd" fish into the another tank and keep eye on it. don't medicate, if it's unnecessarily.

 

[dolphin]

Hi Codpiecs.

As the tetras will only be in the hospital tank for a few weeks, it should be OK.

I tend to look at thing this way. A few tetras cost a few pounds. A few discus cost hundrads of pounds. If due to this problem you loose a few tetras then the replacment of them, is not going to break the bank. How much would it cost to replace the discus. If I wiped out my discus colection, it would cost me nearly £1500 to replace them. I know which I prefer.

Get the tertas out of the discus tank. Identify what is wrong with them (it). If it is contagus, treat the main tank. Otherwise just treat the hospital tank, if it is a treatable problem.

As for not quarantining, your new fish. Even though they are from the same supplier, quaratin them. As you said, you have only had these fish for two weeks. If there were in quarantin, you would not be in such a panic.


Sorry to preach on about quarantining, but it saves your valued fish, and the worry about wether you have infected them.

Dolphin

 

[codpiece]

spot on mrV that is what the spot looked like mind you there was only two spots. the little guy actually died while we were out shopping so what medication should i use in the tank, extra water change done today also 25%, I have been avised to hang a bag of coral sand in the tank in the hope that this may soften the water!! would this be okay!!

 

[mrV]

there was only two spots.

It doesn't depend how many spot there is; If it look like this http/www.aquahoito.info/suomi/taudit/pilkkuta.jpg It is ick then and buy medicine which helps destroy the ick. Waterlifes Protozin is good.

I have been avised to hang a bag of coral sand in the tank in the hope that this may soften the water!! would this be okay!!

Coral sand is mostly CaCO3 and CaCO3 is insoluble into water. Only acid dissolves it. And when it dissolves, it increase GH and KH not lower them so the advice is wrong.

 

[codpiece]

thats great mrV meds will start tonight. do you have any reccomendations then that will work?

 

[mrV]

You can lower pH with turf (turf without fertilizers, e.g. natural turf), it also lowers hardness alittle too.. Put turf into the filterbag and place it into your external filter. You should check pH several time, when using turf. It's important you don't buy fertilized turf!

You get nitrate level down only changing water enough and your tap-water is better than water in aquarium (lower NO3- level).

 

[dolphin]

Hi Codpiece

IMO you do not need to lower your pH, unless you want to breed your discus.
I keep my discus in water of ph 6 to breed them, but this is too low to keep them in. Discus grow better in a neutral ph, with a hardness of 550us GH12 KH 8.
If young discus are kept in water that if too soft, and acidic there growth will be stunted, as they need a source of calcium to have good growth.
Fry will die if there are kept in the breeding water for too long, (and believe me I have lost lots of fry because I did not know this when I started to breed discus)

If your discus are doing well in the water that they are in leave it alone.

If you do want to breed your discus. Use aquarium peat to soften the water. This will also lower the pH.

Dolphin

 

[mrV]

Discus grow better in a neutral ph, with a hardness of 550us GH12 KH 8.

My opinion is that GH12 is too much for adult discus. Still, I do not have any good information about discus so I asked it from other discus hobbiests, whose breed them etc...

If you look e.g. this link , you'll find that pH is even 4.2-6.2, dH is 0-1 and 1S - 3S. So it's real soft and acidic water. However it depends what discus it is...

What I have always heard/read, it is that discus needs acidic/slightly acidic/soft/clear water. pH 6.0-6.5 is probably fine for most of them, some of them needs more acidic water.

Breeding discus is like you, dolphin, said very demanding progress. And growing babies probably need some minerals: http/www.tropicmarin.com/web/english/pro.../pro_disc_m.htm

 

[codpiece]

GH 3dgh
KH 2dkh

we were told these need to be raised, is this true and ow do i do it?

 

[mrV]

All I just found was that it's important for babies and young, growing discus that they get enough minerals (e.g. calsium...), but when discus are adults they are kept in soft water.

 

[dolphin]

Hi Codpiece

A good way to increase the hardness of your water is to add some calcium to the water. This will also raise your pH.
If your fish are fine I would not change any of the water parameters.

How large are your fish?

Hi MrV

From the post of yours that I have read, I know that you know a lot about water, and keeping fish. I do not want to get in to a long discussion on water for discus, but I must point out a few things. The link you posted pointed to is about Wild Heckel discus. These are the most demanding of all discus to keep, and breeding them is only a thing most discus breeders can dream about. They must be kept in water which matches their wild environment, the parameters you posted.
All tank bread fish which are available, even the tank bread wild fish, are now adjusted to live in water which does not match there wild environment.
The only time discus need to be kept in water that matches their wild environment is to breed them. My breeding water if at ph 6 GH <1 KH 0 and 100us. Even this is considered too acidic and too soft, by most breeders. The norm for breeding is to aim for a pH of about 6.5. with a GH of 2+ and a KH of 4+

I spend a lot of time keeping up to date with a lot of discus breeders and keepers and therefore have a very good knowledge of what the water needs to be like.

The water parameters I posted,

hardness of 550us GH12 KH 8

were given to me by one of Britians top discus breeders "Mark Evenden", and since I have been using them for raising fry, the growth rate has been phenomenal and health exceptional.

Dolphin