Sick Discus, Please Help!

[BeckyJay]

I have a group of 4 discus, one of which i recieved as a present a couple of months back, the other 3 I bought recently to keep him company. Before the other 3 were added, I started to see the original discus excreting white mucusy feaces and so I treated with Anti Internal Bacteria before adding the 3 new discus. I dont think the treatment worked however as the white feaces have continued and and has had his fins clamped since yesterday, staying on one spot near the top of the tank. He is still interested in food though. Could he be stressed from the addition of 3 new discus? (They are all perfectly healthy) Please, please help, i really dont want my discus to die, i will be really grateful for any advice on treatments or methods will save my discus.

 

[markandhisfish]

any other symptoms besdides the string white poo? this is usually an early stage of hexamita , an intestinal parasite . depending on what country you are in get either octozin by waterlife ( uk) or if youre in the us metronidozole.

 

[BeckyJay]

any other symptoms besdides the string white poo? this is usually an early stage of hexamita , an intestinal parasite . depending on what country you are in get either octozin by waterlife ( uk) or if youre in the us metronidozole.

It doesnt look like there are other symptoms other than the white mucusy poo and the clamped fins, apart from maybe his eating habits. It seems like he takes a bite and then spits it back out, i'm not sure is hes actually eating anything.

 

[mattlee]

sounds like internal parasites to me too but try to be as sure as possible before adding any meds

 

[markandhisfish]

clamped fins , white string poo , spitting food out . classic intestinal parasite symptoms . any hiding away , colour loss/darkening?

 

[BeckyJay]

clamped fins , white string poo , spitting food out . classic intestinal parasite symptoms . any hiding away , colour loss/darkening?

yep, like i said he stays in one corner of the tank near the top, im not sure about colour loss/darkening, its hard to tell.

 

[markandhisfish]

are you in england or america? if youre in america youl be able to get metronidazole over the counter , but here in the uk it has to be vet prescribed . octozin by waterlife successfully treated hexamita in my discus . for now dont panic , youve caught it early and as long as you start treatment asap there no reason you will lose your fish . in the meantime be extra vigilant by removing any white poos you find in the tank , this will minimise the risk of the other discus becoming infected , due to their habits of picking up bits of food off the floor , its quite common they will try to eat the poo of other fish .

 

[BeckyJay]

are you in england or america? if youre in america youl be able to get metronidazole over the counter , but here in the uk it has to be vet prescribed . octozin by waterlife successfully treated hexamita in my discus . for now dont panic , youve caught it early and as long as you start treatment asap there no reason you will lose your fish . in the meantime be extra vigilant by removing any white poos you find in the tank , this will minimise the risk of the other discus becoming infected , due to their habits of picking up bits of food off the floor , its quite common they will try to eat the poo of other fish .

England, octozin it is. Thanks for all your help.

 

[markandhisfish]

octozin is a 3 day course of treatment , but to be sure of getting the parasite at all stages of development , a safe precaution is to run 1 course then 7 days later run a 2nd course , this will ensure that any remaining the 1st course missed will be killed too.

good luck with the treatment , and let us know how you get on .

 

[BeckyJay]

octozin is a 3 day course of treatment , but to be sure of getting the parasite at all stages of development , a safe precaution is to run 1 course then 7 days later run a 2nd course , this will ensure that any remaining the 1st course missed will be killed too.

good luck with the treatment , and let us know how you get on .

Great advice, thanks very much i really appreciate the help.

 

[markandhisfish]

youre welcome . good luck

 

[Vin Swords]

one of mine had this big white poo... i was keeping an eye and it had normal poo after that one time..

 

[markandhisfish]

you can get an occaisional white poo , depending on what theyve been eating , sometimes you even get it when a fish has an empty stomach , but the white poo along with all the other symptoms described is classic internal parasite symptoms

 

[ajs2294]

Depending on the fish small amounts of white poo from time to time is ok. But if it gets excessive you really need to set up a hospital tank and treat it with Metronidazole for 7-14 days to ensure Hex is gone.

 

[hamfist]

Personally, I'd definately go for flubendazole treatment ( http/wormerplus.co.uk/ ) instead of octozin.

Discus are very prone to intestinal parasites, not necessarilly hex. Many experienced discus keepers and breeders having a continual rolling treatment for intestinal worms.

My question would also be ... what water are you keeping these discus in ?

Discus are real fussy over water quality, especially nitrates. I cannot keep discus in my tap water, simply because of the levels of nitrates in it, straight out of the tap.
It could be that your discus is simply failing to thrive in your water, leaving itself open to all sorts of opportunistic infections. Do other discus keepers in your area use the same water as you to keep discus in ?