Discus parasite problem,, need help..!!!

10695 Views 14 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Guest, May 2, 2008

abdulthekewl

Discussion Starter · Apr 18, 2008

6

Hello there,
I have a 75 gallon tank, with 8 or 9 Dicus fish and natural plants, i use a canister filter.
I recently noticed that one of the Discus stopped eating or appeared to lose apetite, it got weaker and weaker till it died.
Another one stopped eating then appeared to have something like a sore on the fins, unfortunately i caught it late so it died as well.

Now the real problem is this, the fish have something like white threads coming out from parts of the body, like in the head around the gills, or on the upper part of the fins.
I used parasite special from Wardley but it didn't show any improvement as i couldn't stop the carbon filtering.
I read tha some ppl suggest salt bath so i started it today.
Does anyone have an suggestion for the problem with my fish?

Here are the pictures, apologies for the quality:

This is the best shot i got for the white pimple/thread:

This is one of the fish, in a quarantine tank, after the parasite special and the salt bath, the white thingy disappeared but his fins are so weak:

I also wanna ask a question, i always notice something more like waste or dirt on my plants, is it a normal thing or is it some sort of algae?
Does it have anything to do with the Discus problem?

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abdulthekewl

Discussion Starter · #2 · Apr 19, 2008

Here's an update, in the process of preparing the tank for the parasite treatment, I cleaned the canister filter today and i found a huge number of SNAILS!!!
Do snails have anything to do with the parasite problem??

I removed the carbon from the filter, and I am going to use the parasite sweep medicine.
Will get back to you with the results.

cichlidaholic

· #3 · Apr 22, 2008

I'm not an advocate of Wardley products and not familiar at all with the "parasite special". Are the ingredients listed on the bottle? What are they?

It does sound like you have parasites in the tank.

What are your water parameters?

What is your normal tank maintenance routine?

Are you feeding any live foods?

The snails shouldn't have anything to do with the problem, just don't add any of those over the counter snail remover products to the tank...Try removing them manually. You can even add a slice of cucumber attached to a rock overnight and remove it in the a.m...The snails will likely congregate on the cucumber. You may have to do this several times.

I can't tell if that is algae on your plants, or waste...It looks like waste to me.

Kim

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abdulthekewl

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 22, 2008

Well, I am using another Parasite medicine by Aquadene, it's called Anti Parasite Special,

I did 2 water changes so far, about the parametes, i dont have the kit at the moment,

Maintenance routine, used to clean the canister filter once in every 3 months, it's bad i think,
used to do partial water change every 3 weeks or something,
no maitenance on the plants :-S

I dont feed any live food,

I read that snails are a major host for parasites, my problem now is snails inside the canister as they r breeding, i removed all the ones i saw manually, but what if they come back? How could i remove them for goood?

cichlidaholic

· #5 · Apr 22, 2008

I would say that your tank maintenance (or lack of tank maintenance) has contributed to your problem.

Most discus owners do water changes a couple of times a week. They tend to demand a bit more attention than your average tropical fish.

I would focus on slowly cleaning up the tank.

I'm not familiar with the medication you're using, but squeeze in all the water changes that you can.

I would also pick up test kits for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and ph, at the very least.

Kim

abdulthekewl

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 22, 2008

3

Do u have any idea what these worms exactly are?? are they planaria? If so, how harmful are they, and how do i get rid of them?

Another thing, just to make sure, is this how parasites look like?

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cichlidaholic

· #7 · Apr 23, 2008

How large are those white things? They are probably planaria, and if so, this should be remedied by increasing your water changes and cutting back on food/waste in the tank.

I'm not sure what you're referring to in the last pic. The white area? If so, I really can't tell if it's a scrape or what it is.

I really think cleaning the tank up should be your first priority, and you're problems will likely resolve with the clean up. Do it slowly, though. You don't want to shock them by doing too much too quickly.

Did you get those parameters checked?

Kim

abdulthekewl

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 25, 2008

cichlidaholic said:
How large are those white things? They are probably planaria, and if so, this should be remedied by increasing your water changes and cutting back on food/waste in the tank.

I'm not sure what you're referring to in the last pic. The white area? If so, I really can't tell if it's a scrape or what it is.

I really think cleaning the tank up should be your first priority, and you're problems will likely resolve with the clean up. Do it slowly, though. You don't want to shock them by doing too much too quickly.

Did you get those parameters checked?

Kim

The worms are very small, they r about 3 or 4 millimeters, and they r crawling on the glass,
they are not the same worms as they're not burrowing into the fish, the last pic was just a confirmation of the parasite as i was kinda confused at the 1st place,
Now if those worms are planaria, i understand there's no harm done on the fish, but does it mean i should cut back on feeding or just reduce feeding? I am still doing water changes, adding salt to the water, the fish are doing great now thank god..
the only issues now arethe worms, the torn fins and the PLANTS..
Torn fins can grow back in time,
the plants i kept in a hospital tank observing and killing all snails, would a salt bath help in killing any parasites if available?

About the water parameters, i apologize for not getting them since i dont have the kit,
One more thing, i am using a UV Filter now, it should help, right?

Thank you very much Kim for your time and cooperation

cichlidaholic

· #9 · Apr 25, 2008

Planaria and hydra usually become problem areas in new tanks, or tanks that have alot of waste in them. So, cutting back on the amounts you feed and increasing your water change frequency should help resolve this. They won't hurt anything, just kind of creepy!

I think continuing this clean up of the tank will solve your problems.

The UV sterilizer will help with some things, but the tank maintenance is still necessary.

I would pick up test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph at the very least. Discus require a bit more attention to water quality than some cichlids, and when you have problems like this, you can solve them on your own by testing the water. Twice weekly water changes would be the minimum I would do as routine maintenance on a discus tank.

Kim

mepeterser2451

· #10 · Apr 27, 2008

hey, i dont really have a problem with snails. I'm actually trying to repopulate mine because they really clean up the tank walls nicely. But they also really add to the waste cause they eat alot of the fish food that sinks to the bottom. This might be a big source of yer waste. In addititon to more water changes you could feed less and slower (unless yer already doing that).

Also I've had Cotton mouth, which is a parasite, on my betta and it looks like a "long" stringy white worm that crawls in and out of the gills and makes white spots. I've had real success using a mixture of aquarium salt and bettafix.

G

· #11 · Apr 27, 2008

That white thing on your discus is nothing to be concerned about. It's some sort of carteliage that apparently happens due to bad nutirtion. I've had that happened to mine a few times, but it's fine.

But you need to do a lot more water changes. In a 75G with 8 or 9 (you should know exactly how many discus you have in your tank

), you should do 40% to 50% water changes twice a week. Go to simplydiscus.com to read some more about discus care. I would have to assume most of your problems came from bad water quality. So are you in Saudi? I used to live there.

abdulthekewl

Discussion Starter · #12 · May 2, 2008

dntx5b9 said:
In a 75G with 8 or 9 (you should know exactly how many discus you have in your tank ), you should do 40% to 50% water changes twice a week. Go to simplydiscus.com to read some more about discus care. I would have to assume most of your problems came from bad water quality. So are you in Saudi? I used to live there.

LOL i know exactly how many fish i have, but the thing is one of them was dying already

I agree with most of u guys, bad water quality caused all these problems.
Yeah am in Saudi now, in Jeddah.
Where did u live? and what did u do here?

abdulthekewl

Discussion Starter · #13 · May 2, 2008

Here's another update,
Fish are doing well, i put the plants back into the tank, still doing water changes twice aweek,

I still see the tiny white worms crawling on the glass, i caught some of them on the upper part of the tank after they grew up, this is how they look like

Are they planaria??

One more thing, i dunno y but the fish are acting really weird, they are all clumsy and always hiding behind the plants, and whenever someone passes near the tank they just go crazy,, any idea???

P.H. level of the water is 5.5, i assume that's ok, isnt it?

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cichlidaholic

· #14 · May 2, 2008

Your ph is actually ideal.

I think you're challenge now is to keep that water perfect, doing as many water changes a week as it takes to do so. I would say you will need to do a minimum of 2 water changes at 40-50%, or you could do 3 a week with smaller amounts.

Good luck!

Kim

G

· #15 · May 2, 2008

Yup, frequent smaller water changes are better. So if you can, 30% every other day would be good. It is a pain, but I used to do 30% every other day in my 90G with 8 discus. Anyhow, how long have you had the discus? Your discus hiding, if this is not normal, is a sign that things aren't good. So, best thing to do is maintain your water quality. I also heard adding Purigen helps in the discus tanks.

I used to live in Khamis Mushait some 25 years ago as kid. I was there with my parents and lived there for 5 years before moving to US. I just looked up the city using google earth, not that much has changed in the last 25 years.

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