# help discus not eating



## Dee2010

New sub adult discus not eating. Been a week and one out of the three is not eating tried pellets, bloodworms and new life spectrum. Other then not eating looks fine. Heard to mix food with garlic sauce to entice it to eat as I read but has anyone tried? Or should I just wait it out read they could take weeks to adjust. The other two are eating like pigs though. Just worried cause he looks a little thin but color is still good.


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## Dis

what is your temp set at? make sure its warm enough at least 80 degrees.

dim lighting or no lighting at all might help the discus to settle in.

hopefully you can find a food it will take. goodluck


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## Dee2010

Temp is 82.f lighting wise, two t5s running 8 hrs, guess I will cut back on the amount of time the lights are on. Hopefully he or she would eat soon., was hoping the other two pigging out would entice some interest but nothing. Odd thing is he/she does look like there's food in the belly not sure if that's the stomach or due to thinning but looks fine just puzzled. Hopefully will turn around like the other two.


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## Dis

Ya going to be hit or miss. Group size could also be a factor, might want to think about adding 2 or 3 more. That would make them feel more secure


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## Dee2010

Going to probably pick up another tomorrow and then maybe one a month from now.so we will see hopefully works out. Thanks dis.


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## george

Dee, have you noticed if the poo is white or transparent? Discus are very prone to hexamita disease. http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...=yc1VP3hEr3pfH9Rail1mbg&bvm=bv.59930103,d.aWM

Regarding the temperature, I would say it is too low. I keep mine around 86F.

Here is a quick sticky http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?86009-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Getting-Started-with-Discus from Simply Discus . Let us know if there is any update.

BTW, the garlic is used to help them eat and to boost the immune system. There is a garlic solution as well ready available.


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## Dee2010

Hi George,

Thanks for the info I will take a look at those links, and for sure I will turn up the temp. Unfortunately regarding the waste I haven't seen that one poop yet the red melons I have. but it does look like it has a belly as in like its eaten but i am sure he/she hasnt. But yea will keep updates. So should i try the garlic? Think can pick up at big als.


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## Dee2010

Picked up the garlic dip hopefully will entice it to eat and adding a extra heater. Will keep updating the progress.


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## TankCla

Metro does the trick. When you have Discus in the house, you always should have metro in the house.
In 3 days I guarantee they will eat like pigs.


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## Dee2010

Ah shoot I should had picked one up was just looking at it today. Guess I try the garlic first.thanks for the advice guys. Anyone know any stores in the markham area carry it? Dont want to go back down to B.A scarborough..


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## Y2KGT

You can try contacting one of our members named kkaamm.
http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/member.php?u=11837

He sells all kinds of products including Metro and is located in Markham.
--
Paul


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## Dee2010

Thanks Paul, but picked it up b.a. added to the tank and dipped blood worms in garlic solution still no interest. I do have cherries in the tank at least hope he/she ate some. Dont know guess will have to wait and see....


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## Dee2010

Alright guys here's a update please let me know what you think after adding metro for a day noticed it pooping for the first time at least I can see. But I can see the poop is long and white, anyone knows what that indicates? And for some reason he/she looks kind of bloated in the stomach region as if it ate a lot. Dont know if the poop is a good sign or not.


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## TankCla

Take a look here: http://www.discusnada.org/category/treating-illness/


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## Dee2010

Thanks so much Claud, that's exactly what he/she looks like unfortunately. I got the metro but need to pick up some salt. Now that the illness is evident hopefully can turn it around.


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## Dee2010

Update still not eating but treating with both metro and salt bath.noticed it pooping more all white poo. Just wondering does it get better this way?? Like stomach viruses in humans.


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## TankCla

Stick to metro. You can do up to 10 days. They will eat, don't worry.


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## Y2KGT

How much Metro and salt are you dosing and how often? And are you doing water changes and if so how much and how often?
--
Paul


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## Dee2010

At first did a spoon for every 10 gallons, 25% water change every two days.still not eating so I made a container to isolate that one fish and add a spoon of metro and teaspoon of salt and leave him/her there for an hour. Been doing that for two days and every time I let him/her out It will poo a long white stringy poop. Still puzzled about whether its a good sign or bad, still not eating though. Looks like the bloating came down a bit or its just me but it is more active.


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## Y2KGT

Sounds like you're stressing the fish by moving it to a container for an hour and then moving it back. 

The white stingy poop is a sign of an internal parasite. It irritates the intestine which causes excess mucus to be produced and that's what you see in the white stingy poop. 

You should treat the entire tank because if one fish has it they all do. 

Salt should be added at one tablespoon per 5 gallons of water and only added back during water changes. The Metro should be dosed as per the packaging at least one per day. It's a pretty safe med so I always overdose a bit. 

Good luck. 
--
Paul


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## Dee2010

Icic, dont worry I dont net it or anything its just the base of clear jug and it floats in the main tank the opening is big enough I can just scoop him in without it even realizing until after. I have added metro to main tank and put it in the food of the discus that do eat. Its just this one that won't eat that I had no choice.


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## Dee2010

Just an update. Treated with metro, focus and epsom salt managed to get the bloating under control after 4 days of isolated treatment. However still waiting for it to eat hopefully that will happen soon. Thanks everyone for their input it helped a lot. Hopefully next update I can say its eating.


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## Andlaw134

This is probably the most common discus problem and the hardest to treat. Metro and salts work some time. Daily water changes of 50% or more. The simply discus forum has some true experts. They have a disease questions ire you can fill out but spend about 15 mins looking around on the disease thread and you will find it. Good luck I have never had much success in treating this sorry for the bad news. I hope the moderators are ok with me flogging another site if not my apologies


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## bowser

Metro has never really worked for me in the past when treating discus - the only thing that ever worked for me in getting discus to eat and overcome the white poop was heat treatment. You have to be careful though... raise temp very slowly over a week and then monitor closely (and other fish besides the discus, e.g. cories, may not be able to withstand this treatment). Feel free to check the link below for more info:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?89475-Heat-Treatment-for-Internal-Parasite-Worm-Issues


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## Dee2010

Thanks andlaw and bowser. I am just doing what I can hopefully he/she will turn around its been a week i've tried everything recommended garlic, metro, focus and epsom salt to turn it around quite exhausting to treat everyday. Some advice be careful how you pick your fish, I should had asked for a feeding prior to purchased now i am just doing what I can to save it. 

Turned up the temp to like 88f afraid to go higher as I do have cories.know its going to be a long journey seen ppl on youtube force feed meds sometimes feel desperate enough to force food down its mouth but dont want to stress it out. Can only try and hope for the best. Will keep posting updates. 

Guess my last resort will be the heat treatment. Treating this guy is costing me enough to buy a replacement *sigh*. Only thing sodomy have a spare tank think he will survive in a bucket with a air pump??

Thanks for the response guys.


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## clubsoda

You have to make the discus eat the metro, dissolving it in the water is not enough. You have to push it down through the mouth, pros do this I wouldn't recommend you youtube it and do it. So the next option is to really to put em in a small tank and overdose it with metro.

And temp should be 90


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## TankCla

clubsoda said:


> You have to push it down through the mouth.


I wouldn't recommend.

Discus is a very delicate fish and not so easy to keep. For my discus I always had in the freezer, my own recipe for them and one small pack mixed with metro and neoplex. You can find them at BA. 
At the beginning when they are not eating, metro in water with WC will be enough. Water temp will help as will aquarium salt. Don't overdose it. You might have to to a 10 days treatment, and your discus could eat after 20 days.

Don't give up hope.

Btw, what are you feeding them?


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## clubsoda

After 10 or 14 days and 90 deg temp and the poop are still white or they're not eating you have to increase the dose. Go to the Asian stores (around pacific mall) they specialize in discus and you can get a stronger industrial strength metro not from BA.


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## Dee2010

Right now I am feeding them blood worms and new life spectrum flakes, the others are plugging out. Just the sick guy still refuse seemed like he showed a little interest but maybe its just me getting my hopes up. 

Today will be a week since treating him, i've seen ppl use a syringe and just pump metro or meds through discus mouth but its a little extreme afraid it do more harm then damage, contemplated but that would be my last resort. I mean the bloating improved a lot just a slight bump left. Maybe increase the metro and focus dosage and temp. I used previously seachem metro then ran out so picked up metro plus from hikari.

I dont know...guess you just got to keep trying also have rid-ich from kordon pretty strong med I know its not ich but thought about throwing that in as well or would that be unnecessary or too much for the fish? . Think we are reacing two weeks of him not eating hope it will turn around and i wouldnt have to resort to the more drastic treatment. As of now been treated for 1 week, havent looked up neoplex maybe throw that in the mix. Thanks claud, clubsoda and everyone for their inputs.

At times feels like a never ending battle...but wont give up can only guess push it to the end.


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## clubsoda

Yup sometimes you gotta put on the fishy surgeon outfit and operate and hope you're sucessful.

And sometimes their little internal organ is far damaged, hard to save them. Good luck save this one!


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## TankCla

Dee2010 said:


> ...I mean the bloating improved a lot just a slight bump left...


I only can assume the treatment is working, but it will take more to heal this fish. 
I think the fish was very sick, and you are lucky it is still alive. Now the fish is recovering. If he is having the impulse to eat, eventually he will go for it. My opinion is to continue with the actual dosage until the fish is ok. You don't want to overdose. And I hope you are not running active carbon now, right?


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## Y2KGT

I'm not sure if its too late for your fish but I thought you might want to try this proven treatment. I personally have done it a few times with success on my African cichlids.

You really need a 10 gallon hospital tank to do this treatment. A word of warning, Cloat WILL stain your clear silicone and tank decor.

http://angelfins.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=170

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=24132

== IMPORTANT ==
(1) DO NOT FEED ANYTHING during this process.
(2) Start this procedure as soon as the fish shows symptoms (spitting familiar food, not eating, long stingy clear or white feces, gasping, hiding during feeding, bloated or emaciated belly,etc.) NOTE: If your fish is bloated but is still eating chances are it does NOT have bloat. A bloated belly is typically the LAST symptom you will see in a fish that has bloat.

Medication required: Clout (Aquarium Products) ***now made by Mardel***

Day 1: Move fish to quarantine tank and treat with Clout at full strength (1 tablet / 10 gallons--remove carbon from filter)

Day 2: No water change. Treat again with Clout at half strength.

Day 3: Do nothing

Day 4: Do an 80% water change and treat with Clout at full strength

Day 5: Do nothing

**Day 6--?: Return fish to main tank only after symptoms have subsided and the fish has been healthy: (eating, swimming, breathing normally) for at least a week.
Resist the urge to try feeding the fish until after the treatment is over and do not cut the treatment short regardless of whether the fish looks better or not. If at any time during the treatment your fish seems to be experiencing stress as a result of the medication then do an immediate 75% water change.

Bloat should also not be occurring regularly with your existing fish. If it is you should consult some of the excellent articles on the internet regarding diet, water quality etc. For myself, bloat has primarily been a problem with new arrivals up to 6 weeks after their arrival.
NOTE: All fish that have been exposed to bloat should be treated regardless of whether or not they are showing symptoms. Seemingly healthy but bloat-exposed fish can be treated with Clout or fed metronidazole soaked food. If you choose to use Clout on the still healthy fish then you don't necessarily need to quarantine the sick fish.


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## bowser

Dee2010 said:


> Thanks andlaw and bowser. I am just doing what I can hopefully he/she will turn around its been a week i've tried everything recommended garlic, metro, focus and epsom salt to turn it around quite exhausting to treat everyday. Some advice be careful how you pick your fish, I should had asked for a feeding prior to purchased now i am just doing what I can to save it.
> 
> Turned up the temp to like 88f afraid to go higher as I do have cories.know its going to be a long journey seen ppl on youtube force feed meds sometimes feel desperate enough to force food down its mouth but dont want to stress it out. Can only try and hope for the best. Will keep posting updates.
> 
> Guess my last resort will be the heat treatment. Treating this guy is costing me enough to buy a replacement *sigh*. Only thing sodomy have a spare tank think he will survive in a bucket with a air pump??
> 
> Thanks for the response guys.


Np. Since you have started the medication route, I'd finish the course of treatment. But please do consider Heat Treatment as a viable option. It is not used commonly for some reason, but I've used it with success as have many discus keepers at simplydiscus (see the link I attached). And if you are able to put the discus in a hospital tank before raising the heat (slowly of course), then you would not have to worry about the cories (or take the cories out).


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## Dee2010

Thanks again claud, y2kgt and bowser. Not running carbon in my tank,.I will reconsider my options, did the unthinkable and performed a little surgery on him. Basically used a syringe and just pumped some metro and focus in through its mouth, I know it sounds drastic but was my last resort.he/shelooks a little shaken up but hopefully will calm down by night fall. I will try the heat treatment as a last attempt and see where it goes from there. To be honest its quite an exhausting and painful process at times just want to put it too sleep..I know it sounds bad but sometimes its like just save the time and money and pick another one.....it was just bad luck that I picked this one y2kgt was right it was a new fish. So we wil see where this goes...


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## bowser

Dee2010 said:


> Thanks again claud, y2kgt and bowser. Not running carbon in my tank,.I will reconsider my options, did the unthinkable and performed a little surgery on him. Basically used a syringe and just pumped some metro and focus in through its mouth, I know it sounds drastic but was my last resort.he/shelooks a little shaken up but hopefully will calm down by night fall. I will try the heat treatment as a last attempt and see where it goes from there. To be honest its quite an exhausting and painful process at times just want to put it too sleep..I know it sounds bad but sometimes its like just save the time and money and pick another one.....it was just bad luck that I picked this one y2kgt was right it was a new fish. So we wil see where this goes...


Np. With the syringe and pumping metro into the discus, I found in past that it helped to mix in a bit of powdered food with the solution (dissolve metro in warmish water, mix in powdered food then use syringe). I used Hikari First Bites as it is readily available. Two benefits: (1) some of the powdered food would absorb the dissolved metro, and (2) since the discus is not eating, this is also an opportunity to introduce some nutrition into the starved fish. I got 2 discus that were on hunger strike to eat with this method.


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## Dee2010

Guess I keep trying. Good to know someone else tried this method thought I made a bad choice cause now he/she is in the back with fins clamped but the belly is plump. I mixed the meds with brine shrimp as I was afraid bloodworms wont go down easy. Hopefully later tonight it will be ok. But it did look really malnourished just had to do something. 

So how long did you repeat this process??

As of now maxing both my heaters think the most can push is 93. Hopefully does something more or less.


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## Andlaw134

Dee2010 said:


> Guess I keep trying. Good to know someone else tried this method thought I made a bad choice cause now he/she is in the back with fins clamped but the belly is plump. I mixed the meds with brine shrimp as I was afraid bloodworms wont go down easy. Hopefully later tonight it will be ok. But it did look really malnourished just had to do something.
> 
> So how long did you repeat this process??
> 
> As of now maxing both my heaters think the most can push is 93. Hopefully does something more or less.


Getting the medicine in the fish is always the problem with treating any fish with internal problem not really sure if fish drink water. If you think about it for internal fish issues we just surround the fish in medicine by dumping things in the tank. And hoping for the best. medicine in food is the best way. Your solution is probably the best course of action at this time. The bloodworm does not have great nutrition value but should help, brine shrimp would be a little better. I would keep that up for a good few weeks or until you see a improvement. And keep up with the high temperature and water changes.

Good luck


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## bowser

Dee2010 said:


> Guess I keep trying. Good to know someone else tried this method thought I made a bad choice cause now he/she is in the back with fins clamped but the belly is plump. I mixed the meds with brine shrimp as I was afraid bloodworms wont go down easy. Hopefully later tonight it will be ok. But it did look really malnourished just had to do something.
> 
> So how long did you repeat this process??
> 
> As of now maxing both my heaters think the most can push is 93. Hopefully does something more or less.


I treated between 7-10 days. I would not use bloodworm or brine shrimp though; ideally you want the dissolved Metro to be absorbed by the food and neither bloodworm nor brine shrimp will do that... powdered food will do that more readily (I used Hikari First Bites). Injecting the powdered food via plastic syringe into the discus's mouth can be messy though so I had a separate bucket with tank water to dip the fish after injecting the solution (the discus will likely spit out much of it, but some of it will stay in).

Another essential additive is Epsom Salt. That in my opinion works better than Metro. 
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-339364.html

Basically, here are the steps I took: (since the discus were not eating)

1. Combined:
* distilled water (warmish to dissolve Metro)
* Epsom Salt (see link included for dosage)
* Metro
* Hikari First Bites powdered food (meant for fry but works for this purpose)

2. Mix well and upload into syringe (without the needle of course).

3. Take discus out, place on wet towel and cover eyes so it does not freak out (I used a wet folder paper towel to place over the eyes/body... easier with two people but have done on my own as well)

4. Give syringe a good shake, and inject into discus's mouth (slowly)... some will be spit out, some will come out its gills

5. Place discus in bucket of water to clean him up... then transfer back to tank

It's a bit worrysome though that your discus is currently in the back and with fins clamped. My discus did not like the procedure (no one would), but they were active and moving about shortly after being placed back in the tank. So I'd keep an eye on your discus to ensure the stress is not too much for him to handle.

Anyhow, in sum, Metro in the tank water never worked for me. Injecting the epsom salt with some powdered food and Metro, and the heat treatment are the two methods that worked for me (had bought a bad batch of discus that came with all sorts of issues). Hope this helps.


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## Dee2010

Will do....I noticed a little fin rot or something like that on the tips of the dorsal fin and tail. Would the same stuff work or? Think he was probably pushed around and pecked on by the healthier fish.

Almost want beg someone to treat him for me....jkjk

Sometimes feel as if I should just stuck to regular tropical fish, knew discus are fragile but guess didn't expect to buy a sick fish just my luck to pick thst one I guess.


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## Dee2010

Last update....thanks to all the advice and everything from everyone, I learned a lot of treatment methods but sorry to inform you all. I lost him maybe it was too little too late, and the treatment was just too much. Hopefully it can R.I.P. kind of want to give up on discus but I still got three healthy active guys to take care of. Its really kind of a bitter sweet moment.


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## clubsoda

Sorry to hear that, with discus price really dictates quality. The ones for 20-40 bucks have too much in breeding thus likely to have genetic disorder. You may get lucky and it grow large but most don't. If you get one for 100$+ from discus specialty stores these are usually come from selective show parents, looks unique and have grown quite abit past 1 year. so physically they look fine, larger in size they have grown to a size that are much less prone to disease and bacteria. In time you'll get some experience keeping the tank really clean to grow them out. Get your temp up to 90 it'll kill most harmful bacteria these are not wild discus most comes from Asia where avg temp is 90.


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## Dee2010

Thanks club soda. Its true I did get him/her at a discount price. Got to be more careful in the future I guess sometimes paying premium ensures fish health. Guess I am not buying from there anymore not going to mention which store but went back today to look and they all looked pretty malnourished and sick. 

Guess was a bad batch to start with. But going to pick up two newbies next week from dragon aquarium so hopefully that turns out ok as there getting a new shipment.

Thanks again to all members for their input.


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## cinsal09

Aw man sorry you lost him/her...sounds like you tried everything you could! Good luck with the rest Hun!


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