9 replies to this topic

[Mononoke]

Hi all,

 

One of my Discus is very unwell. I'm suspecting HITH disease, and was wondering what the best/quickest source of the appropriate meds is?

I will be away this weekend so need to organise some medication so I can treat him before I go, and my partner can monitor him while I'm away.

Below are all the vitals, and I'll add an image when I get to work. What do you all think? I thought it might be nitrate or a pathogen introduced by some shrimp I put in a couple of weeks ago, but am now supsecting HITH. He also bumped his head very badly last week and thought it may have been shock around that. He has had no appetite for about a week, and the last few days has become listless with the discolouation on his forehead.

 

The only medication I have in my cupboard is Kusuri Wormer-Plus... if anybody has HITH treatments I would be happy to drop round and purchase from you.

 

Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks!

Type of fish: Discus (Blue Diamond)
Symptoms: Listless, has appetite but spitting out food, discolouration of forehead, mucous clear-white faeces
Other tank mates: Discus partner, Tetras, Australian Shrimp
Tank size / capacity: 180L
Type of Food fed: Blackworms, Bloodworms
Feeding frequency/amount: Once or twice daily, 5-min feedings
Substrate: river sand
Type of filtration: Eheim 2217, UV filter
Frequency of filter cleans: monthly
Frequency and % volume of water changes: weekly 35%, now increaded to daily 15-20% since onset of ilness
Last water change: today
PH: 6.5
KH: approx. < 30ppm
GH: < 40ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
Phosphate: unknown
Water temp: 28-29c
Medications used recently to date: Kusuri approx 4 weeks ago
Any recent changes..new fish/filters/power outages etc etc: Australian Shrimp introduced 2 weeks ago

Attached Files

•  sick boy 3.jpg   313.69KB   2 downloads
•  sick boy 2.jpg   299.21KB   1 downloads
•  sick boy 1.jpg   228.17KB   1 downloads

Edited by Mononoke, 03 April 2014 - 10:14 AM.

[Mononoke]

Hmm, I just spoke with the people at Sydney Discus World and they think he has worms. I'll dose the tank with Kusuri when I get home tonight. He also thinks he maybe suffering from deficiency due to high-protein diet. Blackworms are my discus' staple as they are very fussy, but I might need to put them on a starvation regime to get them eating pellets or flakes. This weekend might be a good opportunity.

Anyone have thoughts or opinions on these points? The photo I'm posting shows he doesn't have holes, just discolouration on his forehead. His body colour hasn't gone dark.

[Angelo]

+1 for the kusuri treatment. keep up with the water changes. 

[Mononoke]

Thanks Angelo. On further advice from another local Discus expert I've bought some Melafix/Primafix and will give him a treatment with that as well, then follow up with the wormer. I've been advised he probably has a bacterial infection as well (pics now added to original post).

 

I will also do a 40% water change before adding the meds, then another before the next dose on Friday. Then I head down south until Monday night (if I get a chance I'll change the bulb on the UV filter as well). My partner will keep up with the meds over the weekend but is not confident to do water changes. I'll let you all know how Blue Boy goes.

Edited by Mononoke, 19 March 2014 - 12:41 PM.

[Mononoke]

Well, we seem to have made some progress.

 

I first gave the community a 7-day treatment of Pimafix/Melafix following a big water change which seemed to bring the sick Blue Diamond back to semi-normal behaviour, however he was still quite sluggish and unable to eat (also expelling long clear white noodles). I did a double-treatment (4-days) of Kusuri to clear the worms/flukes and by the end he was a little more improved again, with a big appetite but still unable to keep any food down (would take food in and spit it out straight away). I've been keep water quality up with significant water changes after each dose of meds. Yesterday I began Prazi (Blue Planet brand), and again he is stronger, but still displaying symptoms of infestation (also occasionally clamping his left pectoral fin). The best response from him food-wise has been from throroughly cleaned live blackworms, partly because his wife goes crazy for them and he follows her lead. However he still can't swallow them. This morning I was feeding the Apistos in the other tank and decided to try him on the brine shrimp, which he seems to be able to swallow. He is very hungry and tries to wolf down several, but spews them up again after 5 minutes... however if I just feed him one every minute he keeps them down. He's not interested in any other foods, beef heart, worms, flakes or pellets.

 

Soooooooo..... I will get his strength up with spirulina brine and garlic mix, and do a second Prazi dose after 7 days. Hopefully I'll get a sense of state of his innards next time he poos.

 

Any further advice or feedback would be welcome, but I'm just glad he's started to improve. Steady as she goes.

[Angelo]

are you doing the water changes as recommended by the meds you are using? i know you probably are but just checking?

[Mononoke]

Yes, I've made sure I followed their instructions. Since the requirements for each med has been a little different I've had to pay attention to make sure each one had its proper exposure time etc.
Big Blue is looking better after his feed today, even got a few worms down too.

[Angelo]

great news. sounds like he is on his way to recovery. 

[Michael the fish fanatic]

I hope he's ok, how's he doing ????

[Mononoke]

Yeah, still improving. He's loving the brine shrimp and getting worms in as well now. He's not clamping his left pectoral any more either and is a lot more active (although still a little sluggish first thing in the morning). His eyes are still a little cloudy so am keeping up with frequent water changes and will complete the Prazi to make sure he's clear. Its lovely to see and his partner frolicking together in their tank again, they're very sweet