Thanks OB.
That lily seems to have grown more in 2 weeks than the peace lilies in a year...I can notice the difference every day....amazing...The clay pebbles in the basket were actually in the pond for a long time until one day I took it out as the plants inside it didn't make it(ferns of some sort). So they must hold some sort of nutrients still. Unfortunately I took out a kuhli loach with it too and found it dried out only recently, inside the basket, which I had left hanging on a chair to dry out.
Today the temp in Mr. Discus tank has been steady between 33.3 and 33.5C
On a negative side, I think he's stressed and the overall situation is not good looking. He's hovering on one spot and will not chase food. I did read that loss of appetite during heat treatment is actually the case with even way healthier discus but in his condition that could be detrimental as he's too skinny. The stationary position is probably also normal as they apparently decrease activity to regulate the body temperature. I've already started the heat treatment and if I stop too early I may cause even bigger problems if parasites are left as they first multiply rapidly then they supposedly die off completely around the 4 day mark.I think around Monday evening I'll start turning the heat down, bit by bit. I really hope the fish lives through that ordeal.....
On a positive note, today I noticed that his lips/mouth have recovered. He had white lips, not rotting but more like a fish that had rubbed their nose and peeled the skin off. All his mouth/nose appeared white about a week ago when I got him. I did have a close look at the time I noticed and didn't see any rotting so I wasn't alarmed. However, this now seems gone and recovery of the mouth means that at least some tissue is regenerating.
The betta is tolerating the heat well.... I also think he's empathizing with the discus as he goes to him and gently nudges him from time to time. At least that's what it looks like
It is really odd..he'd just go and put his nose against him.... He's no longer flaring at him either or is acting scared, and sort of hangs around the discus a lot lately...
And surprisingly, there's a shrimp alive in the tank, after the flubendazole and high heat it's a miracle. I hadn't even seen shrimp in the tank in a while. On another hand, all snails are dead. The flubendazole had them walking out of the tank within the first dose and I dosed for 6 days after that. I removed what climbed out. I haven't seen snails since.