So sorry to read your update 🙁
but please give these fish a chance to sort themselves
- I've seen discuss ship in with massive fin damage (ammonia in bags) & dark & lying down in the tank, after daily 90% water changes, no food, lots of aeration (sponge filters so little current), no lights, a surprising # recover (I think 3 losses out of 40 young discus on that group) ... a few of these fish remained dark for 3-4 weeks, while most looked much better after a week ... not much change over the first 3-4 days except that they didn't look worse: it was couple of months before the shop released any for sale.
Sometimes these oil based products have (severe) adverse reactions - anoxia may be a factor but it would take quite a bit to limit oxygen in the tank through surface film as your filters will be constantly aerating the water BUT oil coating the gill tissue & surrounding structures would be very effective at limiting oxygen uptake ...
there is also the possibility of organic toxins present in the oil based product post-production ... unfortunately most manufacturers are very quiet about processing & there are few regulations in place for fish & livestock meds (relative to human drug quality controls).
As for worming your discus, I'd not add any meds to their tank for several weeks ... most compounds effective against parasites/worms etc are less toxic to the host but not "non-toxic" so most will cause stress to varying degrees (healthy fish will show few adverse signs ... but most healthy fish also have immune systems which will act to keep parasites in check 😉 ... unless you're feeding loads of live worms etc, you should not need to deworm fish frequently)
Hi Alto, Everyone,
Many thanks for the best wishes and the support, advice and suggestions.
Last night saw the demise of the second Blue Diamond female discus. Around 10:30 last night I had spent an hour and forty minutes holding the discus upright in front of a gentle water stream of oxygenated water hoping she might recover. But sadly every time I let go she just drifted to the bottom and went upside down. The last time I attempted it the breathing had stopped and there was no movement whatsoever. It was time to call it a day.
After removing the fish from the tank I went and got a piece of kit that I have not used in donkeys years. In a box in the garage was a Sochting Oxidator series A for large tanks. Fortunately I still had some of the 6% peroxide solution and the ceramic catalysts to make it work. After cleaning etc I placed it in the aquarium and sat back to watch the oxygen flow into the water.
The positive news is that this morning all three remaining Red Curipeau Discus have got through the night and are huddled together in the corner of the tank. The one that was the worst off for wear last night was the big female Red Curipeau, I honestly did not think she would make it, but I wanted to give her every chance to recover. She is still looking a bit pale but the breathing is fine and she is the right way up. This is such a relief because if she had died that would mean I would have been left with just the two remaining male Red Curipeau.
So the situation at the moment is, water temperature slightly down to aid oxygenation, Sochting Oxidator running in tank, Air pump pushing air through diffuser, Co2 is turned off, PH has risen from 6.15 to 6.95, no feeding at the moment and the lights are off to give them a bit of peace.
Not sure if I should do another water change today, there was no problem with ammonia levels yesterday so that wasn't the cause of this. Just somehow maybe the No Planaria product had a dramatic effect on the O2 in the water.
We learn every day!!
Assuming all is well and the three remaining discus survive I will remove the single male Red Curipeau and just keep the two that paired off originally.
Updates to follow,
Thanks for caring.
Steve.
