My Discus Fall Sick

All my discus fish fall sick since 3 days ago.

This is how the fish look like 3 days ago. All of them started to group together at corners. Some even laid flat at the bottom. I was so worried and regretted that I might lost all the fish. :((

I was shocked when I first saw this! After waking them up with net…then only I am a bit relief. No, they are not dead…but resting flat at the bottom…they must be really tired or sick…

Not really sure what caused it, but I have a few possible suspects…

1. Disease from new fish?
This is the highest possibility, as I have added 1 new fish to the tank 7 days ago, and another one 4 days ago. I suspect the small fish I added 4 days ago is the culprit. Too bad…I didn’t quarantine them before adding them to my fish tank. Never will I do that again, as the risk is simply too much for the 27 discus I have in my tank!

This is what I added 7 days ago. A Golden Crystal – 5.5″.

This is what I added 4 days ago. An Albino Golden Crystal. This is just a juvenile, around 2.5″. I bought it because it is cheap for an albino (RM30), but I shouldn’t have put it into my tank without quarantine, as it already shows sign of sick in the local fish store. All fins clamped.

2. Medicine poisoning?
I added some medicine to the tank 4 days ago when I noticed one of the fish is sick. I added Befuran to the tank, and this is the usual medicine I use. I am not sure if this caused all the fish to fall sick or not.

3. Chlorine poisoning?
I changed water 4 days ago. I did use anti-chlorine, but then I added water quite fast into the tank. Could it be the reason?

4. Salt poisoning?
I added some salt to the water after water change. Is the salt I added too much in quantity? Again, not sure…

5. Scared / Frighten
I switched off the light of the tank 4 days ago (at night), but in the middle of the night, I decided to check out on the fish and switch on the light in my dark living room. All the discus got so scared with the sudden light, and hit here and there. Then all of them hided at corners. Bad bad me…however, the next morning all seems fine (or not?)…

6. New sponge in the filter?
I changed the sponge in the filter 4 days. Could this be the reason for the cloudy water? I didn’t notice anything scratch on the filter though…

Or, it could be the combination of several or all the above?

I did water change starting 2 days ago. After a full water change (using RO water, so no more chlorine), I added some medicine again. The fish seems to get better after water change.

I put a little bit of food to the tank, some started eating, but still not as active.

However, I noticed yesterday that the water becomes very cloudy. So I did another water change (90%) yesterday. This time no more medicine, and just pure RO water. Fish seems to be improving in condition.

This is the photo from today (30th March 2014 – Sunday). Fish started swimming more freely in the tank. They still have no big appetite, eat only a little. A few still at corners and dark.

The water still doesn’t look that clear, slightly cloudy. What caused the water to be cloudy is still puzzling me. I might do another water change again today.

The good news is…so far no loosing on the fish, and all are recovering…no more new fish to my tank. I shall concentrate on growing them and keeping them healthy!

(This is my tank on 26th March 2014 before the fish fall sick…hope they will back to health soon…)

Update 30th March 2014, 9.53pm 

Did water change again today. This is the third continuous day of water change. Water was still cloudy even though I did water change yesterday, so I thought it might not be good for the still sick or weak fish. So, though tired, I have to do it again today.

Done the water change in the afternoon, and now at 9.55pm the water is still crystal clear. Whatever that caused the water to be cloudy should be gone or too minimal to notice now.

Fish still in stressed condition, though water quality seems to have improved a lot by now. Hopefully by tomorrow morning the fish will get free swimming without fear again.

update at 11pm

the fish don’t seems to be improving. Some have whitish eyes…which looks partially blind. Some fish are really dark, seems worse than yesterday. So I decided to use medicine again. Poured in 25ml of magic fluid into the tank. Hope for the best tomorrow…

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