Since the late 70's when discus from Asia went to America and also to Australia the spread started or did it

in our observations Discus get this plague or slime disease normally after an event compare when you last got it or if you have it see if one of these scenarios fits.

we do not guarantee this is the only way you can get it i am just sharing our knowledge in the event that it may save some heart ache.

1. You did a water change in the last 10 days

2 You brought a new Fish

3 you discovered you PH was low and corrected it sharply in the last 10 days

basically what we can tell you is that discus will live in a PH from 4 to 7.5 quite happily the best is about 5.5 to 6.5 and yes i did say a ph of 4 we had one pair that would only spawn at 4 and live in it to this day.

know where the problem arises is if you change the PH of a discus more that 1 point of the PH scale its like scalding you skin if you change it by 2 points it’s like 1st degree burns.

This then allows the bacterial infections to get into the skin and under the slime coat that normal protects discus.

we have not had a case of Plague in 4 years now we treat all our water for chlorine and use acid HCI acid to get the Ph right before water changes.

The use of a UV also helps reduce bacteria in the water that then helps if you do burn your discus to recover easier.

Ok now the scenario of buying a new discus and it spreads to you other fish , well what happens is the poor fish was probably bread in beautiful river water from somewhere in Asia with a ph around 6 then was packed and shipped on the plane for between 24 and 36 hours in this time the CO2 that the fish produces from respiration makes the ph of the water in the bag go down to around 4.5.

On arrival the importer add it to their system most float them to equalize temperature and just dump them in . Most importers run between 7 and 7.8 as you can see the discus is now in bad shape if it manages to make it through the importer the retailer may do the same thing.

Then you the customer buys it and again there is another link in the chain that can cause this problem.
The fish then becomes a food source for the bacteria to grow in your tank and the bacterial count in the water raises this in turn then allows it to infect the other fish alos some of the medication you use like white spot medications with formalin actually burn the discus as well and the problem spread.

The best way to fix this problem is always buy fish with clean fins the first sign of PH burning is the tips of the fins never buy a discus with cloudy fins or a black slimy discus no matter what the retailer says.

then when you get your discus home acclimate them very slowly mix the water from your tank with the water the fish came in use a bucket and take your time the longer you take the healthier your fish will be.

buy mixing the water you adjust temperature ,PH and hardness of the water the fish will have no osmotic shock it is just a better way..

also when doing water changes the local water may be 7 to 8.6 as where we are different times of the year it changes so smaller water changes more often is better i recommend 10% per week and never do more than %25

Treatment:

Ok the easiest way to fix it if you find yourself with this problem is to try to use an easy available remedy first straight off the shelf buy yourself some fungus cure any brand but not Melafix.

ok the ingredient we need is acroflavin now it is photo sensitive so when using it leave the lights turned off the entire time this will also calm the fish. also turn up the heater to about 30 this helps the recovery.

Dose at normal rate but do not do a water change for 10 days and when you do make them small changes 10% maximum.

you should see an improvement in about 7 days

The other option is to obtain metronidazole from your local vet however you need quite a lot as you need to treat the water not oral the bigger the tank the more expensive it will be.

The 3rd option is combine oral metronidazole with the fungus cure...

We take no liability for the health of your fish we just hope we may help you in your quest for healthy discus.