[Gerald the Mouse]

He's a good maybe 4 inches long. I got him today at my closing LFS for only $15. He's currently in a 10 gallon tank and I'm probably getting a 55 gallon sometime next week, or maybe at the end of the month. I was wondering what kind of discus he was. I know that he is stressed out right now, but I'm keeping the lights off until it brightens up and accepts foods.

 

[Mauser101]

Kindof looks like the 'snakeskin' discus you can see a pic of liveaquaria.com.

 

[Gerald the Mouse]

Thanks for the ID.

 

[grch36]

Def. a snakeskin strain. You may want to keep a close eye on him. Keep the water in there superb and put some pressed garlic with his food. I hate to be the bearer of bad news and I do home I'm wrong but he/she looks like a bad case of parasites. What is your water like? (ph, kh, dh, temp, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite)

 

[yonp11]

Out of curiousity, how can you tell he has parasites? I'd like to know for my own benefit so I can ID it when I see it.

Thanks!

 

[Gerald the Mouse]

Yes, how did you tell that he has parasites? He's eating and swimming normally. I do a 25% water change every other day. The only thing I can tell that is 'wrong' is that is tail is a little rugged. He looks a lot different now than in the picture; he has really brightened up. Still very skittish though.

 

[grch36]

Well, not sure if its parasites but the eyes give away that he may be sick. It's kinda like a person, you can just tell their sick by looking at the eyes. A discus should have bright red eyes. (see picture below)

He is out in the open with fins clamped and looks a little underweight. It may be the quality of the picture but it also seems as though his slime coat is extremely thin. Check your water often and introduce some pressed garlic to his feeding. It will strengthen his immune system. If you have a more recent picture I'll def. stop worrying about him.

My water was as follows, kH 2, pH 6.2, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10, temp 85degF

Good luck man, post a new picture so I can shut up

 

[Gerald the Mouse]

In the pic it looks like his eyes are dark, but in person they are bright red. His fins are not clamped, the only reason they were in the picture is because the discus was still stressed from being introduced. I would get some updated pictures, but I need some new batteries for my camera. The only thing I see that might be wrong is a little fin rot. It seems to be doing better after I added some salt after the water change yesterday. I now can see dark vertical lines on him, unlike in the picture I previously posted. Also, how can you tell that he has a thin slime coat? Finally, is there any special type of garlic I should get?