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The one question I’m asked several times each week is “what causes 4 week syndrome, and how can I stop it?”
From a scientific standpoint, if you were to leave your fry with the parents until they were six or eight weeks old, the chances are you wouldn’t encounter the problem. Nature has an answer to most things, and during this longer period of parental care, more immunity nutrients are transferred onto the fry, they get a small amount of it each time they pick at the parental slime, even though at later periods in their development it might only be once or twice a day. Anyone who has left fry with parents for a longer period of time will know what I’m talking about…………….
Now we all know under normal circumstances leaving parents and fry together for extended periods is impractical, and can lead to damage to the parents if they can’t escape from their ravenous off spring.
Onto the answer…………………at least 80% of the deaths are a result of protozoan attack for which the fry have no immunity, they go dark, breathe excessively heavily, and shy off into a corner and die, sometimes this is accompanied by fluke infestation, most people seeing a gasping discus immediately assume flukes, but this is wrong in most cases, and can be confirmed by a scrape.
At just past the 3 week stage, if you introduce cuprazin at half the marine undergravel dose, everyday for 3 days, plus if you also think you have flukes, a harmless, quality powdered wormer as well, you won’t see the problem. You may have to repeat at just after 6 weeks, as the fry will have only built up a partial immunity, as you will have destroyed the cause.
If you leave things too late and are into the syndrome, use the wormer, and a full dose of cuprazin everyday for up to a week, try not to exceed the week, as copper can crystalise on the gills of softwater fish.
During treatment, please remember copper even at very low doses kills suckermouth algae eaters very quickly.
Hope this helps members to overcome the dreaded 4 week horrors a lot of you are encountering.
Cheers Granville
From a scientific standpoint, if you were to leave your fry with the parents until they were six or eight weeks old, the chances are you wouldn’t encounter the problem. Nature has an answer to most things, and during this longer period of parental care, more immunity nutrients are transferred onto the fry, they get a small amount of it each time they pick at the parental slime, even though at later periods in their development it might only be once or twice a day. Anyone who has left fry with parents for a longer period of time will know what I’m talking about…………….
Now we all know under normal circumstances leaving parents and fry together for extended periods is impractical, and can lead to damage to the parents if they can’t escape from their ravenous off spring.
Onto the answer…………………at least 80% of the deaths are a result of protozoan attack for which the fry have no immunity, they go dark, breathe excessively heavily, and shy off into a corner and die, sometimes this is accompanied by fluke infestation, most people seeing a gasping discus immediately assume flukes, but this is wrong in most cases, and can be confirmed by a scrape.
At just past the 3 week stage, if you introduce cuprazin at half the marine undergravel dose, everyday for 3 days, plus if you also think you have flukes, a harmless, quality powdered wormer as well, you won’t see the problem. You may have to repeat at just after 6 weeks, as the fry will have only built up a partial immunity, as you will have destroyed the cause.
If you leave things too late and are into the syndrome, use the wormer, and a full dose of cuprazin everyday for up to a week, try not to exceed the week, as copper can crystalise on the gills of softwater fish.
During treatment, please remember copper even at very low doses kills suckermouth algae eaters very quickly.
Hope this helps members to overcome the dreaded 4 week horrors a lot of you are encountering.
Cheers Granville
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