# To deal with the danger of Discus slime?



## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Never heard of the dangers of accumulating discus slime. I don't have first hand discus experience... so perhaps I am not up to snuff on that. There is a nice discus care sticky somewhere up here, perhaps the author or some other expert can weight in on that question.

Generally, if you have fish that are rather large in a tank that is rather small, you will always have an issue with biofilm. Regular large water changes can help, but the better solution is to choose the right tank volume for the mature size of your fish.


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

what size tank and how many discus? I cannot say I have ever had an issue with excessive discus slime.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

IME, I've never known or heard of discus' slime coat sheddings building up excessively enough to occasion a potential danger or health threat to the discus. Have not known it to smell foul either, but perhaps it would, if allowed to accumulate to any great extent.

But yes, it does accumulate fairly consistently on the inside tank glass walls, and you need only to empty a portion of your tank water to see the film adhering to the glass.
It does produce an unsightly greyish film, which looks much like a light algae dust/film, which of course is green in color and not grey, but it does obscure tank clarity similarly.

It's very easy to wipe off with each wc, even in a planted tank.


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## Mxx (Dec 29, 2010)

discuspaul said:


> IME, I've never known or heard of discus' slime coat sheddings building up excessively enough to occasion a potential danger or health threat to the discus. Have not known it to smell foul either, but perhaps it would, if allowed to accumulate to any great extent.
> 
> But yes, it does accumulate fairly consistently on the inside tank glass walls, and you need only to empty a portion of your tank water to see the film adhering to the glass.
> It does produce an unsightly greyish film, which looks much like a light algae dust/film, which of course is green in color and not grey, but it does obscure tank clarity similarly.
> ...


Can't recall where I saw the foul smell mentioned, but I'd done some searching and reading before I decided to ask. 

Not that it's necessarily a direct 'danger', but is mentioned by discus enthusiasts as a contributing factor which contributes to weakening discus and declining water conditions when cleaning and maintenance are neglected. And maybe it's simply quite a minor factor in the scheme of things. 

So in your experience this slime is in any case a real phenomenon, and is specific to discus only I take it? And does it accumulate on everything including plants, substrate, and wood? 

And how long does it take before it accumulates enough to where it is detectable in terms of affecting clarity of the tank? 

If it's a very minor thing in your experience then maybe it's not enough to bother with specifically with the addition of something such as a protein skimmer, even if I happened to be trying to achieve and maintain optimum water quality including making sure it doesn't decline between water changes.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

It is indeed a real phenomenon, but is definitely a minor factor in keeping discus, ime & o.
It may not be specific to discus, but is noticeable, I feel, due to the size of discus. I do suspect it's a fact of life with some other fish as well, but haven't experienced it being apparent with any other species I've kept.

As for it being overtly detectable, and affecting tank clarity, I haven't personally had the experience, as I religiously maintain a good tank cleansing routine, and do frequent wcs without fail. Nonetheless, there is a very light film on the glass walls whenever I do a wc (every 2nd day), which is not noticeable until I drain 50%-60% of my tank water for a wc. 
However, I have seen other discus-keepers' tanks, e.g. those who only do say, weekly wcs, and in those cases it is usually clear to a viewer that there is a film on the glass affecting clarity of the tank(s) involved.
To my knowledge, poor discus husbandry and resultant declining water quality conditions can and do weaken discus through stressing, thus making them susceptible to ill health, but I've never heard it mentioned, nor had any indication from anyone with a significant degree of discus knowledge that the slime coat sheddings played a part, or were in any way considered as being a contributing factor to discus' immunity weakening, producing illness. That's news to me.
And btw, I haven't noticed it accumulating on plants, DW, or elsewhere - only on the glass.
And I very seldom have any kind of protein film on the water surface due to surface agitation by my HOB filters, so I have no need to think about protein skimmer use.


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## Mxx (Dec 29, 2010)

Here is something someone else quite experienced had said about the slime/bacteria issue, which made me start wondering about it but further answers and speculation was not quite forthcoming -

_Water changes remove many things so how do you show that bacterial bio load is part of it.? Its anecdotal at best but but one thing you note once you've actually bred and raised fry is that often times, the simple act of wiping down your tank walls regularly and rinsing your sponges in a bare bottom tank can make a diffference in survival of the fry and in fact, many have noted that doing this will often turn around a batch of fry experiencing die-offs. Additionally one thing about discus that may make them more susceptible to general bacterial issues is their slime coat...its designed to produce much slime as its used to feed offspring.. sometimes we see external bacterial issues on the adult discus after they have been feeding fry alot..it appears this slime coat is a good medium for some bacterias... take a good look at the disease board and many many issues involve slime coats and external bacterial?parasite ? issues. It may be particular bacterias or just in general....no idea._

_Why would discus be so susceptible to something like this...again speculation..but it may have to do with the pH and softness of the water they evolved in...its not exactly conducive to bacterias...whereas, most tanks are in the more alkaline, harder ranges that bacterias thrive in....if that were the case, it would make sense that you could offset the potential problem by keeping the tank exceedingly clean with water changes..which is infact what we see happening and one reason water changes have found themselves in the discus keeping dogma.

Thats all speculation on my part. What I do know is, Discus do best when the water in the tank is changed often and from the point of someone like myself whose purpose is to help people succeed at keeping discus in the easiest most fool proof manner...water changes solve a crucial problem by removing most things that could in theory be an issue._


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## NWA-Planted (Aug 27, 2011)

I do know that in my 125, even with my new sump setup I will be doing most likely a minimum of 2 WC a week, midweek will probably be 10-25% and then my regular 50-70% on Sundays. 

For that matter too though, I would think a magnet cleaner would work superbly for the "slime" run it every couple days break the stuff off the glass and let it ciruclate / filter out.


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## Wicket_lfe (Aug 21, 2008)

IME I havent had any problems with any kind of "slime". I wouldn't really worry about it. Water quality is a bigger concern, although I "neglected" my pair and they still got big and fat in a tank with 2 angels and an arowana.


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