Help, my Oscar is very sick!

I am really having a hard time with one of my Oscars. First he started getting fin rot. I am using Melafix in the tank. He also has what looks like is fungus, around the base of the top fin on both sides. He is losing gills it appears. I know he is close to dying, but I am using Jungle fungus treatment. What can I do?? My other fish in the tank appear to be healthy. I did lose a Tinfoil Barb to whatever this illness is. I am stumped as to what to do!! HELP :cry:

 

Can you tell us what your readings are for Ammonia, NitrIte, and NitrAte? (sp? x2) Also how big is your tank? Im not great with medicine but im getting used to the basics. Sry about your oscar.

 

I've had good luck using Maracyn & Maracyn 2 for fin rot and Maroxy for fungus. But we really need the answers to the questions Obelix asked. And in addition to Obelix's questions, what other fish are in the tank and how big are they?

-Chelle

 

tank size and water quality

I have a 29 gallon tank. I have 2 guaramie's in it that are about 1 inch each, 2 tinfoil barbs that are about 1 1/2 inch each, a tank sucker that is about 2 inches, and 2 oscars that are approximately 3 to 4 inches each. These measurements do not include the tails, I heard that is how to measure them?!? My ammonia is .25 (barely), the ph is 7.3, Nitrate is 60, Nitrite is .5, Hard water, Alkalinity is 120 (ideal).

I called the fish store we buy from today and talked to someone. He told me to maybe use urimyacin???. When my husband got off work he stopped by and that man was not there and another guy sent home NOX-ICH. Ut gas .50% Malachite Green and .50% Sodium Chloride. I put it in the tank. I already had Melafix in the tank. I do not see a difference as of yet, of course it was this afternoon that I did this. But, like I said before I have already tried Quick Cure for Ick and then Jungle's tablets for Fungus treatment and neither of them have worked, the condition continues to worsen.

Also, the man at the pet shop said not to feed my fish for 3 days while treating the tank. That is fine with the sick Oscar, he isn't eating anyway, but will it hurt my other fish not to feed them????

HELP ME PLEASE!! :?

 

Well for starters your tank is WAY WAY WAY overstocked... t_chelle can proby be more of a help then me when it comes to stuff like this so good luck!

 

water quality

I can't wait to hear what she has to say about overstocking my tank! I have asked this question to pet shops several time and they always say I have plenty of room.

I started my aquarium in January after receiving it for Xmas. Since then I have been reading everyday on links to learn about the fish I have. I have even created a notebook with a section for each type of fish, any notes on diseases, treatments, etc. So, my point is, I want to learn all I can. I never dreamed how intelligent fish were, it blows me away! I love them!!

EVERYTHING, each species I have had in this tank have bred. Of course, being a beginner, the fry were eaten before I obtained a net breeder. I even had fantails and goldfish in it to start it up, they did also. Kind of weird! My Oscars also accomplished this, but I was too late to save the babies from the other fish, it was during the night that all this happened. There were a few remnants of the egg sac and a few babies left in the a.m. when I awoke.

To get back to my subject, with this treatment going on, my nitrates and also the ph are getting high. How do I control this? I normally do not have this problem, only now that I have the tank under treatment. I know that adds stress to the fish, I am being so careful right now since my Oscar is sick. Any suggestions????

:?:

 

First of all, you're really not going to be able to get your water parameters under control until you get larger tanks. A 29 gallon simply isn't large enough for one oscar, let alone 2 plus all those other fish. For the time being, you can start doing daily water changes to get the levels down. But keep in mind that it will just be a bandaid solution and won't work long term. You REALLY need to either get bigger tanks immediately, or get rid of fish.

Here's a quick run-down the the tank sizes your fish need.

2 gouramis - if they're dwarf, blue, spoted, opaline, sunset, or one of those types of variations, the 29 is fine. If they're kissing gouramis, they'll need around 50 gallons each.
2 tinfoil barbs - you really need to keep at least 3 of them which would require at least a 100 gallon tank.
a tank sucker - depends on the species but if it's a common pleco, it shouldn't be kept in anything smaller than 40 gallons.
2 oscars - 50 gallons each

Try imagining your tank with 4 14" fish (oscars & tinfoils), an 18" fish (pleco, assuming that's what it is) and the gouramis will either be eaten by the oscars if they're dwarf, or be 6" - 12" fish (depending on their species).

"Urimyacin" I'm guessing is erythromycin which is Maracyn. HOWEVER, it's not going to do much good until your water parameters are under control. Anything above 0 ammonia & nitrIte and 20 ammonia is poisoning yor fish and weakening their immune systems.

"EVERYTHING, each species I have had in this tank have bred"
I hate to sound rude, but I seriously doubt that. The gouramis, maybe, but tinfoil barbs and plecos (you only have one of those anyway) have not been known to breed in captivity. And oscars aren't sexually mature until they're 7". Plus, they don't lay egg sacs and the fry would not have hatched overnight.

One last thing. What filter do you have? How old are the fish? And how often do you normally do water changes?

-Chelle

 

*nods* see she is smart LOL

 

age of fish

Sorry to mislead. My tinfoils have not had babies, nor my pleco.

Oscars can become sexually active at 4" to 5". I never would have believed it could happen in a small tank either, but it does happen in a blue moon.

My Red Oscar was about 2 inches when I got him in January of this year, not big, but my Snow Albino was a little one. As I said earlier, I am a new fish keeper. The red was eating goldfish when I got it. The albino caught on shortly after. I'd say they were to a point where I was feeding them 5 to 6 goldfish a day. Eventually I cut back the feeder fish to weekly. They go through 100 to 150 good size goldfish a week. I think this is the only reason my red has made it so long. This fish has been so healthy until all this started.

If I am not having trouble with any fish I water test once a week. Any variance of anything getting too high I do a partial water change. My water filter is a Aquatech 40. I do not have the bio wheel system.

I did have 3 tinfoil barbs, I lost one a few weeks ago. That is when all this madness started. Of three tinfoils that one had tripled in size compared to the other two. I did not want to replace him with whatever sickness is going on in my tank. Also, I am glad I did not anyway now that you have told me how terribly over crowded my tank is!!!!

One guaramie is a 3 spot and the other a gold. They seem to be doing fine. That is what is crazy. I guess I have been lucky they haven't been eaten, but maybe since they have all been together since they were tiny they are used to living in the same space. I did have 2 more guaramies. One was a paradise, a boy, and then a flaming also. I lost the flaming guaramie because the boy would not leave her alone if you know what I mean. I moved the paradise guaramie to my 10 gallon tank.

I appreciate your help so much!!!! I will start looking for a bigger tank Monday. It is really hard to find a tank bigger than 55 gallons where I am located. I guess that would be a bump up for the Oscars until I can obtain another 55 or something much bigger.

As far as doing the partials on the water changes until then, I can't do that while treating the fish, right?!?

Any info you can give them I appreciate!! Thank you for responding so fast. I did not know what else to do. If I can't get my oscar better soon I may offer him to the pet store. I'd rather do that than kill him!!

 

Re: age of fish

No, they are not. It takes at least a year for them to reach maturity. And by that time they they should be around 7".

I doubt the feeder fish had any positive impact on his health. Especially since they're goldfish. Oscars are mainly insectivores, not piscivores. They simply are not made to be able to properly digest other fish and gain any nutritional value from them. Plus goldfish contain thaimase which will lead to a vitamin deficiency. That combined with your poor water conditions and the stress of being in such an over crowded tank can cause HITH disease. Or at the very least weaken their immune systems so they're more susceptible to bacterial & fungal infections (ie your current problems). Not to mention store bought feeders are the #1 way of introducing all kinds of nasty diseases to an oscar tank. I recommend you stop giving them feeders immediately and stick to good quality pellets like Hikari, Omega One, New Life Spectrum, or HBH. They are 100 times better for your oscars than feeder fish. If you really want to give them live food, give them things like crickets, meal worms, and earthworms.

This filter only pumps 160 gph. Without biowheels, that isn't even enough for a properly stocked 29 gallon tank, let alone one that is as overstocked as yours. That's probably part of the reason you're seeing ammonia.

Idealy, you shouldn't. However, it's better than letting them get poisoned to death on ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte.[/quote]

If you can find a 150 gallon tank, that would be an okay size for the 2 oscars, 2 tinfoil barbs, and pleco.

-Chelle

 

by any chances do you have pics of this fish?

 

fish pics

Thanks t_chelle for all your help! You have taught me so much. This website is awesome. All the research I have done, all the reading, and I nver have found all this information! I will start taking care of the situation immediately.

So far only the red oscar is sick. The rest (crossing my fingers) are all looking good. I pray it is not too late to help my oscar. I will take your instructions and do the best I can.

I do not have any pictures of my fish at this time. The picture under t_chelle's name looks identical to mine. (Even the albino in the background!) I can possibly take a picture tomorrow of red in the current condition and download it.

Thanks again!!

 

You're very welcome. I hope your red starts improving soon.

-Chelle