I think my oscars are sick!!

I have three oscars, well two now 1 died last night. But anyway my two surviving ones are tiger oscars, they have been acting wierd. For some reason when I open the lid to feed them, they rush to the bottom like they are scared of me. They haven't been eating like normal, but they do eat, and also they have a few little bitty white spots on them, and I don't know what it is. I have had them for about 5 months, they are about 4 to 5 inches in size. Can someone give me any suggestions.

 

How big is the tank?

What other fish are in it?

What are your readings for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte (actual numbers please)?

It sounds like they have ich, but there could be other problems as well. I won't be able to say for sure until you answer my questions. For the ich (assuming you don't have any salt sensitive fish), you chould slowly raise the temperature up to aroun 86* and add 1 tbsp of aquarium or kosher salt/5 gallons. You only add the full dose once, then when you do a water change, only add enough salt to cover the amount of new water you add.

-Chelle

 

The white spots are ich, a parasite which is fatal if left untreated. Most fish have strong enough immune systems that they can fight off the disease without help, but once a fish becomes stressed its immune system is weakened and ich can then break out.

You need to do a 25% water change, and then start treating the water with ich medicine. Follow the directions on the bottle because different medications have different ways of treating the water. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but the treatment is pretty urgent. Your fish will probably die if you don't start treating, and soon.

What size tank are your oscars in? For 2 oscars you would need a pretty sizable tank.