Help Needed Sick Oscar

[cgin2200]

Hi,

I have a 58 USG tank - occupants a large 6" Oscar, a Tin Foil Barb and a Leopard Fish. All are pretty good size and the Oscar is the dominant fish but all get along well.

The Oscar started getting lethargic a couple of days ago and now is definitely ill. He has a sizable oval sore forward of his left gill, about 3/8 x 1/4" and it is red color. He is having trouble breathing it seems.

Water is OK and both other fish are fine.

Any ideas? I see a little white cottony patches on his gill fins, but not much. No other physical indications other than the sore.

Thanks

 

[NinjaSmurf]

You may want to post this in the emergency section, I'm sure you'll get better responses and faster help.

 

[Assaye]

When you say "water is OK", what do you mean? Do you have results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH tests?

Sores on the body, particularly the gills, tend to be bacterial. The cotton sounds fungusy, but it could very easily be both. Why he is sick is another matter - a healthy and un-stressed fish doesn't normally get sick. It could be that the water isn't as OK as you think, or that he's being bullied. How long have you had him? Have there been any major changes in the tank recently that could have stressed him? What kind of filtration do you have?

58 USG is too small for an adult oscar IMO, but I doubt it will be affecting him too much while he is still smallish. Getting him upgraded will certainly help him grow into an active, healthy adult. We recommend 75 gallons for an adult oscar, with larger tanks being required if you want tank mates.

Post in the emergency section =)

 

[cgin2200]

When you say "water is OK", what do you mean? Do you have results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH tests?

Sores on the body, particularly the gills, tend to be bacterial. The cotton sounds fungusy, but it could very easily be both. Why he is sick is another matter - a healthy and un-stressed fish doesn't normally get sick. It could be that the water isn't as OK as you think, or that he's being bullied. How long have you had him? Have there been any major changes in the tank recently that could have stressed him? What kind of filtration do you have?

58 USG is too small for an adult oscar IMO, but I doubt it will be affecting him too much while he is still smallish. Getting him upgraded will certainly help him grow into an active, healthy adult. We recommend 75 gallons for an adult oscar, with larger tanks being required if you want tank mates.

Post in the emergency section =)

 

[cgin2200]

Thanks,

Unfortunately had death of an aunt in my warm blooded family and was out of town for several days.

The sick Oscar is still hanging in there but not doing well. There is a white cottony substance on the side where he has the sore and it has coated his gill and about 1/4 of the fin.

PH is dead 7.0, Nitrites 0. Ammonia read .5 - .1 so I added some Amquel to tank plus fresh charcoal to filters. Have two 30 USG power heads for undergravel plus a 60 USG Topfin and put in fresh biobags along with new activated charcoal.

Been travelling a lot and think my sister-in-law may be overfeeding a little.

I "adopted" the tin foil barb from PetSmart - missing a gill fin and the Oscar was his buddy in the isolation tank, so I bought them both. The barg is actually hovering around the Oscar in a protective manner. The only other fish in the tank is about an 8" leopard fish that was the original tank occupant. The leopard is docile and the Oscar quickly took over as the dominant fish so nothing to stress him out. I've upped my water changes recently to improve tank conditions but other than that no changes recently.

Hate to sound dumb but have not found the "emergency section" - where is it?

Thanks and regards

Cgin2200

 

[NinjaSmurf]

If you go to the main page that lists all the forum sections, it's the one right under the 'Discussion' section. As the high high ammonia, you need to do a water change (take water out and replace with new water) not just add charcoal, I would do about 50%. Just make sure you treat the new water before you put it in the tank.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi cgin2200

Welcome to the forum.

I'll move your thread over to the Emergency section for you.

 

[cgin2200]

Hi cgin2200

Welcome to the forum.

I'll move your thread over to the Emergency section for you.

Thanks - I did find the Emergency section. Changed out water and ammonia now at zero. Going to take a shot and get some tetracycline to treat the tank. The Oscar seems to have stabilized and slight decrease in the cotton around his gill fin but still deep sore with white border in front of the gill. Kind of surprised he has hung on for so long - tough character