HE'S HERE!!!!!

[AquaNut]

Well, he's here!!! My first Oscar ever, rescued from life in a 20 gallon tank... even though he's still in his 20 gallon tank. He won't be in there long, though! At least I got all the sharp rocks and broken shells out of his tank, poor guy. He's not in very good shape, I'm afraid. As soon as the water clears a bit more in his tank, I'll take some pictures of him and post them. I have his light off right now, so as not to stress him. His tankmate is a huge CAE. They didn't even have a heater. The 'feeder' goldfish that were in with them are still in the plastic pail they travelled home in; I guess they'll go to the lfs tomorrow... or my neighbour's pond, if they want them. Can I put some melafix in with him? He's got some nasty looking wounds; they said they think it was from crashing into the 'rock cave' they had in his tank (makes one wonder why they didn't remove the sharp and clearly dangerous object). I love him already.

 

[smb]

I'm glad you saved him from this horror he's been in all his life. I would do a water change/gravel clean and feed him only what he eats at the time. I wouldn't let any food sit in the tank. You want pristine conditions. (I know you already know all this but...) Hopefully they knew to keep his water clean and not let the nitrates buildup or else he might get HITH which is very common for Oscars when the water isn't changed regularly.

Melafix would be good for the Oscar, I don't know anything about CAE's tho.

I can't wait to see the pics and am even more excited about him getting his bigger home next week.

 

[AquaNut]

I'm really glad I saved him, too. I hope I can get him into better shape. What I did was move him in his own water, in a large plastic garbage can I use only for moving fish. I left just enough water in his tank to keep the gravel submerged, and I put the 'insert' from his filter into the garbage can with him. When I got the tank set up here, I filled it with dechlorinated tap water and about five gallons of his own water. I added some aged filter floss from one of my other tanks and filled the rest of the filter chamber with fresh floss (and of course his insert that was already in there). In all honesty, he already looks happier. I'm sure the heater doesn't hurt. Poor thing. I'm going to add some melafix right now.

 

[smb]

Yea, good job. He's definately in great hands! You'll be rewarded with a great fish. Keep us updated.

 

[Alien Anna]

That CAE will be lunch when the oscar recovers. In the meantime, I think keeping pristine water conditions (daily water changes) and Melafix would be a good idea. He will need a good diet to get back to health so be very careful how you feed him - raw ocean fish would probably be a good start, as feeders are frequently a source of disease. He also need a good selection of vitamins and minerals, which can be found in cichlid pellets (if your oscar can be persuaded to eat them).

 

[CFC]

Some other good protein packed foods which your oscar should eat are mussels, cockles and earthworms, get him on a good diet and he'll will be back to good health in no time.
How big is this huge CAE? If its that big that could be the cause of some of the oscars injuries, CAE's can be just as territorial and aggressive as cichlids and with 2 of them in a 20g things could have got nasty.

 

[missyintx_99]

OH! Thats wonderful! Yes, Yes, Yes to the Melafix. The stuff stinks but it works wonders! My Green Sev got a scratch on him from a decoration in the tank (its now been removed) and I put the Melafix in there only 1 time and it healed up perfectly!
Do you have somewhere you could move the CAE to? I would try to get him out of there as quickly as possible. It would help reduce the stress on the Oscar.

Can't wait to see pics of the lucky guy!

 

[AquaNut]

The pics are already up.

I got called into work today, so I didn't get the opportunity to do as much for Chester Bertuzzi today as I was hoping I could. I did have a look at him this morning, though, and he's definitely looking better already! He had quite a bit of ugh.. don't know how to describe it... his slime coat looked a mess when I brought him home, but it's looking much much better today. He looked more alert, too, but I swear he was saying, "How much longer must I stay in this tiny prison?"

The CAE will be leaving ASAP... still don't know where he's going, though.

 

[AquaNut]

Third period's just about to start in the hockey game, so this will be quick.

I did a 25% water change and added another dose of melafix. He appreciated the water change very much; that was immediately apparent. Until he moves into his bigger tank, is it okay if I do them twice a day? It perked him up so much.

His skin/slime coat are definitely looking wayyy better. Three cheers for melafix! Even the nasty wound on one side looks much better this evening.

Chester Bertuzzi and I are both feeling pretty good about things tonight.

 

[smb]

did a 25% water change and added another dose of melafix. He appreciated the water change very much; that was immediately apparent. Until he moves into his bigger tank, is it okay if I do them twice a day? It perked him up so much

It would be ok only if you have no chloromines and chorine in the water. Those are pretty big daily wc's.

A 5-10% daily water change would be ideal tho. IMO, I think that's what is best for any fish under any circumstance. (other than discus, then more % of a wc is needed)

 

[freshmike]

I am soooo glad to hear that Chester is looking and feeling better!!!
3 cheers for Aquanut!!!

 

[AquaNut]

Oh trust me, I sure don't do those kind of water changes on any other tanks. He's just so very big and the tank is just so very little... I'll try one bucket, twice a day (bucket = 2 - 2.5 gallons, depending on how full I make it lol). He's actually been out swimming around since I did the water change tonight, and he's otherwise just been pretty much hanging around one lower rear corner.

I swear, he knew I was coming to save him the minute we lay eyes on each other, and he seems to like me (I know... I'm crazy lol). He's been coming over to the glass to check me out... he seems to think I'm alright.

I gave him some floating plants (ceratopteris and ceratophyllum). They should help with the nitrates. I thought he'd probably appreciate a bit of shade, too. The tank is so stark. That's my next question (can't hardly believe a fishkeeper could be this dumb about a fish, huh? lol)... they had some stuff in the tank with the fish... there was a ceramic house or something (didn't really look at it) and this rock with hidey hole tunnel things through it... but the rock was really sharp and they said that's how he gets a lot of his wounds, from thrashing against it. I figure that there's really not enough spare room in that little tank to have anything in with them, especially if he's going to hurt himself on it, but I figure I could be totally wrong and maybe he'd really appreciate stuff to hide behind. Given the size of the tank, do you think I should put something in there for him?

Edit: Thanks, freshmike

 

[smb]

I swear, he knew I was coming to save him the minute we lay eyes on each other, and he seems to like me (I know... I'm crazy lol). He's been coming over to the glass to check me out... he seems to think I'm alright.

LMFAO!!!!

Yep, that's the cichlid bug I've been trying to tell everyone about! You just wait, you haven't seen anything yet man. He's going to have you exactly where he wants you in a week. Trust me.

You are going to love cichlids as much as I in no time. 8)

 

[AquaNut]

I think he's in a good mood because the Canucks trounced the Sabres tonight. He's definitely a Canucks fan, I can tell.

You didn't tell me if I should put a piece of bogwood or some rocks or something in there for him, though. I just want to know if something of that nature would help make him feel more secure or if it would just be a hazard in such a small tank. Even though he won't be in there much longer, I want him to feel as comfortable as possible until I fix him up pimpin' style.

Oh! By the way! I'm all woman, baybee!! (ya keep calling me 'man' )

 

[juanveldez]

I totally agree..... but SMB you forgot the part where you start to research other big cichlids and make plans for the million gallon tank and where it can go and all the big nastys that you could fit in there