Old Oscar Acting Strange Again...what's Going On?

[WILDER]

Yes steelhearl is good and he will help you if you pm him, as he's that type of person, clove oil but i don't know the dose you can sedate a fish with that, also wet a clean cloth in tank water and wrap the fish tightly in the cloth.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showuser=10772

This might help.
http/www.sidsnet.org/pacific/spc/coastfi...F9-05-Clove.htm

 

[steelhealr]

Having inserted many needles into human beings, I can tell you that it wont' be easy on a fish. Not being an ichthyologist, I'm not sure how it would help the fish in this situation. Some thoughts:

1) if the fluid is in a cyst, the cyst would probably recur after aspiration

2) if it is a solid tumor, I would think that it would be malignant and putting a needle into it wouldn't do anything unless you knew someone who could look at a smear of the slides under a scope and make a diagnosis

Doing the procedure would require the fish to be sedated or anesthetized. As most know from my previous posts, oil of cloves is an excellent topical anesthetic but poor general anesthetic compared with what vets have. The average aquarist does not have much experience with anesthetizing a fish and I would caution against it as a first timer.

If it were my fish...and it were eating well and not struggling to float or swim, I would probably take an 'nonoperative' approach and observe. I would see no problem with treating the fish again with antibiotics and/or antiparasitics if YOU felt that One Eye was RESPONDING postively, ie, resolution of the bump, less listing to one side, etc. Just some thoughts. SH

 

[xenomorph]

Thanks for all the information, you guys....I think that it wouldn't hurt to give the Clout and epsom salts a try first. It'll mean putting the big guy back in the 20g tank again and he will hate that but if it helps, it'll be worth it. At the worst, nothing will change and I'll just have a grumpy oscar on my hands.

After trying the Clout I guess I will put him back in the 180 and wait and see what happens. If he seems to take a turn for the worse, my fiance and I will reconsider trying the needle method.

But we can't do it ourselves...we'll have to try to find someone to do it for us. We're heading up to one of our favorite LFS's (Old Orchard in Skokie, maybe Tolak knows what I'm talking about) soon and while we're there, we'll ask the people there if they have heard of using hypodermic needles on fish with tumors and see if they know anything about it.

My mom works for a vet's office as a receptionist so I'll ask her to ask her boss about it as well. He specializes in exotic animals but I don't know if he has had experience with fish.



I've found something interesting--it seems like when the 180's temperature is high (85, as it was when I first took him out of the water), One-Eye has more trouble staying upright. But when it's on the cool side (like 77), he doesn't have as much of a problem. Is it a coincidence or could the temperature really affect something like that?

Tolak--When I put One-Eye back in the 20 for medication, should I put him through another round of Maracyn I & II plus epsom salts first, then start on the Clout plus salts once the antibiotics have finished their course?