Oscar fish- Sunken belly.

[Karan chugh]

Hi,
I’m Karan from Bangalore, India. I have only one 4 inch Oscar in my 3*1.5*2 feet aquarium. It has a maintained temperature of 28 degrees Celsius and a filter.
From a past few days my fish has stopped accepting any type of food. When I consulted my fish expert he told me the Oscar has sunken belly and he told me to add 50gms of rock salt and change 50% of the water every third day and feed the fish only once at night. I started the process today but the fish hasn’t accepted the food (I’ve tried a variety of them).
a few days back my fish started flashing so I realized something is wrong and did a 70% water change. It’s been over a week since the fish has not eaten anything. Can somebody please help? Images attached below.

 

[JuiceBox52]

@Colin_T maybe can help

 

[JuiceBox52]

You can do a 75% water change every day and see if that helps

 

[Karan chugh]

You can do a 75% water change every day and see if that helps

Thanks for the reply!
The fish seems to get stressed out if I do that.. I was told to add anti parasite every third day after water change. I will try to complete one cycle first maybe since I’ve added salt?

 

[JuiceBox52]

@Colin_T

 

[Guest14017]

This treatment has saved many fish with sunken belly that are refusing food. It is lengthy but definitely check it out.

 

[Karan chugh]

This treatment has saved many fish with sunken belly that are refusing food. It is lengthy but definitely check it out.

Thankyou for the help! Hope you’re doing well! Due to the current situation of lockdown I don’t think I’ll be able to get all the things needed but I’ll try to give a bath with the solution if the current salt technique won’t help? hoping for the best.

 

[Karan chugh]

I guess my Oscar is about to die it hasn’t eaten since a week and it started to go low on energy and mostly on its sides.. I tried to treat it with Metro also but nothing seems to help

 

[JuiceBox52]

Oh no! I'm so sorry

 

[Guest14017]

Sunken belly is usually fatal left untreated. The key ingredient in that mixture is the Epsom salt and you have to administer it directly into the gut. Sadly waterborne medication will not help at this point.

So sorry

 

[Karan chugh]

Sunken belly is usually fatal left untreated. The key ingredient in that mixture is the Epsom salt and you have to administer it directly into the gut. Sadly waterborne medication will not help at this point.

So sorry

surprisingly my Oscar is still up! The vet told there is no parasite anymore but it is still not consuming any food. None of us are sure why it’s not consuming. It comes close to the food but it doesn’t put it in its mouth.I tried wet and dry pallets both but it would not consume.
The fish looks tired sometimes. Is there a way to feed some vegetables or any other way to feed the fish so that I can get it to eat?

 

[Colin_T]

What are you feeding the fish?
If you feed dry pellets or flake food, try feeding it marine based meats instead. Prawn/ shrimp, fish and squid can all be used. Just cut it into small bits and offer a few bits at a time. Smaller bits are also easier for the fish to eat and it might be able to swallow them easier.

If you can get to a pet shop, you might be able to buy live brineshrimp or Daphnia and offer it some of them. They are small and move about in the water and it can encourage fish to eat.