Oscar Problem

[strangeworld2002]

Hi Guys,

I'm wondering if you would be able to offer some much needed advise. I have an albino tiger oscar in a 55gal tank. Its only about 4" at the moment so still very much a baby. I have been feeding it hikari gold pellets. The tank has two external canister filters.

I have tested the water and all levels are 0.

Recently the oscar has developed a serious case of HITH. There are no other fish in the tank.

How can a fish suddenly develop HITH without any real cause?

Also I'm not sure if this is significant but I removed 2 pieces of mopani wood from the tank recently. The reason for doing this is they had developed a very strange thick black fur/growth on them which I cannot find out what it is or if its dangerous to fish, non-the-less I didnt want to take any chances so got rid.

Any ideas whats happened here?

Cheers

 

[minxfishy]

You say all levels are zero, but didnt say how long the tank has been set up? HITH is usually caused by poor water quality and poor diet. Assuming the tank was fully cycled prior to adding the Oscar and the Oscar wasnt in the tank whilst it was being cycled, then diet would be the next problem.

How often do you change the water in the tank? Do you have carbon in your filters? Aside from cichlid pellets what else do you feed him?

 

[tom130691]

black fur seems to me to be a type of algae
http/www.otocinclus.com/articles/algae.html

not sure about the illness though mate

 

[strangeworld2002]

You say all levels are zero, but didnt say how long the tank has been set up? HITH is usually caused by poor water quality and poor diet. Assuming the tank was fully cycled prior to adding the Oscar and the Oscar wasnt in the tank whilst it was being cycled, then diet would be the next problem.

How often do you change the water in the tank? Do you have carbon in your filters? Aside from cichlid pellets what else do you feed him?

The tank has been setup for about 12 months, I added the second canister filter about 4/5 months ago. The tank is without a doubt fully cycled, I used 2 flag cichlids to accomplish this about a year ago. I do have carbon in the filters, cichlid pellets are the only thing I feed him at the min with him being small, water change every week about 20%.

 

[england]

Hello, ok you say tanks been set up over a year ago and readings are good?so

you only have these two in the tank and two externals,again sounds good

As for the growth i have in one of my tanks a weird growth and its never harmed my fishes,

I would deffo as i did,remove the carbon from the filter,although not conclusive,carbon alot of people think,myself

included that this contributes to the help of hith, Preform so nice 25-30%water chances every other day for a while,

However, oscars do getting pitting holes on there heads and lots of people jump to conclusions that this is the start of

HITH which is not actually the case, have a read of the link i have added.... if you could try to post some

pictures

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/253192-join-the-oscar-club-its-just-for-fun/

HITH

 

[minxfishy]

Remove the carbon, it isnt necessary and in some circles believed to be a factor in HITH disease, after a week or so, the carbon is useless anyway but may leech back into the tank.

With HITH occuring, the best course of action, is extra water changes and a raise in temperature slightly, to about 28c. Instead of 20%, you need to be doing 40% approx weekly and whilst the HITH is around, 2 x 40% weekly, fresh water is the best cure for it.

Diet wise, whilst cichlid pellets are a good staple food for Oscars, they do need a varied diet, that also contains some vegetable matter. So you could get some bloodworm/shrimp/mussel pellets too, live or frozen bloodworm, prawns are adored by Oscars. Vegetables, try some cooked shelled peas, just a few to start with, maybe some lettuce left floating for 12 hours might be nibbled on. Failing taking any fresh veg, you can get vegetable pellets too.

 

[strangeworld2002]

Remove the carbon, it isnt necessary and in some circles believed to be a factor in HITH disease, after a week or so, the carbon is useless anyway but may leech back into the tank.

With HITH occuring, the best course of action, is extra water changes and a raise in temperature slightly, to about 28c. Instead of 20%, you need to be doing 40% approx weekly and whilst the HITH is around, 2 x 40% weekly, fresh water is the best cure for it.

Diet wise, whilst cichlid pellets are a good staple food for Oscars, they do need a varied diet, that also contains some vegetable matter. So you could get some bloodworm/shrimp/mussel pellets too, live or frozen bloodworm, prawns are adored by Oscars. Vegetables, try some cooked shelled peas, just a few to start with, maybe some lettuce left floating for 12 hours might be nibbled on. Failing taking any fresh veg, you can get vegetable pellets too.

Thanks for the advise guys, the only concern I have with removing the carbon is what should I replace it with? one filter is a fluval 305 with the bags of carbon and the other filter is an eheim pro II 2026 with the activated carbon foams. Won't removing these cause bacteria problems?

 

[minxfishy]

No removing them wont hurt the bacteria, in the fluval replace them with bio rings (ceramic media) which once colonised will hold alot of biological bacteria. In the eheim, just use some extra floss or sponge or indeed some bio rings (not sure of the media in that eheim).

 

[strangeworld2002]

I'll give it a go, I have raised the temperature in the tank so as soon as that settles I will sort the filters out and take the carbon out of the filters. With regards to the foods you recommended, could you point me towards some specific products that you have used? I have bought some hikari staple (not sure if this is any good) as I was told it containted more vitamins than hikari gold.

 

[minxfishy]

With Oscars Ive had, I used tetra doromin pellets, hikari gold pellets, tetra prima and tetra vegetable crisps, plus bloodworm, shrimp, mussel pellets, frozen bloodworm, shrimp, cockle, mussel, prawn, as well as fresh prawn (this they go nuts for) and once or twice a week some cucumber, which they pick at and cooked shelled peas, they take a while to take to the peas, but its good for their digestion. Some Ive also given mealworms that you can get in the reptile section of pet stores, even live ones they have for sale for, plus you can use worms from the garden if you know that no chemicals have been used in the soil (cut them up when the Oscar is small).

 

[strangeworld2002]

Thanks for the list. I have been reading up on Waterlife's Octozin tablets as a treatment for HITH. I have heard a lot of success stories with this to clear up the illness quickly. Does this harm filtration bacteria if used?

 

[minxfishy]

Ive no experience with Octozin, so couldnt say if it would effect the filter bacteria, although myxazin (another waterlife product) if you even slightly overdose, it does effect the bacteria.

Try the water change method of clearing it up before using medication if you can. Any chance of a photo just so we can see if it is actually HITH rather just pitting which can occur in Oscars frequently or damage from wood/rocks which they do easily as they are rather clumsy fish.

 

[strangeworld2002]

As per your advise, the carbon has now been removed from both filters and has been replaced by bio rings. I have also done a 40% water change. I'm finding it difficult to get a picture that really shows much as the oscar is at the bottom of the tank and isnt eating. Hopefully he will perk up in the next few days....fingers crossed.

 

[strangeworld2002]

Thanks for all your advice guys. Unfortunately I lost him yesterday It did seem like the wounds were beginning to heal on one side of his body but as with most fish diseases he had stopped eating and with being so young couldn't last more than a few days without food.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Sorry to hear about your poor O