why is my oscar have tiny white dots on him?

Question

we have two ocars in a 55 gallon tank. we feed them guppies and feeder fish along with their pellets.they have these white dots on them. no bigger than a pinhead. i ve had goldfish that had the same things on them and they died. please help. can anybody tell me what it is and what i can do about it?

Answer 1

they have got ick from the feeders fish treat them it usally kills in 3 days hurry

Answer 2

Your first option as everyone has told you is medication.

The second approach is to actually destroy the organism with heat, and can be combined with the salt treatment, but not with meds.

The data that was studied suggests that most strains of Ich cannot reproduce at temperatures above 85ºF. To use this treatment approach, slowly (no more than 1 or 2 degrees per hour) raise the temperature to 86ºF, while maintaining strong continuous surface agitation to oxygenate the water. You DO have a heater in the tank, right....?

This is extremely important because water holds less O2 at higher temperatures. (This is why meds should not be used in conjunction with high temp – most Ich treatment products also reduce oxygen levels. Less available oxygen, combined with the respiration difficulties an infected fish is already faced with, could be fatal.)

The adjusted temperature should be maintained for approximately 10 days, or a minimum of 3 days after all signs of the parasite have disappeared. Do not discontinue treatment when the spots go away. This is critical, because we know that they are visible only as a trophont on the body of the host, and not during the reproductive or free-swimming stage. We also know that trophonts on the gills are impossible to see.

Oscars are South American and are comfortable with high temps.

The parasite probably came in with the feeder fish you have been putting in with your healthy oscars. Feeder fish diseases and parasites are responsible for killing more aquarium fish each year than most other problems combined.

Try to switch your oscars over to a straight pellet or pellet and frozen diet. If you feel you must give them fish to eat, buy frozen silversides at the pet store.

I actually switched 5 oscars from feeder goldfish to dry dog food pellets. They loved them and ate them for years until I sold them. Just make sure the food has high protein, they are carnivores.

Answer 3

Ich/ick(looks like the fish was sprinkled with salt) can use the medications everyone is referring to. Or you can buy some aquarium salt, follow directions on package, and slowly raise the temp in your tank to at least 82 degrees.

Stop feeding the feeders. Feeders are known to spread disease into fish tanks-like what you're dealing with now,(because they're usually kept in poor condition at the store), oscars are messy anyway and the feeders just contribute to the messiness, and it's just not as healthy for them. Stick with the pellets, some frozen bloodworms, flakes, krill, shrimp, etc. Most important is to vary their diet with pellets as the main staple.

Also, you really should only have 1 oscar in a 55 gallon tank. They grow to large to be housed together in that small of a tank. I believe a 75 gallon is recommended for 2 oscars-at the minimum. My oscar grew to be about 14 inches, barely enough turning room in a 55. Just something to think about. Here's a link for a forum, lots of good info on oscars.

http://www.oscarfish.com/

Answer 4

Its probably the start of hole inthe head disease. No joke thats what it is called and is very common in most Cichlids.

Oscars are hardy fish for the most part and can take a lot of abuse without displaying outward symptoms of many health problems. Just because you can't tell there are problems doesn't necessarily mean the fish are healthy by any means. This unfortunately leads many people to believe that they really do not need much care, when that is not the case at all. They are actually fairly susceptible to poor water quality and nutritional deficiencies. Many times these sensitivities will express themselves in the form of Hole in the Head/Lateral Line Erosion (HITH/LLE). This is why it is extremely important to replicate the variety found in their natural diet and even supplement with vitamins when necessary.

Many people feed an unbalanced diet that contributes to these nutritional deficiencies. Fish stores typically promote feeding solely of live feeder fish. There are two problems with this. First of all, only feeding fish can lead to nutritional deficiencies from lack of variation. Oscars are not piscivores (only eat fish), and have evolved to consume a wide diversity of foods, and really need to do so to be healthy. In the wild they typically eat more insects and crustaceans, but since they are opportunistic, they typically won't pass up anything that could be a possible meal. Secondly, live feeder fish from a fish store is almost a sure way to introduce parasites and other various pathogens into your tank that are harmful to your fish.

Other individuals only feed beefheart. Again, this can lead to nutritional deficiencies if it is the only or primary food given. However, another more serious problem can arise from the fact that fish are only capable of processing so much fat, especially saturated or or hard fats found in higher concentrations in most tissues of warm blooded animals. Luckily beefheart is relatively leaner that other beef (except liver), and in very sparing amounts feeding would be OK, however the tendency of the home aquarist is to overfeed with such a product can be a fatal mistake. Uncooked it is still extremely higher in saturated fat than other natural foods. The long term results of overfeeding saturated fats can be deadly, as this can attribute to what is commonly called fatty liver disease. This is a swelling of the liver and/or other internal organs. Even worse is that there are typically no external symptoms of this condition, right up until the point the fish just dies and an autopsy reveals the cause. This is an extremely likely cause of death for many Oscars that unexpectedly die sooner than 10 years that have otherwise been very well cared for. It is so easy to avoid potential problems like this, yet so many people fail to provide the necessary diet Oscars require. Providing a wide variety of foods, in the correct amounts, while feeding a staple of a quality cichlid pellet goes a long ways towards ensuring the health of your Oscar.

This is part of an article on OSCARFISH.com whic is a great site and will provide you with ways to cure the problem. I have an Oscar myself and these fish are so cool...hope this helps.

Answer 5

its a disease called "ich" or "ick" not sure the spelling. you can get medicine for it at the petstore. i dont know waht causes it but i do know that you should follow the damned dosage. when i was 11 my fish got that and it said "1 drop per gallon" or some measurement. so my cousin goes and empties the bottle into the tank with the rationale "if one drop is god, many more are better!" so the next day, when the water filter finally got most of the blue out and we could see throught the water again, we could see that both of my fishies were dead. they were super cool too, they were all clear with a neon stripe that glowed in blacklight. i havent seen anymore like that ever.

but yeah, ask the fish guy at the petstore for ich medicine.

Answer 6

Your oscar has "Ich" (pronounced Ick). Go to your local pet supply and tell them, there are several products on the market to CURE ich - it's so simple, just add the medicine to the tank as described on the bottle or package - be sure to do it for as long as they tell you. Here's the thing (I had oscars for a long time), anytime you feed them LIVE food, you risk disease. The guppies etc can have the tiniest case of ich, or any other disease, your oscar in turn gets it. It will infect any and all fish in the tank. Be sure to fully treat it. We used to toss earth worms in the tank too - he LOVED them, but we did not know... Oscars get a disease called "hole in the head" - literally that is the name. And it looks exactly like it sounds. They will get these holes in their head and it is ugly. So your best bet is to stick to frozen, freeze dried and pre-packaged food. Good luck! Get that Ich treatment immediately.

Answer 7

Ichthyophthirius multifiliis is a species of ciliate protozoa which parasitizes freshwater fish. Parasite covers the entire globe. It is probably the most common aquarium fish disease and there are few Aquarists that have not met it on one or more occasions. "Ich" is the largest known parasitic protozoan found on fishes. Adult organisms are oval to round and measure 0.5 to 1.0 mm in size. The adult is uniformly ciliated and contains a horseshoe-shaped nucleus which can be seen in older individuals. The disease it causes is usually called ich or white spot, and becomes especially serious in enclosed areas, where it spreads quickly from one fish to another. Ich is the disease responsible for the most fatalities in freshwater aquarium fish and can cause notable damage to aquaculture. Marine ich is caused by an unrelated ciliate, Cryptocaryon.

Answer 8

It could be a common fish disease called Ich. It looks like someone sprinkled salt on it. Most pet stores carry the treatment for this. It is most often caused by poor water quality, so you may want to get your water tested also. Most pet stores do this as well, or they carry the testing supplies. It can kill your fish if not treated promptly.

Answer 9

It's most likely ich.You can get medication at most pet stores to put in the water;just ask someone who works there what to use.Hurry,ich can kill very quickly.You should do a 50% water change as well,and add a tiny pinch of aquarium salt to the water.

Answer 10

ich, a small parasite. Fish don't usually suffer from this unless they are stressed by poor water conditions/temp. Increase the frequency of your water changes and add salt for freshwater fish (one tablespoon/5 gallons). It will increase the fish's slime coat making them impervious to the parasite attack.
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