My Oscar is deathly sick, I need advice?

Question

I fed my oscar some goldfish from a local fair (I know big mistake). He has been laying on his side for almost a week and doesn't move around much. Is there anything I can do to save him? I really want to save him! Thanks.

P.S. Yes the tank is big enough and we have had him for 2.5 years.

Answer 1

That doesn't sound good at all and there isn't much to go on in a case like this. It's possible your fish is severely constipated. Try to feed him some vegetable matter that is high in fiber if he will eat it. He could also be suffering from an internal parasite or even a bacteria infection, but without knowing it's impossible to prescribe a treatment. I would lean more to the bacterial problem though as most parasites would be killed when eaten. Some of course would not, that's why they are still on the list of possible causes. If he's not better in a few days and won't eat, treating for an internal bacterial infection may be worth a shot. I would suggest Furanace as the medicine of choice for internal infections.

MM

Answer 2

BAD BAD BAD man i know exactly whats going on. You recently started feeding your oscar too much and then you put in this goldfish. The goldfish was infected and it passed it on to your oscar. You need to add half a tea spoon of salt to your tank, raise the temperature to 85, feed it pees, and check if it has a bacterial infection or ich. This really sucks for you i lost a lot of flower horns and oscars this way. You should never feed your oscar goldfish period especialy not from a fair i dont even trust fish stores for goldfish, i breed my own. Man im sorry to say this but there is a extremely high chance your flower horn is going to die. the best you can do is give it a salt bath and feed it some pees. im hoping this wasnt a fish you had a bond with or you liked a lot.
Go to your fish store and buy this antibiotic Furan-2 which comes in pills and give it your fish it treats hemorrhagic septicemia, body slime and cloudy eye, cotton mouth disease, and furunculosis. This is your best bet. Most probably your oscar has internal parasites. Watch its poop and see what color it is and if any other things come out of it.

Answer 3

I had an oscar for a very long time and he has similiar symptoms. I didn't feed him fish, just fish food, but he did the same thing. The things I did that kept him alive a few more months were as follows.

1. Raised the temperature in the tank a few degrees, sometimes this can kill off anything in there.

2. Get petstore remedies for ICK, or listlessness or slow swimming etc....they have pictures and examples of what the medicine does right on the bottle.

3. Change out a little more of the water then you normally would.


I did all these things fairly close to each other and it seemed to work. Obviously change the water, then pour in the medicines, also make sure your filters are in top notch, and add some more activated carbon if need be.


BTW I believe my oscar got sick from a parasite common to the red finned tinfoil barb, i know they shouldn't be mixed, but they were together very young and never fought, but the barb did get sick.


Hope it helps, good luck.

Answer 4

Well I would have to say Raspberryswirl has given the best answer so far. If you fed your Oscar too many goldfish there is a decent chance your looking at a compacted Oscar. Peas are a great way to help break up the gut compaction. Water changes and gravel vacuuming isn't going to hurt however so you might as well do that also, might as well eliminate a potential source of sickness.

Answer 5

I agree with the person in the first post. Large water changes will help.

Contact a fish vet and they will proscribe medication.
Pet store meds usually don't work.

It's ok to feed fish to your oscar, but you MUST quarantine feeders for at least a few weeks or else breed your own.
Guppies, and convicts are prolific breeders and the fry may be used as feeders.

Answer 6

A fish.... hmmm. Theres not much you can do honestly. You could clean his bowl.. an infection may have gone out through his feces and its in his tank. Clean it out thoroughly and put some tank conditioner in too. Also make sure you go through his feeding routine at the same time every day. Also, the most important thing, NEVER FEED ANY OF YOUR FISH OTHER FISH.

Answer 7

treat the tank for bacterial and parasite issues.

also, he could be constipated. squish out the inside of some cooked peas and give him the mushy part, do this for a few days.

Answer 8

Call and exotic animal vet, this is probably your best option and will probably save you a lot of time, rather than listening to any home remedies you see here.

Answer 9

u should never feed a animal carnival fish u dont know what they feed them