Help! My oscar is sick!?

Question

First off, I will be honest. I have been neglecting my oscar slightly recently. I feed him maybe once a week, although, This has been the case for years, and he has done fine. I have been slacking in the water changeouts. About a week ago, "moldy/foamish" looking stuff began to form around decayed food in the corner. I thought nothing of it, and prepared to change out the water the next day. The next day I was unable to change it due to an emergency work call , all day yesterday, the fisgh was laying on his side, near dead, with a white fungus/mold all over him, and his fins appeard to be "rotting" away. We did a 10 gallow change out(out of 30 gallons) last night, and another 10 gallon last night, in hopes it would help, and as of now, there is still minimal signs of life among the fish.

Please help

Ok, I have had him for 3 years or so. And it is also said a fish never outgrows its tank, as in my case. My oscar is under 8 inches. FYI: I havent been neglecting him forever, more or less recently due to a new job and other responsibilities. If anyone is in Maryland, and would like this fish, I will try and bring it back for you. It is a beautiful fish, and I hope it survives.

Answer 1

I'll assume as you have been neglecting him for years that he is an adult, as such keeping him in a 30gal is beyond cruel. I mean the Oscar gets to be 16inch's long which in a 30gal would make tuning around difficult. He needs to be in a 50gal minimum, bigger is better. As for slacking off on water changes! Tsk! Tsk! how would you like to be put in your room (or in this case as the tank is so small the cupboard) with no toilet? Your filtration (if you have adequate filtration) only neutralizes the wastes enough for you to clear them out each week. Getting slack is just not good enough.

As for how to save him, well i don't fancy your chances, but give Mela-fix and a medication with malachite green and methalyene blue in it a go (your local fish shop will stock these) the green and blue are anti-fungi’s that will clear up the "mould". then do daily 10-15% water changes.

Should your fish survive you need to change his tank as early as practicably possible, then you need to start feeding him properly or risk other diseases.

Oscars require a varied diet, To be honest I would not recommend you feed an Oscar feeders from the pet shop anyway as feeders are generally kept in poor conditions and can harbour disease. If a person wishes to feed an Oscar live fish then I recommend they raise their own. Something like convicts which breed and grow reasonably quickly and then only occasionally (weekly).

other good Oscar foods to prevent illness.

*good quality high protein pellets (hikari are good, daily)
*a spirulina or vegetable flake, daily or every 2 days.
*algae wafers, every 2 days, if they go for em.
*Rinsed canned tuna in spring water (to get the oil off, possibly weekly)
*blood worms, be careful here as it is my opinion that these carry disease, and they get stuck in the gravel. as an occasional treat.
*earth worms, grown in soil at home with out pesticides, feed weekly.
*crickets, available in pet stores, very nutritional the Oscars love em. weekly

The feed small amounts twice daily, make the pellets and flakes the main part of the diet, and feed the goodies every few days. Vary brands of flakes and pellets and textures and sizes so the Oscar does not get bored.

Again a 30 gallon is no place for an Oscar, these guys get huge (like 40 cm or 16 inches) you really need him in a minimum of a 50 gallon, I’d recommend a 4x2x2 so you can put him with a friend, but no other fish. And make sure you have adequate filtration (a canister that cycles at least 4 time the volume of water in the tank per hour i.e. an 50 gal should have at minimum a filter that does 200 gallons per hour.)

I hope I have helped you out a little! (sorry to be cranky at the start, i love my fish!)

Answer 2

Keep up the daily water changes for the forseeable future.

Now, there is medication you can add as well, but it depends on exactly how the white stuff looks. If the fish has what looks to be "tufts of cotton" white stuff stuck on him, then you are dealing with a true fungus (the same stuff that was on the food). You will then need an anti fungal medication, preferably methylene blue.

If the white stuff looks like a slimy coating on the fish, maybe coming off in strands, then you have a bacterial infection. Bacterial infection are treated with anti biotics. Erythromycin is a great broad spectrum anti biotic that Oscars respond well to.

Good luck.

Also, don't listen to Karen above, Coppersafe is for parasites such as ick, you don't have a parasite infestation.

Answer 3

As others have pointed out, fin rot is almost always ammonia poisoning. You didn't mention what size tank you have this Oscar in. My guess is that he has outgrown the tank and needs a larger tank. Also, you didn't mention how you are maintaining the tank. Even in the proper size tank, you must do weekly water changes, change 10% to 20% of the water, and vacuum the bottom. Test the water. If the ammonia or nitrites are too high, do a 50% water change everyday until the levels come down. It will likely take 2 or 3 days to get the water conditions corrected.

Answer 4

A good anti fungus is exactly what you need at this point. I would recommend Maroxy personally, but any will do. Also hold off on any more water changes for a few days but increase aeration in the tank. Then resume small daily water changes (3-4 gallons) for several days. Odds are very good the water quality was very poor and major change outs will result in major changes very fast, which is of course stressful on the fish.

Odds are also good the fish may have fin rot in addition to the fungus infection. I would suggest you put up a decent antibiotic when you get the fungus medication. Maracyn 2 or Maracyn TC would be good choices. If the rotting look doesn't go away in a few days start treating with the antibiotics as well as the fungus medicine. Just treat as recommended on the packages for any of these medications.

Hope that helps and best of luck with your fish.

MM

Answer 5

There is medication you can get in the pets store to get the fungus and the fin rot to stop but it may be to late. They are very sensitive fish when it comes to disease and you must have fed him to much when you fed him to have the food get fungus on it.You also feed fish small amounts daily not weekly. We have had our Oscar for years. I also have 11 other aquariums with different species of fish and have never lost one from disease. Old age nut not disease. Most of our fish are over 5 years old. Go immediatly and get the medicated drops to put in the water. It is made by Mardel and is called CopperSafe.

Answer 6

In this case I would do a complete water change -- in fact if you have a hospital tank, put this guy in it. you probably have bad stuff on the sides of the tank and in the filter, and you need to scrub it out. Add some medicinal salt and please get medicine, oscars are very sensitive to bad water.

Answer 7

dont mean to be mean but it does not sound like you have time for this fishy.
feeding him meybe 1 time a week ?
poor fish

Answer 8

DUDE! YOU JUST #%$@&* UP MY NIGHT! That poor thing. First of all get him well, and then give him to somebody who has time to be responsible and take care of him. Better yet, give him away now. THAT POOR THING!

Answer 9

wow there r actually ppl who care about fish thats just dumb, get over it its a fish all it does is swim and eat

Answer 10

well et anti-fungie treatment for fish