Help Sick Oscar & pics

[Karlsbad]

Hey my Oscar has some white fluffy stuff on one of his side fins (pectoral I think)that just appeared today, for the last few days he's refused to eat his larger pellets(which he's done before when nothing seemed wrong with him and restarted after a few days), he's had a white dot/bump on his chin for a few days which being right at the apex of his chin I thought might be an injury from attacking the hood but now looks just like the stuff on his fin, and now he's lying on the bottom of the tank a little definitely acting sick.

I took some pictures of his fin, they're my first so I don't know how good they are. I have some maracyn(erythromycin), from the chart it looks like its saying he has true fungus and I should treat it with MarOxy and use Maracyn-Two, Maracyn, Tetracycline tablets, trisulfa, or Maracyn plus to prevent secondary infections from bacteria, but the chart shows a lot more of the stuff than he's got on him, though he is definitely acting sick. He's in a 90 with just a striped raphael, I don't mind buying some more bio spira but I'd rather not have to move him, I do have an empty 20g set up, I don't know how much maroxy is and how much you use per gallon, but if its exhorbitant or you guys think I should move him I will. Does that seem right that I should treat him with Maroxy? What should I do?

[Karlsbad]

Help

[fish_freak]

The pic is really hard to see. what are your water conditions? If you have the money im sure you could treat in your 90 gal without much effect to the bio filter as almost all antibiotics for the aquarium dont kill the benificial bacteria these days. Did the oscar injure himself boforehand? fungus tends to be a secondary infection as far as I am aware. good luck a better pic may help

[Karlsbad]

LFS I trust told me its fungus and treat it with melafix and primafix. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 ppm nitrates 7.4 ph 120 hardness 120 alkalinity. Enough Melafix and Primafix to treat the 90 was only 18 bucks. He's acting kind of sick but he has very little of the cottony stuff on him and he's still swimming around most of the time so I feel pretty good about it.

I told LFS that I don't trust my tap water it looks cloudy ever since it got cold out, they said they don't think its the tap water because there would be nitrates nitrites or ammonia if there were organisms in it, but I'm getting a RO unit anyway.

Melafix smells like Vicks vapo rub.

[Sensei_the_dojo]

Originally posted by Karlsbad

Melafix smells like Vicks vapo rub.
Maybe you should pull your fish from the tank and rub the Melafix on his chest. ;)

Good luck with your Oscar.

[LMOUTHBASS]

you might want to lower the temp just a little fungus will quickly thrive i warm water
i woul isolate him tot he 20 to make treatments quicker as you'll be using less water - that is assuming the 20 is in stable shape

[Leopardess]

melafix will not in any way help to cure the fungus problem. It may help ward off secondary infections though. its main ingredient is 1% tea tree oil, I believe - by no means a strong antibacterial. Its often used as a precautionary/preventative/soother, though , as I said, it can help prevent infections in the "wounded" areas.

Binox is a very strong antifungal/antibacterial. It is 4$ a bottle and one bottle treats a lot of water. Its very strong so that you only use 1 teaspoon per 25 gallons of water every four days. I've had good results with it.

[Karlsbad]

what about primafix?

[Leopardess]

Never heard of it. I just wanted you to be aware about the melafix (a lot of people think its a true medication):)

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

their alot of anti fungal cures out their and best to pick a brand sussgested on here. alot of brands skimp on so important ingredients

also looks like his got pop eye

[Karlsbad]

Is binox sold in any of the chains? (It's kind of late here)

[Leopardess]

yah...should be sold anywhere that Jungle brand is carried...My petquarters and petco sell it.

most things that say they are strong antifungal/antibiotics will work. I just mentioned binox by name because it is cheap and super strength...something you'd need to treat a 90g.

[travelinman1969]

Stop!!!!

This is classic fin rot. Not seen very often on oscars but possible. What are the tankmates. Reply if you're still awake.

[travelinman1969]

Also looking at the pic a bit better, he's got popeye, they kinda go hand in hand. Let me know!!!!!!!!!!!! :shake: I know the cure and he'll start getting better by this time tomorrow. Need tank specs and size!! ASAP!!!

[Karlsbad]

So will binox cure the popeye?

[travelinman1969]

NO!!

[travelinman1969]

A bit of salt might help but easy on the dosing.

[fish_freak]

Melafix is perfect for finrot as the tea oil helps promote now fin groth. I always have very good luck with mela fix Popeye may require a stronger antibactierial med. Bionx is a fungus cure so it popbably wont work on fin rot. For all of you wondering PimaFix is the neweset "herbal" remeady from aquarium Pharmacuticals. It cures fungus and stops secondary and supposadly primary bacterial infections. It is made from the pimenta racemosa tree leave (west india bay tree)

[bennylax3]

Is fin rot contanguos?

[Karlsbad]

I switched to Maracyn 2. Think I should continue with the melafix and primafix since I gave them one day of it? The Oscar chewed and spat one of the maracyn 2 tabs :)

[bennylax3]

Do you need to remove the carbon filter or a bio wheel when using binox?

[fish_freak]

as far as the melafix you may over medicate but its up to you
You should always remove carbon when treating a fish with medicine and the bio wheel will be fine

[travelinman1969]

The Maracyn can be used with the carbon. No need to take it out. I would not do any other treatment than the Maracyn 2. Give it time, he'll be fine. I've had great results from it. He may look a bit funky for a while but he will recover. Don't want to overdose the tank.

[Karlsbad]

He's acting and looking much better after 2 doses of maracyn 2, actually he looked better 18 hours after the initial double dose of maracyn 2 and 2 doses of melafix/primafix. Now he's completely off the bottom and asking for food.:) I stopped the melafix/primafix but I think I'll give him one treatment after the maracyn 2 is done. I think he had the popeye for a while :( , I'm thinking about giving him the 2nd 5 day treatment of maracyn 2 regardless. He's about 6 months old and 5 inches, I hope his eyesight isn't permanently damaged.

The maracyn 2 instructions say remove activated carbon if possible. I had some in my emperor media containers that I took out.

The tank still smells like vicks vapo rub from the melafix/primafix.

[travelinman1969]

I thought you could leave the carbon in, my bad. I would stop after the 5 day treatment, no need to overdo it. I know you want to do best for him but too much meds could be bad also. Stop after the 5 day dose, then monitor, if it looks like it's coming back, then start again. I think when I got rid of it, I could have stopped after 3 days, the extra 2 is just for good measure, so be careful. I wouldn't even melafix after the treatment. Put the carbon back in when your done and monitor. The carbon will remove the meds. You need to do this. Do a water change also at that time.

Glad to hear he's feeling better. :D