Question about an injured Oscar!

meadows

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Mar 17, 2004
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I have an injured oscar that was attacked by another one of my fish. I have removed him and he is now in a small tank for himself while he recovers.

I am new at taking care of injured fish and need some help. his fins/scales are missing alot around his whole body, and now that he is in the small tank where I can see him better he has a cotten like growth on his scale where he should be regrowning his scales back.

From what I have read would Melafix work to rreat this as it prolly is a bacteria that has started to grow on my oscar. If theres anything else that I could do to help with the health of the injured oscar please let me know ! He does swim around some time to time, though he has to be in such missirable pain and he is missing most his fins. Thanks to the red devil that was attacking him out of the blue.

I did some reading before I started my tank, and I do know the aggrasive types of fish, and I do have a majority of meaner type fish in my tank, which I will be upgrading soon to a 125g. I am going to use this tank I have now for my oscar tank, which sits in here in my office with me.

my husband actually had a Red Devil / Jack Dempsy / Texas / Oscar all full grown.

We got our fish now as babies all living together, as far as tempers flaring they are in a bit of a tight spot at the moment, do to us waiting on the tax check to come in so we can upgrade right away. We got them as babies they are around 3 inches in a 55 gallon and would they just try to kill off for space? I am thinking with in 2 weeks I will have new tank ready for them to be placed in with the much needed space.

If you could help me with how I should go about treating this bacterial that is growing on my little man, I would greatly appericate the help and advice.

Thanks
 
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Sounds like cotton fungus which melafix may not be able to treat alone. I would see if you can find some furan or furan 2 to treat it. I would also add 1tblsp of table salt/5g of water and slowly raise the temperature to 82F-85F over the course of a couple days.

HTH
 
Originally posted by smurphy
mela fix will help the fin and scales as for the cotteny stuff you could use some copper safe hope this helps

Sorry but I think that you may be thinking of Maroxy. Coopersafe is used for external parasites like anchorworms and ich.

On a side note. You should always avoid using copper in your tank. It is a pain in the butt and is very hard to get rid of afterwards. Not only that, if left in the tank the parasites that you are attempting to rid the tank of will eventually grow immune to the copper making it usless in our tank.

As for the cottony growths of the oscar. Some of the better meds I have found for treating it are:

1) Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Fungus Cure (colors water)
2) Maracyn
3) EM Tablets
4) Sulfa has worked at times
5) Any other med with erythromycin will also work.

As well as the furan that Puma suggested. The only thing I don't like about furan is the discoloring of the water. Ugly, ugly yellow.
 
your right scottomacd here is some helpfull info

Coppersafe

Manufacturer: Mardel
Website: http://www.mardel-labs.com/mardel/f_amedi.html
Description: Coppersafe is a safe, stable and non-staining chelated copper treatment which is effective in fighting Ich (Ichthyophthirius multifillis), Flukes (Gyrodcactylus), Anchor Worms, Chilodinella, Velvet, Protozoan diseases and other freshwater external parasites.
Safe for Biological Filter: Yes
Remove Activated Carbon: Yes.
Additional Notes: Before use, remove invertebrates from tank. Coppersafe may be harmful to plants, amphibians and some snails. Does not overdose. Ensure when treatment is ongoing, you dose the replacement water added to the tank (i.e. if 25g of water is removed, add additional Coppersafe to treat 25g of water. This will ensure dosage remains correct.) It is persistent which means it will remain active in the aquarium for over one month. Carbon can be replaced to aid in the removal of the medication after treatment but water changes are the quickest way to remove it after treatment has ended.


Maracyn

Manufacturer: Mardel
Website: http://www.mardel-labs.com/mardel/f_amedi.html
Description: Broad-spectrum, nontoxic antibiotic tablets to treat infections of body fungus (grayish-white material covering mouth; may spread to fins, tail, and body), fin and tail rot, popeye, gill disease, and secondary infections in freshwater aquariums. No water changes, pH, or temperature adjustments necessary if readings are in ideal range.
Safe for Biological Filter: Yes
Remove Activated Carbon: If an activated carbon filter is more than 5 days old, it may be left in place. However, fresh activated carbon may reduce the activity of medications and should be removed.
Additional Notes: Treat for five days even if visible signs disappear. After treatment, new activated carbon or charcoal removes any remaining color from water. This product, like all Mardel products, may be used in conjunction with other Mardel Freshwater products.


Maracyn-2

Manufacturer: Mardel
Website: http://www.mardel-labs.com/mardel/f_amedi.html
Description: Broad-spectrum, nontoxic antibiotic tablets to treat infections of fin and tail rot, popeye, gill disease, dropsy, septicemia, secondary and internal infections. Effective even when fish won't eat in freshwater aquariums. No water changes, pH, or temperature adjustments necessary if readings are in ideal range.
Safe for Biological Filter: Yes
Remove Activated Carbon: If an activated carbon filter is more than 5 days old, it may be left in place. However, fresh activated carbon may reduce the activity of medications and should be removed.
Additional Notes: Treat for five days even if visible signs disappear. After treatment, new activated carbon or charcoal removes any remaining color from water. This product may be used in conjunction with Maracyn®, Maracide® or Coppersafe®.



Clout

Manufacturer: Aquatic Products
Website: http://www.aq-products.com/
Description: This medication for freshwater & marine fish is effective against Ick, Argulus, Leeches, Diogenetic Flukes, Body Fungus, Lernia (Anchor Worm), Parasitic Copepods, Monogenetic Flukes, Planaria, Hexamita, Epistylis, Hydra and Trichodina.
Safe for Biological Filter: No
Remove Activated Carbon: Yes, but do not discontinue filtration
Additional Notes: Best used in a quarantine environment. DO NOT USE WITH Piranhas, Metynnis Species, Scaleless Fish, Bottom Feeders, Marine Sharks, Lion Fish or Invertebrates. This product will stain the aquarium silicone.



Nitrofurazone

Manufacturer: Packaged as Furacyn by Aquatronics
Website: Available at most aquatic retailers
Description: Antibiotic for treating: red areas, body streaks, white body slime, open ulcers, wasting away, bacterial infections, and ammonia exposure.
Safe for Biological Filter: No
Remove Activated Carbon: Yes, but do not discontinue filtration
Additional Notes: Do not use with invertebrates. Water discoloration will occur, best used in a quarantine environment.


Metronidazole

Manufacturer: Packaged as HEX-A-MIT by Aquatronics
Description: For effective treatment of white dots, body velvet, HITH, HLLE, weight loss, wasting away, unexplained fish death, Hexamita.
Safe for Biological Filter: Yes
Remove Activated Carbon: Yes
Additional Notes: It is almost impossible to overdose this drug but it is recommended to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations as there is little research to discount possible carcinogenic effects.



Melafix

Manufacturer: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals
Description: Melafix is a patented 1% mixture of CAS Melaleuca (Tea Tree Oil) which is used to enhance healing in fish. Especially useful in healing superficial injuries such as ulcers, bruises, scrapes, cuts, lost scales, etc.
Safe for Biological Filter: Yes
Remove Activated Carbon: Yes
Additional Notes: Although it claims to have antibacterial properties to cure flexibactor (mouth rot) and fin and tail rot, this is currently in dispute.


Levamisole Hydrochloride

Manufacturer: Available at most feed stores and coops in oblate form.
Description: Levacide Levasole (levamisole hydrochloride) is a broad spectrum anthelmintic which has proven effective against Camallanus worms and other internal parasites.
Safe for Biological Filter: Yes
Remove Activated Carbon: Yes
Additional Notes: It is impossible to overdose this drug. Studies have shown that after treatment, fish actually exhibit a higher tolerance to future re-infestation. This medication is inert at a pH above 7.0 so you should keep this in mind when trying to medicate.



Aquarium Salt

Description: Salt works well against many protozoan parasites such as Costia, Trichodina and Chilodonella as well as flukes and other ectoparasites. It can also assist osmoregulation problems caused by bacterial ulcers; help clear congested gills as well as supporting fish suffering from stress. Because it works in a different way to most disease treatment, it is safer than many pond treatments and will not adversely affect biological filtration in pond filters. It is generally used at fairly high rates in short-term baths or dips, but can be used as a long-term supportive treatment in ponds. Also used to stimulate slime-coat growth.
Safe for Biological Filter: Yes
Remove Activated Carbon: No
Additional Notes: See listing below for recommended salt types and THIS link for curing ICH with salt.

Good salts:

1. Kosher salts
2. Rock salts
2. Freshwater Aquarium salt
3. Non-Iodized salt

Bad Salts:

1. Salts designed for water softener systems. These typically contain an anti-caking agent known as Yellow Prussiate of Soda. When this non-caking agent is exposed to sunlight it can create hydrogen cyanide which is toxic to the fish.

2. Iodized salts. Although there is no evidence to support the theory that iodine in small quantities is not harmful to fish, the lack of evidence to the contrary dictates caution.

3. Salts designed for reef environments as they contain other trace elements that may be harmful to the fish and their environment.

4. Epsom salts. This contains magnesium sulfate which can increase the bowel activity of the fish. But is a good remedy to cure constipation which is another FAQ in itself.
 
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