My Oscars Seems To Be Peeling.

[AMETHYST212]

HI I HAVE A 2 TIGER OSCARS, 2 JACK DEMPSEYS AND HAD A PLECO WHICH UNFORTUNATELY DIED. MY HUSBAND AND I DID NOT NOTICE THE PLECO DIES UNTIL THE NEXT MORNING AND THAT TANK WATER WAS REALLY REALLY DISGUSTING. WE DID A WATER CHANGE AND EVERYTHING BUT ONE OF MY OSCARS HAS LIKE THIS WHITE FILM ALL OVER HIM. I AM ADDING AQUARIUM SALT ANDE I HAVE ALSO ADDED SOME MEDICINE CALLED PREVENT ICH. BUT NOTHING SEEMS TO BE WORKING CAN SOMEONE HELP ME. I DO NOT WANT TO LOOSE MY BABIES. :fairy:

[liv2padl]

what are your water parameters (after the water change) ... ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? pH?
how often do you do water changes and how much do you change each time?

do you vacuum the gravel when you do a water change?

what size tank are these fish in?

stop using "prevent ich". it will do nothing if you don't have an ich problem and probably nothing even if you do. stay with the salt. how much are you adding?

[AMETHYST212]

right now the oscars are in a 55 gallon tank the nitrite and nitrate levels are at about .5. i usually do 25% water changes about 2 times a week. and right now there is an aquaclear 110. and i have been adding 2 tablespoons for each 5 gallons should i be adding more. like i said its only affecting one fish now but im scared they it will start affecting my other ones. the oscars are at about 2.5 inches eac
and the jack dempseys are at about 1 in

thanks to anyone with all their advice.

[AMETHYST212]

oh sorry the ph is at 7.0 and i gravel vacuum at least everyother day. as my fish are scared of it.
and i will definitly stop using that prevent ich. that med smells like garbage.

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

How long has this tank been setup?

You are showing nitrite which means the cycle process is not complete or has been shocked due to the decaying pleco.

-Diana

[AMETHYST212]

the tank has been set up for approximately 3 mths now and the nitrite levels before the pleco passed was 1.0

can you also give me advise on what my levels should be for these kind of fish.

right now im raising the temp of the water which was at 78 im doing 1 degree increments about every hour.

[liv2padl]

there's certainly no need to gravel vacuum every other day unless you're really overfeeding. once a week with each water change is about right.

if that nitrite reading of .5 is after the water change, then presumably it was higher before. moreover, if you've got nitrite you've also got ammonia. you should have ZERO for both ammonia and nitrite and this 'could' be your problem.

though it isn't a problem right now, you should be aware that you're going to need to upgrade to 120 gallons for a pair of oscars in my opinion and larger if you intend to include the dempseys with them.

as for the current problem .. i'd stick with the salt treatment for another few days and then stop it for a week to determine whether it's doing any good. c'mon back if it's not.

[AMETHYST212]

ok do i ad the salt all at one or should i be adiing it every day.

[liv2padl]

not everyday or it will build to intolerable levels. do however, replace as much as you remove when you do a water change to keep the salt level constant.

[AMETHYST212]

oh and am i adding ther ight amount of salt the directions say one rounded table spoon for every 5 gallons but you know these can be very general. thankl you so much everyone and i will definitly look into getting a bigger tank.

[djmodifyd]

when my old tank did this...the ph crashed, and my fish shed their slime coat. my ph dropped to below 6...and they had a white film on them, and died.

are you sure you ph didn't crash?

[AMETHYST212]

no its definitly ick from the peeling its has now just trurned to white spots. all over their body.