We have an Oscar and we were gone for about two weeks and our Oscar tank got very dirty. The tank had so much algea and you could not see in the tank at all. Well anyhow we did a complete water change and scrubbed the tank clean and now it looks like a brand new tank. Our Oscar when we put him back into the tank, was swimming upside down and could not swim correctly. it has been about 4 hours since we changed the water and he seems to be doing better, but he has what appears to be blood on the top of him and he had slime that covered him, but the slime is now gone, he also has cloud like type stuff over his eyes. We bought him fish salt and a medicine called All Natural MelaFix. It is an Antibacterial Remedy for fresh and saltwater fish diseases. The lasy at the pet store told us to get it and he would get better, but he's not showing much approval. Is there anything else that we can do for him? I also know that it was supposedley the wrong thing to do when we gave our Oscar a complete water change. please help us, Our Oscar has became our family. My fiance's ne wbest friend. HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!
Help Very Sick Oscar
- Thread starter paul_aletha
- Start date
Did you let any chemicals in the tank (such as household cleaning substances)? Those might have depleted the slime coat.
Also, did you treat the water, or use straight tap water?
Also, did you treat the water, or use straight tap water?
i'm curious about the handling of the fish during this cleaning? Obviously if you did 100% water change you moved the oscar out. Did you catch him with a net? what did you put him in during, and was it filled with water from the tank or tap water?if it was from the tap did you remember to treat it first?
using a net can damage a fishs' slime coating, and it sounds like maybe he was in shock when you put him back in(from water temps. fluctuating)
using a net can damage a fishs' slime coating, and it sounds like maybe he was in shock when you put him back in(from water temps. fluctuating)
Yes, we took everything out of the 33 gal. tank. We have not put anything back in the tank yet. We soaked it with very hot water and washed them with a clean rag. No soap or chemicals were used at all. Just hot water and a clean rag. We used straight tap water and as we were filling the tank, we put tap water cleaner in the tank. We removed our Oscar from the tank and put him a big bowl with half of his old water and half tap water. We used what the pet store told us to use, a big pan and a large net. And remember, he was sick before we did this change, but now you really see in complete detail what is wrong with him, when before you could not see in his tank at all. He has goldfish in there with him, but half the time he wants his pelletts instead. We can't get him to eat anything and he is breathing very slow. Slower than what he was 3 hours ago. Please I need to know if there is fish doctor that can come look at him or if anyone knows how I can save his life!!? What about the medicine I had mentioned earlier? Is that okay or is there another one that will work better? Please help us, I don't want part of my family to die. Thank you.
HHmmm....where to begin. Lets start with a couple questions I guess. You stated that hes in a 33g tank....I assume a flat back hex. How big is your oscar? Next, you stated that you used a tap water cleaner??? Do you mean a tap water conditioner? It is very important to remove chlorine/chloramines from municipal water. The cloudeness of his eyes tells me that there IS something in the water he don't like. Normally its an indication of a chemical burn of some kind....be it amonia, chlorine, excessive nitrate ect... Melafix is a decent broad spectrum treatment, but its not a cure all. Melafix is very useful for repairing damaged fins, or keeping fungus from forming on the fish, but its not very useful for parasites or other microbials.
It does sound like you have a very sick fish, and I wish I could be more specific, but without being able to see the fish, I can only speculate, and try to give you a broad based answer. First, go back to your LFS and get some ammo chips, or amquell, or something simmilar. You want to keep the amonia from building up in the tank. Since you did a thourough cleaning on the tank, there will be no bacteria present to convert the amonia, so for now, its best not to let it build up until hes strong enough to take it. Next, double check the dossage of the malafix. Though I've come to understand that its hard to overdose that stuff, try to make sure the directions are followed closely. The addition of salt was a good thing, but keep in mind, that salt will not have to be re-added unless you take water out of the tank.....1tbs per 5g for treatment is fine. Look at your bottle of tap water coditioner and make sure its effective for the removal of both chlorine and chlorimines....if not, get one that is!! Also, it may be helpful if you turned the heat up on the tank a bit. Try to get it up to 82 degrees, but please do it slowly. A degree or two every hour is fine.
Now, this is an important part.. When you go back to the fish store, often times a paniced customer will buy just about anything to try and aid in the recovery of their fish. DONT! Do not add any other treatments to that tank. Medications are often very stressful to fish, and can compound your problem. Things like acriflavin, nox-ich, formalin are all very potent chemicals, and often do just about as much harm as good. It seems to me that your fish couldn't handle much more stress at the moment.
Leave the light off, try to keep traffic in the room to a minimum, and hope for the best. I wish you luck, and if you have more questions, or problems with him, please feel free to drop me a PM and perhaps I can try to advise further.
Best wishes,
"J"
It does sound like you have a very sick fish, and I wish I could be more specific, but without being able to see the fish, I can only speculate, and try to give you a broad based answer. First, go back to your LFS and get some ammo chips, or amquell, or something simmilar. You want to keep the amonia from building up in the tank. Since you did a thourough cleaning on the tank, there will be no bacteria present to convert the amonia, so for now, its best not to let it build up until hes strong enough to take it. Next, double check the dossage of the malafix. Though I've come to understand that its hard to overdose that stuff, try to make sure the directions are followed closely. The addition of salt was a good thing, but keep in mind, that salt will not have to be re-added unless you take water out of the tank.....1tbs per 5g for treatment is fine. Look at your bottle of tap water coditioner and make sure its effective for the removal of both chlorine and chlorimines....if not, get one that is!! Also, it may be helpful if you turned the heat up on the tank a bit. Try to get it up to 82 degrees, but please do it slowly. A degree or two every hour is fine.
Now, this is an important part.. When you go back to the fish store, often times a paniced customer will buy just about anything to try and aid in the recovery of their fish. DONT! Do not add any other treatments to that tank. Medications are often very stressful to fish, and can compound your problem. Things like acriflavin, nox-ich, formalin are all very potent chemicals, and often do just about as much harm as good. It seems to me that your fish couldn't handle much more stress at the moment.
Leave the light off, try to keep traffic in the room to a minimum, and hope for the best. I wish you luck, and if you have more questions, or problems with him, please feel free to drop me a PM and perhaps I can try to advise further.
Best wishes,
"J"
Well I have been away for a while, but something I am missing here is the usual questions from all our sernior members.
What are your water params?
PH, Ammonia and the such.
Also what symptoms did you notice from him before the water change, along with any indications of anything wrong with the tank before the change other than the "dirtyness"
Something that I can think of, and I am FAR from being an expert, maybe it could just be a little bit of rough handling along with some shock of having what I can assume would be very high ammonia levels in the dirty tank, now getting plunged into a new and also assuming cold tank. Leave the heater on, lights down as stated above and hope for the best.
Again tank params will be of great help to someone diagnose what could be wrong.
What are your water params?
PH, Ammonia and the such.
Also what symptoms did you notice from him before the water change, along with any indications of anything wrong with the tank before the change other than the "dirtyness"
Something that I can think of, and I am FAR from being an expert, maybe it could just be a little bit of rough handling along with some shock of having what I can assume would be very high ammonia levels in the dirty tank, now getting plunged into a new and also assuming cold tank. Leave the heater on, lights down as stated above and hope for the best.
Again tank params will be of great help to someone diagnose what could be wrong.
Oscar
Well, the fish was probably subjected to too much shock. Shock in terms of a ph change, temperature change, physical shock from the handling, etc. Chlorine will definitely do its damage very quickly. As well as a large temperature change.
Well, the fish was probably subjected to too much shock. Shock in terms of a ph change, temperature change, physical shock from the handling, etc. Chlorine will definitely do its damage very quickly. As well as a large temperature change.
