Help Oscar Is Sick!

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fish_mike

AC Members
Sep 19, 2005
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MY O IS SICK! he was doing great then started showing white spots, i turned the temp up, and treated with ick meds, didnt work! im starting to think parasites...please help diagnose and help cure

before!
 

fish_mike

AC Members
Sep 19, 2005
59
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now.... u can just make out the dots







any help would be appreciated!
 

fish_mike

AC Members
Sep 19, 2005
59
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he also has white stringy crap if that helps!
 

managuay86

New World Cichlid Keeper
Sep 13, 2005
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37
San Diego, California
first ur fish tank is a bit over stocked and second, how often do u do water changes? becuz he looks like he has lateral line disease, and that is usually caused by feeding it too many feeders and/or poor water conditions.
 

808_fairladyz

Hawaii Freshwater Aquaria Hobbiest
Nov 23, 2005
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47
Hilo, Hawaii
Buy a 55 ga. aquarium, magnum 350 canister filter, good water heater, high grade carbon, etc. Now cycle that tank properly, put your Oscar in there with a good algae consuming pleco ( Avoid larger breeds of plecos), feed it Hikari Gold Pellets and watch her grow big and healthy. Don't forget to do water changes at least twice a month minimum. In all seriousness, i'm sure you've been told everything that i've mentioned above, but you really need a bigger tank for your Oscar(55 ga minimum per Oscar).
 

liv2padl

cichlidophile
Oct 30, 2005
2,686
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north carolina
your tank is overstocked ... a single oscar needs about 75 gallons at maturity and your arowana is going to need 300 gallons. your 55 gallon tank is already too small for an Arowana, let alone with the rest of your fish. while it may appear that your fish are immature right now and therefor can fit in your tank ... you need to be thinking about their adult size.

fish maintained in tanks which are too small or in conditions which are too crowded, develop severe stress syndrome. these fish do not exhibit proper color, do not develop proper fin form, do not exhibit proper metabolic development, do not exhibit normal behaviour, do not develop proper musculature, do not develop properly functioning organ systems and as a result, slowly lose their inherant resistance to disease. this results in a significantly shortened lifespan and along the way, lots of diseases for which the poorly conditioned fish is a good target.

ich IS a parasite. if your oscar has ich which has been treated with meds unsuccessfully, try salt. understand though, that if the conditions which allowed the ich or other parasite to take hold are not fixed, no amount of medicatin will cure the problem. have you checked your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? NH3 and NO2 should be ZERO and nitrate is best kept at 10 ppm or less.

in a tank so heavily stocked, you need to be changing 50 percent of the water on a weekly basis concurrent with gravel vacuums.
 

fish_mike

AC Members
Sep 19, 2005
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I raise fish and sell them back to the pet store, the arowana will be gone shortly....the tank will sill be overstocked, but i plan on moving most of the fish in a few weeks...note that the oscar has only been there for... say 2-3 weeks....

I do believe that oscar's can be kept in a 55 gallon tank there whole life.....by themselves or perhaps with a pleco..this is preference, so dont bash me on it

i do gravel vac and 50 % water changes every 2 weeks

one reason that he may have lateral line would be too many feeders, but i quarantine them for 2 weeks in a 30 gallon tank...does this help at all figuring out why he's sick??
 

liv2padl

cichlidophile
Oct 30, 2005
2,686
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north carolina
the reason(s) he's sick have been clearly outlined for you. if you choose to do otherwise, that's up to you.
 

cyberbeer65

Scratch Glass!
Jan 29, 2005
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What pi**es me off,is these hard headed people that ask for advise,and when given advise,do the complete opposite. :mad:
 

Galaxie

AC Members
Feb 4, 2005
571
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VA
I have one oscar in a 55g and need to do 40% per week changes to keep the nitrates low. What is your nitrate reading? If its near 80ppm, you are inviting problems.

Does anyone else think this is Hole In The Head disease? They make special meds for HITH. I believe its metronidazole based which control the hexamita (sp) parasite that causes HITH in oscars.
 
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