:help: i have a 3 year old large tiger oscar and for the past few days he's been spinning all over the tank, and seems to rubbing his head on things. he's not eating, and his gills are opened really wide. i asked a guy at the store what it could be and he said it was probably gill flukes, but he didn't seem like he was sure. i put him in a quarantine tank after doing a 25% water change and i treated him with copper about 24 hours ago. there's no sign of improvement, minus the fact that he's not spinning as much. the other fish from the main tank seem fine. i really have no idea what this could be and i really don't want to lose this guy. please PLEASE give me some ideas as to what this is and how i could possibly treat it!!! thanks! :help:
GILL FLUKES??
- Thread starter pooka37
- Start date
Not spinning as much is an improvement - this is the symptom that would bother me the most.
What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) tested with a good liquid drop test kit - test the original tank too.
What size tank was he in, and what tank mates ?
The guy in the LFS may have fixated on the fact that you describe his gills open as really wide. Do you observe that he is noticeable 'pumping' for air - i.e. breathing very heavily ? Is one set of gills behaving differently to the other side ? Often with flukes/gill infections it'll set in worse on one side, the initial infection, and that'll clamp up a bit and the other will have to work much harder to compensate.
What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) tested with a good liquid drop test kit - test the original tank too.
What size tank was he in, and what tank mates ?
The guy in the LFS may have fixated on the fact that you describe his gills open as really wide. Do you observe that he is noticeable 'pumping' for air - i.e. breathing very heavily ? Is one set of gills behaving differently to the other side ? Often with flukes/gill infections it'll set in worse on one side, the initial infection, and that'll clamp up a bit and the other will have to work much harder to compensate.