Sick or Injured Oscar...need help!

[excuzzzeme]

A steady diet of bloodworms can lead to bloat. Hikari makes some very healthy cichlid pellets and I heartily recommend them. A properly housed and fed Oscar will live for approximately 15 years. They need vey clean and well-filtered water. For that reason you need to do weekly water changes of 30% at a minimum. As Tiffany pointed out, you need to get a 75 gallon tank for two reasons: 1) To provide ample swimming room, and 2) they are a very messy fish and need the extra water to help maintain cleanliness.

If you cannot provide Skippy with a 75 gallon tank you need to consider re-homing him to someone that can. Living in an agricultural area makes your water susceptible to contamination from fertilizers and insecticides. You should have your water tested for your own sake as well as that of the fish.

 

[Tifftastic]

Any update? How is Skippy after a couple days of water changes.

 

[ksane]

Water changes water changes. The best medicine in the world. You should be doing a minimum of 75% water changes a week for him. As you know a 44 g Hex tank is not a good tank size or shape for an Oscar. He needs at least a 75 g in order to get the 12"-16" that he should be at an adult size. Plus the 75% weekly water changes.
My Oscars bonk their heads on a regular basis and get scrapes. Don't do anything but lots of water changes (from here on out) and it'll heal right up.

 

[Riviera]

Just another update for you. I wasn't able to find the Master Test Kit but from the two choices I came across (Ammonia & Ph Test kits) I bought the Ammonia test kit as it said that Nitrates & Nitrites turn into Ammonia. I tested my water and it's 0. So I guess that is a good thing! I will check for the Master kit the next time I'm near the Pet Store. Skippy seems to be back to his normal, social...jumping out of the water at me...self! I'm going to make time to do some reading up on how to keep him healthy & the such and will get into the routine of water changing as suggested. Thanks again so much for the help & advice! I do have one more question....there are these very small, thread like worms in the tank...which are GROSS! How do I get rid of them? I'm also open to suggestions on good books to have a look at that will guide me in the right direction for Skippy. Thanks!

I posted this reply without seeing the other ones. So just want to let you all know that I appreciate your advice & input! He's not on a steady diet of blood worms but instead gets them as a treat every second day or so and not that many. His main diet is the Cichlid Sticks by Tetra, both the Jumbo Carnivore Sticks & the regular cichlid sticks. Is there a point where I should introduce other things to him? Suggestions? So with the water changes, how long should I take to work my way up to a 75% water change? I'm doing very minimal right now, every couple of days...only about 10% because I thought a big change was a bad thing....?? Thanks everyone

 

[mel_20_20]

I was just looking and saw this thread... I was heading to bed but just had to post a comment to help.

Ammonia appears first in the tank and is a by product of the fish pooing and peeing, and also the decaying of uneaten food or other debris. After a while a beneficial bacteria that loves ammonia begins to flourish in your tank and starts to break it down, this is when you start to see ammoina levels at 0.

Nitrites appear in the tank once ammonia is being broken down.

After a while, a beneficial bacteria that loves nitrites will be in your tank in sufficient quantities to break down nitrites which will cause the levels of nitrites to go to 0.

The process of breaking down nitrites then produces nitrates which are not as dangerous as the other two toxic by-products, but still must be monitored and removed either by water changes or by having plants that use nitrates as fertilizer, basically.

While the process is going on it is very important to do big water changes as frequently as needed to keep the ammonia and nitrites at 0 or as close to that as possible, and then when nitrates are there you need to keep them at or below 20.

Water changes do not stop the cycling process. In fact they are vital to protect your fish. You need to do big water changes, as much as needed to keep the ammonia and nitrites at undetectable levels.

It will help Skippy if you do daily water changes, with temperature matched water that has been conditioned to remove chlorine and chloramines. Prime is excellent and helps with detoxifying ammonia and nitrites for about 24 hours, giving you time to do the needed water changes to keep your ammonia and nitrites at 0.

10% every other day is not nearly enough. I would do at least 50% once a week since the tank is not really large enough, and maybe even twice a week until you can get him a bigger tank.

As soon as possible you need to get the API Master kit so you can test ammonnia, nitrites, and nitrates, ph.

I hope this helps. Really, Skippy needs a bigger tank and sparkling clean water. The water changes are the one thing you can do for him right now that will work wonders in helping him get well.... and in keeping him from getting sick again. If you can't get a bigger tank or rehome him then you really have to keep his water pristine by doing frequent, big water changes.

Monitoring the water parameters with the liquid test kit and then doing the needed water changes will help him tremendously.

Best wishes for Skippy's speedy recovery. Keep posting here on AC, the folks here truly want to help, and you can learn so much by looking through the forums and reading other threads. I've learned so much and have been helped so much by others here on AC. Keep up the good work for your buddy.

 

[mel_20_20]

Oh.. the thread-like worms are planaria. They are harmless and your fish will eat them, but they are usually a result of overfeeding. Be careful not to overfeed. Also, when you feed Skippy make sure that you vacuum out any uneaten food which will decay. The planaria will go away if you do these things, and this will help keep his water quality good, too.

 

[ksane]

Yes, my guess is the worms are planaria also. They feed on all the gunk, poo & uneaten food down in the gravel. So be sure to syphon the gravel when you do water changes (which do need to be a LOT more than 10% a day). Oscars love love love fresh water. It's a myth that anything over 25% is 'bad'. I read that time and again but it's just plain not true.
I've got well water in an agricultural (sp?) area, too. But my well water tests at 0 ppm. I've read that before about agriculture causing nitrates in water but I've never know anyone who's had that problem. I'd also get busy scouring CraigsList.org for at least a 75 g tank.

 

[pinkertd]

Just wanted to point out here that Tiff's advice early on dealt with the fact that Riviera hasn't been doing any water changes on this tank and so as not to shock the fish with any large water change, Riviera is working up slowly by starting with 10% water changes every other day.

It's been 6 days now since you started doing small water changes every other day. I would increase the water changes to 25% every other day for the next week and then start a routine of at least one 50% water change weekly, preferably a 75% water change. Use a gravel vac to clean through your gravel at the same time you do your water change. Aqueon and Python make siphon/gravel vacs that make water changing and gravel vacing a snap! Just be sure to temperature match from the faucet the water going in to the tank with what's in the tank.

Continued good luck with Skippy!

 

[mel_20_20]

Wow, Deb... :lipssealedsmilie: sorry I missed that in the early post. :headshake2: Yes for sure you don't want to get extreme with water changes when you may be dealing with "old tank symdrome"; gradual is better.

Good that you caught that and set us straight.

 

[mel_20_20]

Hey Riviera... how's Skippy? I hope he's feeling better. Give us an update. Let us know if we can be of any help. You're doing a great job for your little friend!