Very Sick baby Oscar

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Oscarboy10

Registered Member
Jun 23, 2010
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Hi,
I have a tiger oscar which is around 2 inchs in size, I have had him for roughly 4 months, He is in a 4ft tank with a variety of fish (gold fish, fighter, mollies & some zebra kinda fish) the pet shop advised me to get a green terror so they could grow toghether, this went well for 3 days until i came home today & found my Oscar beaten up, his fins are seperated & look like they have been bitten in places, he is losing his colour, the red ring around the black dot on his tale has gone completley all he is doing is lying at the bottom of the tank on his side but looks like he is going down hill. I did move him to another tank to try and make a recovery.

I had never been a fish person until I seen him so im still new, he was in a 4ft tank with ph of 6.8 & amonia of 7, his recovery tank is only 2ft with same pph & amonia. I am not sure of what the filters are called all I know is that the dude at the shop said they woul be the best & they where expensive as.

Please any help would be great on this as he has a new 6ft tank being made for him & the terror @ the momeent & I would like him to be around to check it out.
 
I'm sorry to say but from the pic, it's too far gone. Don't give up on Oscars though. They are hardy fish but I would suggest you find a suitable tankmate for your Green Terror. Oscars have an undeserved reputation of being mean. Truth is, Oscars are just big and like all cichlids, they are aggressive during spawning. Research Central American Cichlids for possible tankmates for the Green Terror and allow them to occupy the 6' tank. If you really want an Oscar, I would suggest only 1 in a 4' tank. Silver Dollars may work as tankmates; Pictus Catfish and a large Pleco would be good choices also.
 
Oscarboy10 said:
Hi,
I have a tiger oscar which is around 2 inchs in size, I have had him for roughly 4 months, He is in a 4ft tank with a variety of fish (gold fish, fighter, mollies & some zebra kinda fish) the pet shop advised me to get a green terror so they could grow toghether, this went well for 3 days until i came home today & found my Oscar beaten up, his fins are seperated & look like they have been bitten in places, he is losing his colour, the red ring around the black dot on his tale has gone completley all he is doing is lying at the bottom of the tank on his side but looks like he is going down hill. I did move him to another tank to try and make a recovery.

I had never been a fish person until I seen him so im still new, he was in a 4ft tank with ph of 6.8 & amonia of 7, his recovery tank is only 2ft with same pph & amonia. I am not sure of what the filters are called all I know is that the dude at the shop said they woul be the best & they where expensive as.

Please any help would be great on this as he has a new 6ft tank being made for him & the terror @ the momeent & I would like him to be around to check it out.
Click to expand...
please read up on Cycling a tank

ammonia of 7 is deadly ammonia (NH3) should read 0.
 
Looks like he has ammonia burns as well as a fungal infection. It is pretty much a guess without seeing him in detail. Goldfish do not belong with Oscars. Completely different water temps are needed among other things.

You need to cycle the tank properly, get rid of most of the fish, and start over correctly. Please read up on cycling a tank. Also read up on compatible fish. "A zebra fish of some kind" tells me you did not research your fish before your purchase. You need to know exactly what kind of fish you have.

If it is not too late, he can be saved but will require work and effort on your part. Quality filtration is an absolute need for both goldfish and Oscars. You will need to research out all your fish and understand the requirements.

I am sorry if I may seem harsh. Just hoping to get you to a point of understanding how the fish store didn't do you any favors. Knowing the size (gallons) is critical in helping someone as is knowing exactly what other fish are in the tank.

Ammonia of 7 is an extremely high reading. What are you testing with? a reading of .7 is still in the lethal zone. you will need to do 30% water changes daily until ammonia reads .25. Knowing what type of test kit will help us to help you as well.

Oscars MUST have very clean water at all times. This cannot be stressed enough. Move him into your 2' tank but only if the water is clean, fresh and proper temp. Make sure you use a dechlorinator if you are on city water.

Knowing where you live (state and country) might help as there might be a member near you that can assist.

Please read the Newebie section as it contains alot of helpful information. You also need to understand the cycling process.

Good luck!


P.S. I have 5 Oscars and have done alot of research on them. I don't have all the answers but might be able to help you locate some.
 
:cry: thats just awful...
 
Its always possible he may survive in a sick tank. The fish has to upright itself first or it will just die on its side. Change his water in the sick tank every day and don't put a filter on it. The idea of a sick tank is also for the bacteria free environment. For the future, you should just be testing your water more often. Ammonia shouldn't get that high. The more sudden the algae pops up, the more likely that you have an ammonia problem. I have never done a single master test on my fresh water and I have done fine. Its very hard to mess it up. If you leave it alone for 2-4 months or are overstocked, conditions can deteriorate quickly. Just do some significant cleaning once a month with a 10-20% water change on top of that and you should be fine. Make sure your filter isn't underpowered either and add some filter booster. You may even want to drop ammonia eliminator in if its an emergency.
 
FishPish said:
. . . Just do some significant cleaning once a month with a 10-20% water change on top of that and you should be fine. . . .
Click to expand...

10-20% once a month is asking for problems!

Goldfish and Oscars are very messy at eating and with waste. Their water needs to be changed weekly with a minimum of 30% along with heavy vacuuming. Some people recommend 30% twice a week.
Please read up on care of Oscars and their requirements. They should have a recommended water turnover rate of 10X an hour.
 
Thanks for the replies, sadly he did not make it.I took him to the fish doctor this morning & he said it was due to battle wounds. I had a go at my husband for having the amonia so high - but I didnt listen he said no amonia and the 1st tank had 6.8 ph and the 2nd 7ph, so sorry for the misunderstanding. he did get a bit of fungi looking stuff on him after a few hours of being in the state he was in.

I will now be seperating my fish, not very happy at the fact I got a specialist in to set my tanks up & match my fish.
But dont worry I wll not be going out and getting anymore till I do my research.

thanks again for your help
 
I know it's too late to save your little guy, but to still be 2" after 4 months, something was seriously wrong. It should have have been close to 6" in that time. Seriously, young Oscar do grow that fast, you notice the growth each week when they are small.

While the tankmates were not compatible, thats mostly because a healthy young Oscar should have quickly grown to 6" and eaten them.

PH is pretty much irrelevant, Oscars are fine with anything between 6 and 8, and I hope your ammonia reading was actually zero, and there was some confusion there?

I suspect you got a sick one, and it just took 4 months to die :uhoh:

An Oscar and Green Terror "should" have been OK together in a 6 ft tank, I think you were just unlucky.

Ian
 
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