Fatal Oscar Disease

[duanes]

There are 2 ways this disease manifests itself, in a fungus like infection as the photos show above, and also as the malady commonly known as ducklips, which is considered the acute form, and also kills very quickly.
The easiest way to keep it out of the aquarium, is to keep temps below 82'F, and vacuum detritus regularly with frequent water changes.

 

[Castlk]

That is horrible, I wish you the best in getting your tank straightened out and up and running again.

 

[projectile]

I would suggest use of probiotics as well , will reduce detritus and the load of pathogenic bacteria.
There's a great thread about it on the forum.

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[Reincarnated]

Thanks everyone. The bio load couldnt have been too bad on the tank. The silver dollars didnt eat when i tried feeding them and in the 2 weeks the oscars were in there i think the female ate 3 massivore pellets and the male and the red oscar didnt eat anything. The male was too busy trying to spawn, the red oscar was taking the aggression away from the female so he wasnt eating. Mayb e stress caused this disease to flare up? I dont know its the first time ive encountered this disease in the 20 years ive been keeping fish so its baffling but thanks everyone for the info and help. The last silver dollar died night before last so the tank is empty. Im going to drain it and re fill it and i have all new filter media so ill let it cycle for a few weeks then try to figure out what fish i want to try in it next time.

 

[projectile]

If you emptying and resetting the tank then, bleach it. With your filters running.

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[Reincarnated]

If you emptying and resetting the tank then, bleach it. With your filters running.

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Even with all the new filter media in and all that? I assume its to kill any remnants of the disease?

 

[duanes]

Back in the late 1950s when I started keeping fish, it was known as live bearer disease.
I had not seen it in my tanks until 3 years ago during a heatwave, and my beani, got the "ducklips" acute form. Tanks that I normally kept in the mid 70sF were up in the mid 80sF that summer.
When it was known as live bearer disease, live bearers were the most inbred and hybrid fish in aquaria, so I have been wondering if the neo-proliferation of hybridizing cichlids, has unwittingly brought it into this family. The more research I have done into the latest semi epidemic conditions seems to have been parallel to the flowerhorn inception.
When you hybridize a fish, you also may be co-hybridizing all the micro-flora and fauna inside the fish.

 

[Aquanero]

Look at the fish you see it in 99% of the time. Flower Horns and Midevils. There are several other cichlids you see it in but there is no way of knowing how the breeding lines of these fish follow this sceanaro but it stands to reason they are also highly inbred. Like the ones I mentioned.

 

[duanes]

I believe that the inbreeding and hybridizing of cichids, and in conjunction, with an overuse of antibiotics in those factory farmed situations, has created super strains of bacteria that will undermine/overwhelm the normal resistance of even the healthiest of cichlids.
Just as has been occurring in humans and livestock, E coli 157 for example.
And my hypothesis
If you combine a cichlid from an area where water temps are in the 80sF, with a more northern species from waters in the 70sF, the gene to resist a bacteria such as Flexibactor (a warm water vector) may be compromised, or not.
But the flowerhorn, at least in my theory, appears to have taken the worst of 2 scenario routes.

 

[ecoli73]

Unfortunately, a lot of people who are used to ick first thing they do is raise the temperature.

And duanes, stop using my relative's name in vain.


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