Hello, Barry is a 13yr old oscar we rescued at 8yrs old from a guy moving. He is blind with cataracts which happened in the last 6months. We thinks he sees shadows though. We are having trouble feeding him. He has only eaten Tetra large cichlid pellets his whole life and we could never wean him off. We had success splashing the water to get him to come up to eat. Tapping the tank at the top. But now he is freaked out since we went through a course of antibiotics for hith. I've tried shrimp from the grocery store with long tweezers, all foods you can think of with the tweezers. I know maybe time will help but going without food might stress him out and cause his hith to come back. Any thoughts?
Help with feeding Blind 13yr old Oscar
- Thread starter Grouch15
- Start date
Welcome aboard
It will help greatly if you listed water parameters Ammonia,Nitrite,Nitrate and PH.
Also size of aquarium the Oscar and how often water changes and filter maintenance are performed.
What percentage of water removed during weekly, biweekly, or monthly?
If the Oscar has cataracts as you stated definitely untreatable unless a animal vet can do the surgery.
Cloudy eye can be treated with proper water conditions.
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Hello, Ph is always 8-9, we have hard water here. Tank 175gallons, nitrite o, ammonia, o, phosphorus. 5, nitrate 50, kh6, gh 7, salt 0.3%. He has a pressure filter for 1000gal and back filter for 100 along with filter tanks underneath. His eyes are toast, vet said enucleation only thing but they dont bother him. Every 3 days 20% water changes but going to weekly now which would be 50%. Just finishing his antibiotics. Will be using Dr. Erk Johnsons brf-15 to reestablish bacteria, have been using koizyme to help out compete bad bacteria. Poor grumpy old man.
Definitely, they have lots of sensors which are like tiny holes all over there head, which is why they get hole in head so easily. I thought really smelly food would entice him but no.
One eye pupil is blown and the other is a cataract. Vet said removal was all they would do but I feel he still sees shadows somewhat. So sad
Great to know that you're on top of everything.Hello, Ph is always 8-9, we have hard water here. Tank 175gallons, nitrite o, ammonia, o, phosphorus. 5, nitrate 50, kh6, gh 7, salt 0.3%. He has a pressure filter for 1000gal and back filter for 100 along with filter tanks underneath. His eyes are toast, vet said enucleation only thing but they dont bother him. Every 3 days 20% water changes but going to weekly now which would be 50%. Just finishing his antibiotics. Will be using Dr. Erk Johnsons brf-15 to reestablish bacteria, have been using koizyme to help out compete bad bacteria. Poor grumpy old man.
Thirteen is absolutely awesome for a cichlid like a Oscar imo.
Thank you. I was wondering how long they usually live for people?
It's various factors such as genetics, proper care, food and proper aquarium care.