HELP...

[jlennon]

Hello all!!!

Haven't been here for a while but it doesn't mean I haven't been reading. So my problem is my Oscar fish which I have had for almost 6 years and she contracted hole in the head within the first year mainly cause of my poor water quality(thanx city). We have been dealing with it ever since. Well it is back with vengeance. She is almost 12 inches long and here is where you all tell me BAD john but she is living in a 55 gallon tank. She has also taken out two of three bio filters 350's. I am down to one with a hot magnum. This evening I believe she knocked out my last bio filter. So I am working on repairing another filter and see what I can piece together. So I need some input for treatment(ran out of melfix yesterday after her water change, guidance on whether or not I should keep her(cannot afford a larger tank), and treatment cause I do want to keep her. Looking for a little input. Thanx.

 

[Sab_Fan]

I treated HITH on a rainbow cichlid using Jungle parasite clear; I don't see why it wouldn't work for oscars too (they have a picture of an oscar on the box)

I don't know much about the water quality problems you are having, but you said you have a chronic problem, which means medications may not be the best long-term approach; here are some other ideas you might try:

1) get a UV sterilizer, maybe on a canister filter instead of HOBs
2) try using R/O water instead of tap water . . . I do this on my tanks, and while I make smaller weekly water changes, I have more trust in my water quality *

* but, if you go the R/O route, you'll have to buy water additives to make sure your water is fish-ready

these are more expensive approaches, but they would probably solve your problem

 

[TwistedPenguin]

No meds!! If you'll keep your nitrates under 10 ppm while the fish is healing and then under 20 ppm from now on then it'll heal and she'll be fine. Very few people will consistantly keep their nitrates LOW with Oscars. But that's what it takes. With her being in a 55 gal I'd seriously do 2 60% water changes a week and that's after she heals.

 

[steelshade]

What are you feeding her? Diet is a determining factor. If she lives off of primarily goldfish then that is why you have a problem. Vary her diet. Various worms, crickets and pellets. Soak some food in a vitamin solution also.

She's knocking out the filters?

 

[Aqualoon]

No meds!! If you'll keep your nitrates under 10 ppm while the fish is healing and then under 20 ppm from now on then it'll heal and she'll be fine. Very few people will consistantly keep their nitrates LOW with Oscars. But that's what it takes. With her being in a 55 gal I'd seriously do 2 60% water changes a week and that's after she heals.

Spot on advice here, if you're having water quality issues from the tap then consider investing into an RO unit.

 

[Diogenes]

No meds!! If you'll keep your nitrates under 10 ppm while the fish is healing and then under 20 ppm from now on then it'll heal and she'll be fine. Very few people will consistantly keep their nitrates LOW with Oscars. But that's what it takes. With her being in a 55 gal I'd seriously do 2 60% water changes a week and that's after she heals.

She must be maxing out the bioload every 24-48 hrs...

get a canister filter. She can't break it because it's under the tank.

 

[jlennon]

Ok I now have my bio wheel 350 up and running, the hot magnum, and two cascade 300's going in my Oscar tank. I did a partial water change yesterday (15 gallons) and I did a 60% water change today. 15 ml of AmQuel+, 15 ml of Melafix, and I saturated 4 Cichlid Staple large pellets in Vitamarin-C. I will do a 15% water change (unless instructed otherwise) and the next 60% change I will lower the Melafix dose down to half.
Oscar did not consume all the pellets so I will also lower that dose until she gets back to regular eating habits. My water parameters tonight were:
Ammonia--> 2
Nitrite ----> 0
pH--------> 7.4
Nitrate----> 20
She is looking a lot better today and definitely more active. Her sores are even looking better then they were. Tomorrow I will test the water before I change it just to be able to compare the results. I also realize my fish has broken other filters in the past and the cascades are probably a bad idea but she has left these things alone before and that is what I have to work with for now. So till she bust them they will do. Thanx for your input.

 

[jlennon]

What are you feeding her? Diet is a determining factor. If she lives off of primarily goldfish then that is why you have a problem. Vary her diet. Various worms, crickets and pellets. Soak some food in a vitamin solution also.

She's knocking out the filters?

I have been feeding her Hikari Cichlid Staple pellets. I very rarely feed her live food. If I do it is a feeder from my other tank. I just found the vitamin-c supplement and have started her on saturated pellets today.
Yes, she hits the intake of the filter till the motors goes out. I was warned but I went almost 3 years with out a problem.

 

[TwistedPenguin]

jlennon, I'm not a big fan of MelaFix and certainly not when all she needs is fresh clean water. I don't think it's neccessary at all in your case except to make you feel like you're 'doing' something. I bet she does feel better with the extra water changes. The vitamin I like best is Boyd's VitaChem. I can only find it online but it's pretty cheap. I squish a raw shrimp in paper towels until it's real dry then soak it in VitaChem 3 times a week for the Oscars. They're like little kids, you have to hide their vitamins in something lol

 

[justonemoretank]

Your ammonia level is toxic, and is very likely killing your fish. You already know that your tank is too small. If you are unwilling to get a larger tank, I would invest in a sump (or make one for yourself), which could very easily add twenty or so gallons to your total volume. This would also solve your problems of having to replace filters due to her destroying them. Overflow boxes are pretty strong things. Increased volume plus a pump with a flow rate of 6 to 8 times the tank volume should solve a lot of your problems. You may want to invest in some BB (Dr. Tim's One-And-Only is my favorite, because it actually works) to jump-start your biological filter, which isn't working right now (if it were, you wouldn't have any ammonia). An established system should show nitrate, and that's all.