Hole-in-the-head...Please help my beloved Oscar!

[guppy]

Hiya peaches, sometimes even a knowledgable source can make a typo or an error and not catch it before printing, Chicken Teeth's idea about the sump sounds good as a solution until you get a bigger tank. I know they are a bit hard to find but a 50g tall or a 50g long is a better choice than the 55g standard, they are 36"x 18"x 17" and 48"x 18"x 13" instead of the 55g's 48"x 12 1/2"x 21", the extra 5 1/2" in width is good for larger fish like your oscar.
HOB filters work fine though they have less room for biomedia than do canisters, I use more than one on larger tanks and like the gph to be 3-4 times the tank capacity. I remove the charcoal from the filter pack and replace it with either filter batting or small pieces of lava rock for a little more growth space for the bacteria. Using two or more HOBs also lets me alternate which one I clean so it helps keep the water parameters stable.

 

[peaches]

Thank you Guppy and everybody else...... Friday I attempted to move my oscar into my current established 55 gallon. It was quite a procedure, first I moved my Striped River catfish into another 30 gallon of mine so he would be safe from the Oscar... Then I moved my big severum out of the 55 into a 5 gallon bucket as a holding area until I can swap the Oscar to the 55 and the Severum to the Oscar's 29 gal. I worked for about 3 hours trying to catch fish. When I finally got around to trying to scoop my Oscar up in a 1 gallon pitcher.... That's when it got bad. I carefully had the pitcher aimed at him in the tank, I slowly pushed him into a corner to try and herd him into the pitcher (didn't have a net big enough), as I expected and dreaded, Oswald panicked--- flipped this way and that and nearly jumped completely out of his aquarium, he scraped his whole side on the edge frame of the tank in his attempt to get away. I stopped there and gave up. This just wasn't going to work out. He was too stressed and I think my pitcher was really too small. Luckily now, with a 50% water change and a dose of Melafix, Oswald's wound healed nicely and he is back to normal. My Severum was put back into his 55 gallon and now I don't know what to do.
How do you move large Oscar without hurting him really badly? Is an extra large net like a Koi net best? My petstore does carry them. I fear trying to move him again, he got so battered because he was so scared. I wish I knew of a better way. And also, is it worth even adding him to my 55 gallon because without the Severum and Catfish of course he would still live with two large Tinfoil barbs. Does this amount of fish put the same bioload as if he was alone in his 29 gal and would it even be worth it? I hope this makes some sense. Trust me, I would get him a huge tank, but I really can't afford it right now.

I heard early stages of Hole in the head can be cured by the addition of Vitamins in their diet. Where do you get these fish vitamins? Or does he need a good quality high nutrition pellet? He already eats Hikari Gold cichlid pellets.

Thanks!!!!!!
Peaches~

 

[fishnutham]

sound like youre having a lot of trouble : to catch him remove all ornaments from the tank drain down the water so hes got a inch of water above him and use a large net to catch him do it slow with the lights off in the room to if u can- transfer him to a large tub or bucket dont carry him in the net he could flop right out or worse .addresing the hith although hikari is the best add some liquid vitamines to his pellets for a week
and once a week for weekly mantances that combined with the other great info posted here should cure your hith problem be patient its a long process there are a few articles on the net regauaarding hith and vitamins and your oscar

 

[fishnutham]

i belive bigalonline.com has liquid vitamines for fish i use vitamines from the health store with all natural base additives crushed and added to his pellets i make my own or add water to the powder and soak the pellats drying well under a heat lamp good luck.........

 

[peaches]

Thank you very much Fishnut!!!! My Oscar is actually faring quite well.... I have been changing 50% of his water every other day or so until I can manage to move him to a bigger tank. I will look for those liquid vitamins right away on Bigal's.com.........

I must say I don't think I've ever had so many people be so very helpful and patient with my problem. Thank you all very much!

Merry Christmas!
~Peaches

ps: will update soon.....

 

[guppy]

Plastic trash bags work well for quick transfers or fisk like oscars, you can scoop up the fish and however much water as it takes then just return the unwanted water back into the tank, you also don't risk the fish jumping out like with nets and buckets.

 

[peaches]

Hi!
Well, I have tried Aquarium Pharm. Anti-parasite medicated food for my Oscar. Since it contains Metronidazole which seems to be the most recommended treatment medication. It specifically says it treats HITH and works wonderful and all that lovely stuff .... Well, it says to spread the food across the surface and magically watch your fish gobble it up. LOL (just kidding) I knew my big Oscar wouldn't eat the tiny pellets so I hide a couple inside a canned cricket... dropped it in his tank, he gobbled it up, blew cricket juice everywhere.. And spit out the pellet. I tried three times to hide the medicated pellets mashed into crickets. I hid the pellets well. But he always managed to sort out the cricket from the pellet in his throat and, everytime after blowing cricket juice he would spit out the pellets. Smart boy he is. But now what do I do? I guess extra water changes and ensuring an excellent diet is best for now until I Manage to get him in at least a 55 gallon or 75gal (I wish)

If I can figure out what to do with my big Severum and two tinfoil barbs, there is a established 55 gallon right there for him. Even only several feet from his tank! I dread the idea of giving up my fish to the horrid pestore!

Anyways, Tanks a lot you all! Nobody has to bother with replying back to me. I am basically just babbling on about my problems.....

Happy holidays~
Peaches~

 

[guppy]

You could try powdering a couple pellets and mixing them into some minced beefheart.

 

[fishnutham]

this works for my O he loves krill so i dry it real well and cover it with Gel - Tek ultra cure px
and hand feed him sucks them right in, i feed him as much as he can handle since this is a gel he most likly will get 50% into him and i'm persistent on the vitamin thing oscars suffer from vitamin loss in closed sytems something is missing from their diet that they get in the wild sadly not enough is known about oscars and their feeding habits in the wild and high nitrates contribute to hith problems

 

[peaches]

Thank you for the advice....I will try tricking him again into eating his medication. I hope I don't overdose. The directions don't mention anything about the AMOUNT you are supposed to feed but to just sort of--feed it.

And I will certainly try giving him a vitamin supplement. Strange how people don't know an wild Oscar's natural feeding behavior in nature. You'd think that would be well studied. It's just another thing we don't know yet.....

Updates soon