Hi, ive got this oscar fish that has ich all over his body in a pond. He keeps lying on the ground diagonally and wont eat anything at all. I also noticed a small scar on its side. I quickly removed the fish and is at this very moment in a bucket. Im thinking of placing it in my only other tank big enough to house it temporarily(30 gallons). The tank is now currently housing a bichir(endlecheri) about the same size as the oscar. I really want to put the bichir in the pond but it is currently very spoiled as it would only eat things if i put it right infront of its mouth. So im worried he would go starving in the pond as it wont get any food shares. So will it be safe to put the oscar in the tank? Would the ich spread to the bichir? I was also planning on infusing the water with anti ich medicine and aquarium salt as well so will the bichir be ok to go through all that? Pls respond asap. Thanks a lot.
Oscar fish with ich! Dont know where to house it,pls help.
- Thread starter Jdk
- Start date
- Status
I’d assume the pond has ich in it. So wouldn’t put any fish in it. Wouldn’t put the Oscar with the endlicheri. Get a cheap plastic tote from Walmart.
Would do one type of treatment, meds or salt, and not both.
Would do one type of treatment, meds or salt, and not both.
Thanks for the reply! Sorry for my jumbled up story cause i think you understood it wrongly. To put it much simpler, i have a pond with different kinds of predator fish and one of them is the oscar with ich. So i wanted to separate the oscar into another 30 gal tank which currently has a bichir with feeding problems.
Ive decided to place the bichir in the pond for the moment and replace it with the sick oscar. Im treating the oscar with methylne blue and hope for the best.
The first sentence you said worries me though. So you're saying that the others in the pond have ich too? So far everyone else is doing very well and very active but im going to make sure to check on the pond constantly. The oscar got the ich probably from the seller as ive only had it in the pond for less than a week.
Ive decided to place the bichir in the pond for the moment and replace it with the sick oscar. Im treating the oscar with methylne blue and hope for the best.
The first sentence you said worries me though. So you're saying that the others in the pond have ich too? So far everyone else is doing very well and very active but im going to make sure to check on the pond constantly. The oscar got the ich probably from the seller as ive only had it in the pond for less than a week.
I agree with kno4te, you should now assume the entire pond the oscar was in, is infected with ick, and should now be treated.
I treat ick with 3 lbs of salt (rock salt, water softener salt, any salt listed as NaCl) per 100 gallons. So if the pond is @ 500 gallons you need to add at least 15 LBs. of salt, and keep the salinity up at that level (3ppt) for at last 2-3 weeks. If its 1,000 gallons, you'll need 30 LBs.
If one fish has it, you must assume all other fish that were in the pond were exposed, and do too, separating the oscar from the other fish, will "not" save them.
When a fish has spots, those spots are constantly shedding young ick. Each spot produces and hatches up to 100 new ick parasites,at different time.
One week in the pond , could have added thousands of new ick to it.
I treat ick with 3 lbs of salt (rock salt, water softener salt, any salt listed as NaCl) per 100 gallons. So if the pond is @ 500 gallons you need to add at least 15 LBs. of salt, and keep the salinity up at that level (3ppt) for at last 2-3 weeks. If its 1,000 gallons, you'll need 30 LBs.
If one fish has it, you must assume all other fish that were in the pond were exposed, and do too, separating the oscar from the other fish, will "not" save them.
When a fish has spots, those spots are constantly shedding young ick. Each spot produces and hatches up to 100 new ick parasites,at different time.
One week in the pond , could have added thousands of new ick to it.
Last edited:
No, i got all the fishes in the pond at the same time, though this particular oscar was already looking weak and doesnt want to eat the first time i got them. Its confirmed that the seller used to keep each of the fishes in separate tanks. Ive decided to add 4kg of aquarium salt to the pond as it is a 400 gallon pond. Thank you everyone for helping me.
For a 400 gallon pond I calculate you are going to need 5.5 Kilos of salt.
Unless the salinity is high enough (3ppt) some ick will resist, even a 2.5ppt salinity the infection may not be stopped.
Don't wimp out on the salt.
I've seen people go light on it thinking a certain salinity might have a negative affect on 1 scaleless fish, but because of that wimpy action end up having them all die.
With ick, there is bound to be some collateral damage.
Unless the salinity is high enough (3ppt) some ick will resist, even a 2.5ppt salinity the infection may not be stopped.
Don't wimp out on the salt.
I've seen people go light on it thinking a certain salinity might have a negative affect on 1 scaleless fish, but because of that wimpy action end up having them all die.
With ick, there is bound to be some collateral damage.
What do you mean by 1 scaleless fish? Does it mean fishes that naturally doesnt have scales or fishes that have damaged scales? I have bichirs, oscars, arowana,tinfoil barbs,plecos, and a hujeta freshwater barracuda. I will make sure to keep the salinity and temperature high though should the filtration still be the same? It is an external cannister filter with sponges, ceramic rings, uv lights, qnd aerators.
It was a general statement, to all readers of this thread, not directed at you, because......I didn't know your stock until the post above.
Catfish are sometimes referred to as scaleless, and sometimes don't take well to being treated, so some aquarists resist treating a tank with them in, and because of this, end up prolonging the disease with a less than adequate dose of whatever used, salt or a med.
Its akin to when a doctor proscribes an antibiotic for 10 days, and the patient stops after 8, this sometimes allows the bacteria that survive to become stronger and resistant to the drug..
Filtration should remain the same, although if there is carbon, it should be removed.
Catfish are sometimes referred to as scaleless, and sometimes don't take well to being treated, so some aquarists resist treating a tank with them in, and because of this, end up prolonging the disease with a less than adequate dose of whatever used, salt or a med.
Its akin to when a doctor proscribes an antibiotic for 10 days, and the patient stops after 8, this sometimes allows the bacteria that survive to become stronger and resistant to the drug..
Filtration should remain the same, although if there is carbon, it should be removed.
Last edited:
Ive added the 5.5kg of salt inside the pond and everyone inside the pond seens to be doing well with no signs of diseases. Though i am worried about the quarantined oscar, he hasn't been eating for about 5 days now but seems a bit more active after putting it in the tank with methylene blue and water is heated up to 28 degree celsius. Ive even tried putting all sorts of different food on a stick and putting it up close to the mouth but it still wont eat. How long can it survive without eating? Oh, and im also seeing very tiny white dots flying around the tank, hopefully dead ich.
- Status