Sporozoa or protozoan infection. Have you tried Malachite Green?
http://www.google.com/products/cata...log_result&ct=image&resnum=3&ved=0CDUQ8gIwAg#
http://www.google.com/products/cata...log_result&ct=image&resnum=3&ved=0CDUQ8gIwAg#
This Has Stumped the Oscar Community
- Thread starter Judge Holden
- Start date
i had the same problem with mine and i never did find a answer to what it was or why it happend i tried melfix and it went away and to this day ( 2 years later) i havint seen it come back or even traces hope this helped you a little
I tried the Melafix-Pimafix combo. My tank STILL smells funky. 
If I use a vet, I wonder if Oscars can take a tiny dose of Valium or something similar. The last time I moved him it wasn't pretty.
If I use a vet, I wonder if Oscars can take a tiny dose of Valium or something similar. The last time I moved him it wasn't pretty.
Didn't see that, maybe nitrofuracin? It's definitely a fungus of some sort. Nitrofuracin is a wide spectrum medication. It kills bacteria, protozoan, etc.
Taking a sample isn't as scary as it sounds, and shouldn't be all that stressful to the fish.
You remove it and use a sterile razor blade or scalpel to scrape a very thin layer of tissue off that contains the affected area. You don't have to cut into the muscle or anything. The fish will heal from it just like he would from any type of scale or shallow tissue damage.
The best thing I can think of is to contact an icthyologist from your local university and ask them if they are willing to test the sample or know of someone you can send off to. IME, many universities that have icthyology or biology departments would be willing to test for you, as it would be a learning experience for their students (or at the least interesting to them themselves).
They should be able to tell you how the sample needs to be removed and handled in order to be usable for tests.
You remove it and use a sterile razor blade or scalpel to scrape a very thin layer of tissue off that contains the affected area. You don't have to cut into the muscle or anything. The fish will heal from it just like he would from any type of scale or shallow tissue damage.
The best thing I can think of is to contact an icthyologist from your local university and ask them if they are willing to test the sample or know of someone you can send off to. IME, many universities that have icthyology or biology departments would be willing to test for you, as it would be a learning experience for their students (or at the least interesting to them themselves).
They should be able to tell you how the sample needs to be removed and handled in order to be usable for tests.
theres a few cases where i know people that have used penicillin in small doses and it help and went away im not sure the dose but i could find out if you want
I've contacted a local vet who specializes in exotic pets. In the event this falls outside his area of expertise I'll try the Nitrofurazone recommended by wetwebmedia. (It's one of the main ingredients in Jungle Labs Fungus Clear)
After that ... Here's the bind I'm in: the list of meds that might work is long. Turning my Oscar's life into a prolonged medical experiment wouldn't necessarily be an improvement over his current condition. He has unsightly patches that itch him sometimes. I'm not sure this is worse than him enduring one potion after another, reeling from side-effect to side-effect.
But yeah, I am curious about penicillin.
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I'd like to thank everyone who's posted on this thread. It's a warm welcome from people who keep fish I've never heard of (What the heck is a gar??) in tanks I couldn't swim across.
After that ... Here's the bind I'm in: the list of meds that might work is long. Turning my Oscar's life into a prolonged medical experiment wouldn't necessarily be an improvement over his current condition. He has unsightly patches that itch him sometimes. I'm not sure this is worse than him enduring one potion after another, reeling from side-effect to side-effect.
But yeah, I am curious about penicillin.
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I'd like to thank everyone who's posted on this thread. It's a warm welcome from people who keep fish I've never heard of (What the heck is a gar??) in tanks I couldn't swim across.
GL with ur fish!!Judge Holden;4443508; said:I've contacted a local vet who specializes in exotic pets. In the event this falls outside his area of expertise I'll try the Nitrofurazone recommended by wetwebmedia. (It's one of the main ingredients in Jungle Labs Fungus Clear)
After that ... Here's the bind I'm in: the list of meds that might work is long. Turning my Oscar's life into a prolonged medical experiment wouldn't necessarily be an improvement over his current condition. He has unsightly patches that itch him sometimes. I'm not sure this is worse than him enduring one potion after another, reeling from side-effect to side-effect.
But yeah, I am curious about penicillin.
===============================
I'd like to thank everyone who's posted on this thread. It's a warm welcome from people who keep fish I've never heard of (What the heck is a gar??) in tanks I couldn't swim across.
ps im saddened that you dont know what a gar is. visit us in the gar forum sometimes.
