smokeypea

This morning when i went to feed my 4 inch Oscar, i put his light on and saw that he had a a small peice of skin off his head, not pitted its like he grazed it on something, he seems ok and is eating, but what can i do so it wont get infected? i am going to do a water change today and put some aquarium salt in his tank if thats ok, but i am worried, he has a large ornament which he likes to hid in, amybe he knocked his head on that, any advice? thanks.

Isabella

I suppose it would be safe to add some aquarium salt to a tank with an oscar that is injured. Because your oscar's injury poses a risk of some infection, perform frequent water changes to keep the water as clean as possible until his wound heals. If you have a nitrate test, monitor your water with it. It should be at 0 at best. Of course, not to mention ammonia and nitrite! I don't remember the rule for adding aquarium salt to tank water, but I think it's 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water (please wait for someone more knowledgeable to confirm this piece of information). So, say you have a 10 gallon tank to which you add 2 tablespoons of salt - if you do a 50% water change in this tank, you add back 1 tablespoon of salt with the water change IF the wound hasn't healed yet.

Butterfly

I'm not sure about the salt either but I do know Oscars are huge waste producers and frequent large water changes should be done until his wound heals. Gunnie has Oscars maybe she will chime in here soon about the salt.
Carol

Gunnie

I think Isabella is right on the money about the frequent water changes and the salt ratio. Follow her instructions, and keep a close eye on him for any signs of infection or fungus. If he shows any sign of infection or his personality changes, I think you should start treating him with something like a combination of Maracyn I and Maracyn II at the same time. I'm not sure, but those meds might quite possibly kill your biological filter, and if your tank is large, it can get quite expensive to treat with these meds, so wait and see first. More frequent water changes might be all that is necessary. Hope he heals fast!

btate617

Also it could be the start of hole in the head. i don't know how close you watch your fish, but if it has been there for a while and you are just noticing it it could be that. lots of people feed the oscars feeder fish because its "cool" to watch them eat them. but your fish doesnt get the nutrients it needs that way. also feeding a low grade food isnt good for your fish. i am not saying this is the case for you, i am just letting you know what it could be. if you dont feed quality foods to your fish, you may want to change that. also the salt is good like others have said. not only if you have a sick fish, but i add salt with every water change( not salt that equals the whole amount of the tank..... but enough for the amount of water that i am putting back into the tank) like i said i am not saying you dont care of your fish properly, i am just giving another suggestion of what it cold be. hope you figure it out.
Brian

smokeypea

Thanks for advice everyone, i did a huge water change this afternoon and added more salt as directed, also Stress coat as i was adviced at LFS, i do change hsi water very often 2 times a week sometimes cos he is so messy, i clean the filter and everything, i do look closely at him each day cos i am aware they can get hith, and i was worried that may be the start of it, last night he was fine, then this morning i saw his wound, i dont feed him feeder fish, he eats crickets, ghost shrimp, worms, sometimes cooked chicken, grasshoppers, occasional fly, blood worms, beefheart, cooked peas, mealworms, i try to get him to take flakes and cichlid pellets but i have to hide them in his chicken, he doesnt like them , i am worried he isisnt getting the vitamins he needs, he wont eat any other vegs. i keep goin to check on him, he is eating well, and swimming about ok. What do i do if it gets worse?? thnaks , sorry for going on but really worried about my little fella

Gunnie

Just keep a close eye on him and let us know if you see any other symptoms. You can also order liquid vitamins or possibly find some baby vitamins in WalMart and add a few drops to his food. it sounds like he has a very well rounded diet though. I can't get mine to eat veggies of any kind. Your fishie is very lucky to have you!

btate617

feed him only cichlid pettets for 3 or 4 days....... trust me if thats all his choices are he will eat them
Brian

smokeypea

I thought about just feeding him his pellets, but then he begs ALL the time for food and he would be worse then, i was afraid he wouls starve himself,should i try that now while he has a sore head or wait till it clears up? and thanks i will go to Walmart to get him some baby vits, didnt know they could have that sort, i even tried veggie wafers but he spits them out, like he doesn with his flakes and pellets, lol. Its so great to be able to get adive from other fish lovers Gunnie i will let you know how he is doing.

btate617

don't be affraid of him starving himself. some people only feed certain types of fish everyother day. and...... you dont see starving people spitting out food...... if you are hungry you take what you can get. you have to condition him top eat the pellets. get him eating them and a good quality flake food, then use the other foods as a treat maybe everyother day or every third day.
Brian