Sick Oscar

[Fastcar]

My Oscar is about five, I talked about him in my introduction, he was in a 55 gallon tank and last week we moved him to a 125 gallon tank. The Oscar is about 10 or 11 inches. A few days later he looked like he was in a fight. It looked like scales were missing and one eye was covered in what I described as white plaque or cotton ans the other eye had a little white spot. I bought Melofix, for four days I used it as directed but now he looks worst. I have a filter by Aqueon Quiet Flow 75, water temp 78, 0 amonia, 0 nitrate, ph is over 7.6.

 

[JessicaSwanlake]

My Oscar is about five, I talked about him in my introduction, he was in a 55 gallon tank and last week we moved him to a 125 gallon tank. The Oscar is about 10 or 11 inches. A few days later he looked like he was in a fight. It looked like scales were missing and one eye was covered in what I described as white plaque or cotton ans the other eye had a little white spot. I bought Melofix, for four days I used it as directed but now he looks worst. I have a filter by Aqueon Quiet Flow 75, water temp 78, 0 amonia, 0 nitrate, ph is over 7.6.

Hi, and welcome!
I have a couple followup questions just to make sure I understand what is going on: First, is he the only fish in your tank or is there another fish he could have been in a fight with?
Second, did you cycle you new 125 gallon tank before adding your Oscar and did you make sure the parameters were fairly close to the 55 gallon (or did you acclimate him)?
Third, are there any new ornaments in the tank that have sharp edges or new plants/substrate he could have hurt himself on? (My Oscar will bash and brain himself on anything new I try to add to his tank).

 

[Fastcar]

HI and Thank you

He was the only fish left in the 55 gallon tank. We cycled the new tank, then put the Oscar in the tank the added feeder fish the same day. There is nothing in the new tank he could hurt hisself with. The parameters of the water was around the same as the 55 gallon tank.

 

[JessicaSwanlake]

Okay, that's good. Does it look more like Hole In The Head Disease/ HLLE or like a fungus/bacteria is growing on the oscar (you can google HLLE for pictures of what it looks like if you aren't familiar with it).
Also, what do you treat your water/what else are you adding to your tank other than Melafix?

 

[Fastcar]

I didn't see a hole in his head when I checked him out. He looks real bad today. When we first put the Melafix in the tank after 24 hours he looked like the white thing on the one eye was trying to come off. The next day he was just laying in the bottom of the tank sorta side ways. On the fourth day he had new things going on like fin rot and ick. Both eyes are fully covered. We went out and got some primafix and added that to the water with the Melofix and aquarium salt. He has fungus and bacteria I think. He is laying on his side all the way flat. I took the net and nudged him a little so he can swim around but he moves a little and lays back down. We had him for 5 years and never had a problem till now. I'm not sure where we went wrong.

 

[JessicaSwanlake]

I would start by doing really large water changes (at least 50%) and stop adding salt to the water (Oscars don't need salt and don't usually respond well to it). What do you use as a water conditioner/dechlorinator, Seachem Prime or something else?

 

[Fastcar]

Yes, usually We use Proper pH 7.0, Buffer Max, aquarium salt and Stress Coat. I did not know the salt was not good for him.

 

[JessicaSwanlake]

Yeah, oscars don't have much disolved salt in their natural habitat, so at best it has no effect at all or it can stress them out more. However, if you were adding salt to his old tank I would continue to do so and gradually phase it out.
My thought is that your oscar's old tank had higher levels of chemicals and disolved minerals (old tank syndrome) that he had grown used to and his new tank doesn't have the same levels so he got stressed out when acclimating to the new tank and became susceptible to a fungus or bacteria. Your best bet would be to try to keep the water as stable as possible and do daily water changes (but not more than 50% at a time so as to not stress him out more).

 

[Fastcar]

Ok, so change his water every day 50%, then put the Melafix and primafix in it? Should I put the other stuff in it to?

 

[JessicaSwanlake]

I would continue putting in everything that you were putting in his old tank just to keep it the same for him. I don't use pimafix or melafix as I try to stay away from adding meds in my tank, but if you think it is helping him I would continue to use it. If you think it isn't doing anything or is having a worse effect I would stop using them.

 

[tiffani]

My Oscar is about five, I talked about him in my introduction, he was in a 55 gallon tank and last week we moved him to a 125 gallon tank. The Oscar is about 10 or 11 inches. A few days later he looked like he was in a fight. It looked like scales were missing and one eye was covered in what I described as white plaque or cotton ans the other eye had a little white spot. I bought Melofix, for four days I used it as directed but now he looks worst. I have a filter by Aqueon Quiet Flow 75, water temp 78, 0 amonia, 0 nitrate, ph is over 7.6.

Hello
How is your Oscar doing now?