# Red Oscar Sick?



## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

My red Oscar suddenly has been sitting on the bottom of the tank the last 2 days. No physical signs of disease. Weekly water changes and I have small Juruparis in with them who are very sensitive to bad water conditions and they are doing just fine. I've always fed these guys frozen shrimp, some sort of Cichlid food and the occasional worm or insect... no feeders. Near the end of yesterday's feeding, she came up for some so I gave her a couple large fish food sticks. She chewed but spit most of both out then gave up. Trying to give her some live oyster I happen to have in the fridge today but so far she's not interested. Any ideas?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Take a read through this article. Any of these symptoms other than spitting food present?

http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/malawi_bloat2_pt1.php


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

None other than hiding. Noticed some poop hanging from her for a while yesterday but definitely not white. The other one seems to hang with her when she hides sometimes. She does seem like she's having trouble breathing as the mouth is opening very wide with each breath. Also, the other one suddenly lost it's appetite this evening and was sitting near the bottom with her more. Checked nitrate and is was somewhere around 80ppm. Small Juruparis still flourishing. Did a 50% water change and got nitrate down around 40ppm. While testing the water after the water change... about 20 mins later... the healthier of the 2 Oscars came up for a feeding. Didn't get crazy frantic as usual but ate a bit without spitting. The possibly sick one wasn't interested.

I've recently gone to 1 feeding per day... probably been doing this about 3/4 weeks. They have been getting very aggressive... jumping, etc... when I come up with food since doing this. Could they be malnourished? I've done this to minimize the big mess they make.

It's probably time to start feeding them a natural, live diet. Does anyone have suggestions on for natural in the wild food that is fairly easily obtained?


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

Both are swimming around this morn and the Tiger was eager to eat. The Red swims but didn't eat. And now the Red Oscar has developed a white marbling on his body and head. What is this?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Your nitrates are still a bit high. Can you post the results for ammonia and nitrite also?

Do you need to add a dechlorinator when you do your water changes?


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

Deeda said:


> Your nitrates are still a bit high. Can you post the results for ammonia and nitrite also?
> 
> Do you need to add a dechlorinator when you do your water changes?


I did a maintenance cleaning on the big Fluval canister last night, replacing the floss in the top tray and rinsing all sponges in all trays... left the 2 trays of bio media alone. Tonight, according to my API test kit and color chart, the ammonia is .25ppm & nitrite is 0. I also checked nitrates again and as far as I can tell, they are still around 40ppm.

The colors on the chart between 40 & 80 look about the same to me so it's pretty hard to tell although they seem to be a hair more on the orange side so I will assume it's closer to 40, perhaps a hair less, than 80. Anyone have a tip for deciphering this??

I do have chlorine or chloramine in my water so I do ad a bit of dechlorinator on water changes. Even though the chlorine seems to dissipate while refilling using 80 degree tap water, according to the chlorine test strips I have.

Any suggestions?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I can't help with the white marbling. Has this remained the same, gotten worse or dissipated?

Yea the difference between 40-80 nitrate on the chart is minimal at best. Either way, a nice big water change is in order. Test some bottled water against your tank water for ammonia and see if there's a difference.

Be sure to add enough dechlorinator for the entire volume of the tank, and not just enough for the new water. I only note this since you said 'a bit' when doing water changes.


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

Iggy Newcastle said:


> I can't help with the white marbling. Has this remained the same, gotten worse or dissipated?
> 
> Yea the difference between 40-80 nitrate on the chart is minimal at best. Either way, a nice big water change is in order. Test some bottled water against your tank water for ammonia and see if there's a difference.
> 
> Be sure to add enough dechlorinator for the entire volume of the tank, and not just enough for the new water. I only note this since you said 'a bit' when doing water changes.


Just checked and the marbling seems to have dissipated a lot! The areas where it still is seems like a fungus. He has a stripe of it across his forehead which looks like a line of white, fuzzy algae coming off the skin... for lack of a better description. He swims around periodically but spends some time breathing air at the top like when nitrate is too high and the water is depleted of oxygen. In fact his mouth is always open and looks to be struggling for air. Still won't eat though. The other guy is close to normal again, getting aggressive and jumping during feeding time. Perhaps not quite as aggressive as usual but then again, his tank mate who he's usually sparring with is sick.

I'll do another 50% water change tomorrow night.

I usually add just barely enough dechlorinator for the amount of water I'm replacing. Reason being is, like I've said, I don't measure much chlorine after it pours in to the tank at 80 degrees... I actually experimented with tap water into a glass 1st to test this. I just figure it's best not to put more chemicals in the tank than necessary.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Much or any chlorine still needs the recommended dosage. Once you get your water under control, hopefully the Oscar turns it around. Avoid using any meds until then. If the listless behavior continues, someone will advise what step to take next.


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## Austinite (Jul 27, 2013)

You should dose dechlorinator for the entire tank volume, not just what you are replacing. Do you use Prime?


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

Lost the Red this morn. Funny thing is, when I pulled the body out of the tank, the Tiger was hiding behind a surfboard I have mounted on an angle. He usually comes out if he's in there in case there's food. This time he just sat back there so I figured he was getting sick now. This morning it was raining and there were worms all over the porch. I brought one in as these are a treat! He wouldn't have anything to do with coming out so I went on about my business. I came walking in to the living room where the tank is and happened to notice he was out swimming on the other side of it and as soon as he saw me, he DARTED back behind the board quicker than I've ever seen! You think the guy was afraid I was gonna grab him next?! haha! Are Oscars THIS smart?? An hour later he was fine and got a special live worm feeding today.

Did another 50% water change and we're down to closer to 20ppm with the nitrates. Everyone else seems to be fine now so I guess we move on.

Did the dose of API dechlorinator for the entire tank capacity as recommended for chlorine. I noticed the directions for removing chloramine is 5 times as much. I'm pretty sure they are putting chloramines in our Chicago tap water now. What does everyone else do about this?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Sorry about the Red. She looked like a pretty fish. Did the 2 Oscars grow up together?

You could call your water provider to find about chloramine. If you live in the city this could be a pain. Maybe check their website. My signature says Chicagoland, but I'm in the west burbs and have a well, so I can't help with info.

If you do have chloramine, there are products out there that are more concentrated than API's stuff. Checkout Seachem Prime.

Not sure what filtration you're running, but you may want to check your sponges and media. Wash/clean it out with tank water and keep an eye on nitrates. Try to schedule those changes around 20 ppm. 3 capfuls of Prime will treat your whole tank, crushing chlorine and chloramine so it won't affect your fish and biological.


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

Yeah, she was pretty. Bought her as a baby and she was the spunkiest, prettiest most different looking red in the tank. Stubbier that the rest. Funny as these Oscars both seemed to develop shorter than I think they should be for as long. Wonder if it has to do with my lower profile 125 gal acrylic (which is actually 110 because of the shorter height). Got the tiger out of another tank but at the same time so they grew up together. Raised them with 1 new aquarium setup tester Zebra Danio and a bunch of tester Jumbo Danios so they were fairly friendly. It wasn't until about a year ago, when the Oscars were almost the size they are now, after a 10 day trip and a feeder malfunction, did I come home and couldn't find the small Danio. I swear the tiger looked like he felt guilty!!  7 of the Danios I had jumped one at a time to their deaths out of almost completely covered acrylic aquarium... managed to jump through the very narrow equipment slots in the back of the tank. 1 was left during the feeder malfunction and he was floating when I got home.

I've looked at the last annual drinking water test sheet that is sent for my near South 'burb of South Holland. We are on city water. It lists highest detected chlorine as .20 ppm and does not list chloramine. I don't know if this means it isn't added or just not tested for. It lists highest detected nitrate at .44 ppm.

I am running a Fluval FX5 can. 3 trays with outer foam. Top has floss in the middle and the 2 below both have bio media. Good idea rinsing the foam with tap water. Probably should have done that when I cleaned it just before the Red passed.


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## WaWaZat (Dec 27, 2007)

Checked with my village water tester and no chloramines added to our water. Does that mean the API is still good for chlorine treatments?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Sure. I only mentioned Prime because of the chloramine and it provides extended use due to its high concentration,


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