SkyGrl Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 (edited) Please help. i have a 5 yr old oscar that was rescued through FINS. he is in his own tank (30gallon) and it was fully cycled. i am having problems with him and im not sure how to treat him. he came from a large tank that was severly over stocked and he lost intrest in food. then started getting listless and sitting on the bottom of the tank. when i got him he was able to pick the fish out of the tank with his hands!!! :boxed: he wont eat, cant swim and when he trys to swim he flips upside down... i feel so bad for the lil guy and i cant find any info on what might be wrong. i have been treating him with Prazi-Pro fro about a week now. maybe itsa swim bladder issue?? i dont know. he shows no intrest in food at all. but if he cant swim then how can he eat! UGH plz help! this fish deserves to live!!!! :chair: im doing a water change today and trying an epson salt treatment. i hope it helps. any advice would be welcomed. Amy EDIT: PICS before coming to FINS the tank also housed, large arowana, red devil, giraffe cichlids, salvini cichlids, yellow labs, iceblue cichlids in FINS tank its now progressed to the point where he can not keep himself from lying on the bottom of the tank... he was leaning up against the sides of decorations... Edited August 16, 2011 by SkyGrl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurensdad Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Have you tryed a small feeder fish in the tank just one or 2 feeding may come back to him the 30 gallon home mat be a tad small for him as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyGrl Posted August 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 (edited) i realize the tank isnt ideal size but its also his quarentine tank. smaller tank less meds that need to be used. i have a few feeders that have been in quarentine for 2 months. ill try giving him one of those. any other advice??? ill post pics asap Amy EDIT: he also seems super skinny which is why i started with prazi pro. i think he was unable to compete with the other fish in his originonal home... Edited August 16, 2011 by SkyGrl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hackerberry Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Poor fish, I would suggest the salt treatment. Maybe offer meat soaked in Garlic Guard or Entice. He could also be adjusting to his new environment. Hope he feels better. hb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geleen Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 i realize the tank isnt ideal size but its also his quarentine tank. smaller tank less meds that need to be used. i have a few feeders that have been in quarentine for 2 months. ill try giving him one of those. any other advice??? ill post pics asap Amy EDIT: he also seems super skinny which is why i started with prazi pro. i think he was unable to compete with the other fish in his originonal home... OSCARS can be very shy and do not like change. He or she would like to hide, so if you can provide some cover- so he feels more secure -he will likely come around in bit (maybe a couple of weeks.) I would try an earthworm for food. Also see if the temp is around 78 a bit warmer is good. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurensdad Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 as silly as this sounds have you tried given the fish a toy? orange hockey ball or a floating fishing lure or something fun for him. is there alot of water movement in the tanks ? give him some bubbles from a air stone to play with. big fish are like 2 year old kids the get board day to day in a glass box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candy Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Frozen peas???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 For the most part Prazi-Pro (5% praziquantel) is a deworming agent, IMO the more likely problem is a stress induced internal bacterial infection caused by overcrowding, poor water quality and possibly aggression. Hence the reason why the fish can't swim, or even stay upright. I would try this ....... http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/KanaPlex.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 he definitely looks malnourished. i would soak some silverside pieces or bloodworms in garlic juice to entice him to eat. garlic is good for fish, it causes the fish's gut to be inhospitable to parasites, and from my experience, oscars LOVE garlic infused food. i feed my Gus his NLS pellets with garlic juice on them from time to time. oscars will sulk for the littlest reason, lol, so don't be surprised if he takes some time to come around. as for the problem he's having swimming/staying upright - i would use API's General Cure. it contains both metro and prazi, so both bacterial and protozoan (parasite) problems will be dealt with. I had a paratilapia polleni (black diamond cichlid) with swim bladder issues due to bacterial infection a little while ago and the General Cure fixed him right up. he was floating sideways at the top of the tank! you can get General Cure at petsmart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 If this fish has any type of internal issues going on, which it sounds like it does I personally wouldn't feed it anything until the main issue has been resolved. A fish this size can go a long time without eating, while an internal bacterial infection can lead to far greater problems if it's not resolved early on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyGrl Posted August 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 thanks for all that. i think i have some of the API stuff. i will try that. can i mix with the epson salts? other then that ill just watch him and hope he gets better. thanks everyone. if this guy pulls through he will be a super awesome pet! Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Make sure to keep us updated on this guy, looks like everyone is pulling for him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyGrl Posted August 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 will do. im doing my best for this guy. ill update everyone tomorrow morning on how he did overnight. Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 i wouldn't mix meds. just go with the API (General Cure). Epsom salts are quite often used for bloating, and from what i can see, this oscar has the exact opposite problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Epsom salt (Magnesium sulfate) can be used in conjunction with most over the counter fish medications with no issue. In a bath solution it acts as a mild laxative & will assist in purging internal protozoans such as hexamita/spironucleus. Given as an oral solution it is one of the most, if not the most effective treatment for internal parasites that I have come across in the past 40 years. http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=29679&st=0&p=2219242 API General Cure is not designed to be used to treat internal bacterial infections, it's designed to treat parasites, and nematodes (worms) with each 10 gallon tablet consisting of 250mg Metronidazole & 75mg of Praziquantel. Neither of those medications will have any great effect on a serious bacterial infection. http://aquariumpharm.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductID=62 API has products for treating bacterial infections, such as Furan 2, Triple Sulfa, and Erythromycin powder. All three products are good broad spectrum antibacterial treatments, as is Seachem Kanaplex (which I previously suggested) another very effective broad spectrum antibiotic is Maracyn I and Maracyn II, which when combined will treat both gram positive as well as gram negative bacteria. If this is in fact an internal bacterial infection that is now affecting this fishes swim bladder you need to treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic, which is why I originally suggested Seachem Kanaplex. (Kanamycin) The longer that you wait to treat the worse this condition will become. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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