Oscars Scales Peeling Off And They Are Just Hiding On The Bottom

Please help! We have a 45 gallon tank new setup but we have had good readings for a month prior to adding our fish. We have two Oscars and a couple other chidlids. We had a bout of ick last week and treated with meds and it cleared. Now one of my Oscar's has scales missing and also seems like his eye is a little cloudy. Both oscars are just hiding on the bottom in one of our corner pieces. Bribed with food to get a pic. I have shut off the light.The ph in our tank is 7 and our ammonia is normally at .5 but it did spike last night. The temp. Is kept at 79. We will be changing out water tonight which we do on a weekly basis. Please help we love our oscars and want them to grow and be with us for awhile.

Do you have a test kit for nitrite, and if so what's that reading? Do you know the species of your other cichlids?
 
Your problem is, unless you were adding a source of ammonia during the month before you added fish, that your filter isn't cycled; and high levels of ammonia (and possibly nitrite) indicate that that is the case.
 
This means you're in a 'fish-in' cycle. You'll need to be changing enough water to keep both ammonia and nitrite to below 0.25ppm; in a tank of that size, with those fish, that'll probably mean daily water changes of at least 50/60%, but you'll need to be guided by your test kits as to exactly how much.
 
I'm afraid though, that the damage caused be high ammonia and nitrite can be permanent; also your tank is not big enough for one oscar, let alone two plus other fish

We did add cycle to our tank prior to adding our fish.The other fish are yellow and blue electric. And all of our fish are 3" and under besides the one oscar and we are getting a bigger custom tank built into our home that will be plenty big enough for all. I don't have a nitrate specific test kit but I will pick one up. We do regular testing and have never had our ammonia level this high could it be from treating the ick? Hopefully we will see a difference by morning after the water change tonight.

From the picture it doesnt look bad. Oscars are known for moving rocks and logs about the tank, my oscars can shift pretty heavy stuff. It looks like yours has just scrapped himself badly, my one oscar is forever covered in missing scales because he likes to take the pipework to the filter apart. Do a couple of extra water changes and just keep a close eye on the marks, they should heal over in a few days. You have some sharp looking rocks, he could have been spooked and knocked himself.  But you sure do need a bigger tank, oscars are fast growing.

I would agree with the daily 50/60% water changes, which will probably be necessary for a while, your oscar should heal but it may be worth adding Melafix to help the process.  I would say that you really need to be able to test for pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.

I agree totally with FN's advice regarding the uncycled filter. Most of these instsnt cycle products seem to be ineffective.

If you're other fish are electric blue abd electric yellow, these are African cichlids which require a specialist setup and aren't suitable tankmates for oscars. I wonder if these are the cause of the lost scales.

I came here to say the same thing, tlm; just occurred to me!

It is so difficult to get the right information. Every site you look things up on tells you something different and my local pet store was the one who recommended the tank mates. So far they all seem to get along great. I went and got a nirate test kit.Changed water and monitoring all levels which are returning to normal levels. All my fish seem to returning to their spunky selves as well, do I think that's agreat sign.