Old Oscar Acting Strange Again...what's Going On?

[WILDER]

What do you feed the fish.

Try the antibiotic as there is know harm in trying, bless him, but he dosn't sound good.

 

[xenomorph]

I wish someone could come here and take a look at him themselves. The way he acts is either alarming (laying on his side in a deep sleep) or normal, so it's confusing.

One side of his body is slightly sunken and the other side is the opposite but it's not obvious. It's not his belly...just the body in general...hard to describe. I would take a pic if the digicam wasn't broken.

I feed him Hikari Cichlid Gold pellets and krill as a staple diet, with the occasional freeze-dried cricket. Once in a blue moon I'll get him a crayfish or two. He's kind of a picky eater and won't eat much else.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Would you say that he has a spinal deformity?

 

[xenomorph]

Possibly a slight one, he does have more of a rounded body shape while your typical oscar has an oval shape. I know that often people with skeletal deformities get worse as they get older, maybe the same could apply to fish. But I'm not sure how that affects his equilibrium. When he's swimming around the tank, he's mostly upright (normal for him) but when he 'treads water' he's likely to tilt to the side.

 

[xenomorph]

For further reference, I'll post a few pics of One-Eye...the first two are from when he was 2 years old, the latter were taken last fall.

 

[Tolak]

Being slightly deformed from birth may lead to some slightly out of the ordinary body postures. Missing one eye will probably cause him to move to the good side to see things, this may cause him to do it out of habit, even if he isn't focusing on something intently. After being moved a couple of times in a relatively short period of time, he may be a little "pouty", something that is common for oscars. It is common for my year old oscar to pout after a tank cleaning, seeing the tank next to his being cleaned, or after being fed a food that isn't his favorite. He also sleeps at an angle, towards the back of the tank.

I would say as long as the fish is eating normally, and is acting as normally as before, I wouldn't worry too much. 6 1/2 is not geriatric for an oscar, I've heard of 10 or 12 year old oscars, but those are fish with no obvious defects. It may be that the fish is sleeping deeply in it's regular tank because it feels at home again after the disruption of being in a smaller tank, with meds, constant water changes & such.

It may also be some sort of internal deformity leaving the fish prone to an illness or shortened lifespan. If this is the case there isn't much you can do med wise. Having the fish in a 180 is an asset in that respect, as you can keep the water parameters in a lot better shape than in a smaller tank. As with any living thing that is out of the parameters of "normal", sometimes some special care is needed to maintain their quality of life.

 

[WILDER]

I agree it might explain the missing eye, but it dosn't account for a sunken in tummy or a mass tumour if i can call it that on the other side of the fish.

 

[Tolak]

Posted before I saw the pics, I believe it is the third pic that shows somewhat of a tumor on the fish's left side, but that may be more of the camera angle. Hard to tell, as it really doesn't show up clearly in any other pics. I'm really not seeing anything close to a sunken belly in any of the other pics.

 

[WILDER]

If the swelling is big on the tummy area or if it is a tumour it could be resting on the swim bladder causing the fish to tilt to one side, as the fish always tilted at an angel.

 

[xenomorph]

So you guys think One-Eye has a tumor then? What are some distinctive signs of this, other than the swelling?

What causes this, what are the symptoms, and is it treatable?

 

[WILDER]

If it is a tumour sadly no it not treatable, only through a vet but alot of money.


http/www.fishjunkies.com/Disorders/lumps.php

 

[WILDER]

Look under tumours.
http/www.fish-disease.net/diseases.htm

 

[Tolak]

If it is a tumor, there are some things you can try. I have a female angel that had a tumor;

She was an awesome breeder, huge spawns, but stopped spawning. Angels will sometimes take a break like that, I wasn't too concerned. When she developed that swelling I got concerned, contacting other breeders & distributors of aquatic pharmaceuticals. The thing that worked was a product called clout, with daily water changes. You may want to start with that, along with adding some epsom salt to the water.

The step after that would probably be needle aspiration, which consists of draining the tumor, if possible, with a hypodermic needle. From what I have heard this does work if done correctly, but the tumors tend to reoccur, similar to having tumors removed from a dog.

 

[xenomorph]

If it is a tumor, there are some things you can try. I have a female angel that had a tumor;



She was an awesome breeder, huge spawns, but stopped spawning. Angels will sometimes take a break like that, I wasn't too concerned. When she developed that swelling I got concerned, contacting other breeders & distributors of aquatic pharmaceuticals. The thing that worked was a product called clout, with daily water changes. You may want to start with that, along with adding some epsom salt to the water.

The step after that would probably be needle aspiration, which consists of draining the tumor, if possible, with a hypodermic needle. From what I have heard this does work if done correctly, but the tumors tend to reoccur, similar to having tumors removed from a dog.

How old was your angel when she got the tumor and has she gotten any more?

I'm assuming I should put the oscar back in the 20g for the clout. I've never used clout before but I've heard of it. Once I'm done treating him, should I put him back in the 180? He is much happier in there. Do I put epsom salt in the 20 or the 180 or both and if so how much?

I was thinking of using a needle on the oscar to drain the tumor...but I have no idea how to do that and I don't even trust myself to do it properly. I'm not even sure how I will manage to hold down the oscar and keep him still long enough. He is, as you can imagine, a very powerful fish. When we took him out the 180 to put him in the 20 a couple weeks ago, with one flip of his tail he sent so many gallons of water onto the walls and floor that even I was amazed

 

[Tolak]

She wil be 3 in June, got the tumor in early February. Tried antibiotics with epsom salt, then added an antiparasitic. Clout is what did the trick, it took around 2 weeks.

You would need as small a guage needle as possible, inserted from the back under the scales. With a larger fish, some sedation would be necessary. Steelhealr, one of the mods here, has medical experience, he may be able to help with the aquisition & proper use of a hypodermic.

I would start with the Clout first, needle aspiration sounds like a last ditch effort, and probably pretty touchy to do.