Oscar Help Please

[PinkMnM]

I had a family emergency that made me have to leave outta state for couple months and had my roommate “looking” out for my Oscar. He’s almost 3 years old and the story is got into a fight with the water heater and cut his head and never healed. Upon returning I put him into a hospital tank and started treatment with paraclense and aquatic salt. This doesn’t look like any HITH pics I’ve seen online but any advice or help is much appreciated. Since I’ve been home I’ve only gotten him to eat once and he will swim around the tank but from how he’s acting since he would always greet me when I came into the room it seems as if he’s blind. I’ll do whatever I need to if there’s a chance he can make it.

However if it’s too far gone I don’t want him to suffer at all. Side question if you know how long would you give to heal and see if he’ll make it. When I transferred him he was very weak, today when doing a water change he puffed up and attacked the siphon as he used to almost seeming like getting the fight back. I know euthanasia is on the table but the skin around the wound seems to be closing slowly? I just don’t wanna cut the cord too early.

 

[Colin_T]

Any idea how big the cut was and how deep it was?

How much salt are you adding?
You want 2 heaped tablespoons of salt for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of water). You would need the salt in there for a couple of weeks. Salt on its own won't treat this.

I don't know if that's part of its brain or just badly inflamed tissue. I'm going to say it's badly infected tissue because the brain should have been protected by the skull. It's pretty gross though.

Metronidazole probably won't do anything to that. Ideally you want a fish vet to take a swab and see what bacteria is causing the problem. Then get an antibiotic to treat it. However, that will probably cost a lot of money and it would be cheaper to replace the fish.

Normally with the correct medication you will see an improvement within 24-48 hours. With a bad case like this that has gone on for some time, it could take a long time to heal but there should be noticeable improvement within a few days of treatment.

You can try doing big (75-90%) daily water changes and using salt for a couple of weeks but antibiotics are probably going to be needed. If there's no improvement after a week of big water changes and salt, and you can't afford a vet, I would euthanise the fish.

If you have a Department of Agriculture nearby, they sometimes have a Fish Health section and they might do testing for you. In some states they charge for their services but in others they don't. You would have to call them and see if they can test the area and how much it would cost. A university biology lab might be able to do the same testing.

 

[PinkMnM]

Any idea how big the cut was and how deep it was?

How much salt are you adding?
You want 2 heaped tablespoons of salt for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of water). You would need the salt in there for a couple of weeks. Salt on its own won't treat this.

I don't know if that's part of its brain or just badly inflamed tissue. I'm going to say it's badly infected tissue because the brain should have been protected by the skull. It's pretty gross though.

Metronidazole probably won't do anything to that. Ideally you want a fish vet to take a swab and see what bacteria is causing the problem. Then get an antibiotic to treat it. However, that will probably cost a lot of money and it would be cheaper to replace the fish.

Normally with the correct medication you will see an improvement within 24-48 hours. With a bad case like this that has gone on for some time, it could take a long time to heal but there should be noticeable improvement within a few days of treatment.

You can try doing big (75-90%) daily water changes and using salt for a couple of weeks but antibiotics are probably going to be needed. If there's no improvement after a week of big water changes and salt, and you can't afford a vet, I would euthanise the fish.

If you have a Department of Agriculture nearby, they sometimes have a Fish Health section and they might do testing for you. In some states they charge for their services but in others they don't. You would have to call them and see if they can test the area and how much it would cost. A university biology lab might be able to do the same testing.

no as i wasnt present it was my roommate, i was told from my LFS to use hawaiian salt as it is more potent so not to use too much. so i did 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons the hospital tank rn is 40. due to living on an island i dont have access to a fish vet i did see online "human antibiotics" could work if i crush it but that sounded sketchy to me. I have noticed with the salt and paraclense the skin around the tissue is getting wider almost like its closing just slowly.

Ive been doing big water changes every 2 days but should i do daily? and how does that affect the salt i need to reapply everytime or itll last?

My biggest worry is he hasnt eaten in about 2 weeks from when i got home (not sure how long before that roommate dropped in food and would leave). I saw they can go about a month without food but i just dont want him too stressed to eat and then too weak to heal. Thanks for the help i really appreciate it.

 

[Colin_T]

You can use any salt (sodium chloride) as long as it doesn't have anti-caking agents in it. And sodium chloride is sodium chloride. I doubt that "Hawaiin salt" is any different to normal salt you buy in the supermarket. I would guess it's more a buy our brand because it's more expensive type of salt.

--------------------

Fish antibiotics are normally human antibiotics that are used on a smaller scale. Metronidazole is used to treat people for internal protozoan and bacterial infections and works well on fish with internal protozoan infections. Other antibiotics like Kanamycin (sold as Kanaplex), Tetracycline, Doxycycline and Nitrofurazone (sold as Furan 2) are all people antibiotics that also get used on fish.

I can't help you with dose rates because we don't get antibiotics where I live so you would have to see if you can find the dose rates online. With fish you treat the entire tank and don't try to put it in their food. You clean the tank completely before re-treating the fish with the antibiotics. A bare glass tank (like what the fish is currently in) is best for using antibiotics.

Make sure there's no carbon in the filter if you use medications, including antibiotics.

There's a number of American members on this forum and some have used antibiotics for their fish. They might have the old containers or know the dose rates. You could start a new threat asking if anyone knows the dose rates for the medications above.

--------------------

You can do daily water changes or leave it at every second day but do big water changes because they dilute disease organisms better than small water changes. Just make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

--------------------

When adding salt to the tank while doing water changes, you add salt to a bucket of dechlorinated water at the dose rate you have in the tank. Dissolve the salt in the bucket of water and add that water to the tank to fill it up after you have drained the tank.

eg: You have the salt level at 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and remove 100 litres (25 gallons) of water from the aquarium. Fill a 20 litre (5 gallon) bucket with water and dechlorinate it. Add 2 heaped tablespoons of salt and dissolve it. Then pour that water into the tank. Do that for 5 buckets and the tank will be full and the salinity will remain the same.

--------------------

You can try feeding the fish with raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp or bits of frozen (but defrosted) fish. If the fish eats that is great, but they can go for months without food. The bigger the fish the longer they can go without food so the fish should be alright for a while. However, as you mentioned, it does need food to help repair the damage so the longer it goes without food the worse it is.

You could try adding some live feeder shrimp to the tank if it doesn't take frozen but defrosted food. I wouldn't add live feeder fish though because they could introduce more diseases and kill the Oscar.

 

[PinkMnM]

You can use any salt (sodium chloride) as long as it doesn't have anti-caking agents in it. And sodium chloride is sodium chloride. I doubt that "Hawaiin salt" is any different to normal salt you buy in the supermarket. I would guess it's more a buy our brand because it's more expensive type of salt.

--------------------

Fish antibiotics are normally human antibiotics that are used on a smaller scale. Metronidazole is used to treat people for internal protozoan and bacterial infections and works well on fish with internal protozoan infections. Other antibiotics like Kanamycin (sold as Kanaplex), Tetracycline, Doxycycline and Nitrofurazone (sold as Furan 2) are all people antibiotics that also get used on fish.

I can't help you with dose rates because we don't get antibiotics where I live so you would have to see if you can find the dose rates online. With fish you treat the entire tank and don't try to put it in their food. You clean the tank completely before re-treating the fish with the antibiotics. A bare glass tank (like what the fish is currently in) is best for using antibiotics.

Make sure there's no carbon in the filter if you use medications, including antibiotics.

There's a number of American members on this forum and some have used antibiotics for their fish. They might have the old containers or know the dose rates. You could start a new threat asking if anyone knows the dose rates for the medications above.

--------------------

You can do daily water changes or leave it at every second day but do big water changes because they dilute disease organisms better than small water changes. Just make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

--------------------

When adding salt to the tank while doing water changes, you add salt to a bucket of dechlorinated water at the dose rate you have in the tank. Dissolve the salt in the bucket of water and add that water to the tank to fill it up after you have drained the tank.

eg: You have the salt level at 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and remove 100 litres (25 gallons) of water from the aquarium. Fill a 20 litre (5 gallon) bucket with water and dechlorinate it. Add 2 heaped tablespoons of salt and dissolve it. Then pour that water into the tank. Do that for 5 buckets and the tank will be full and the salinity will remain the same.

--------------------

You can try feeding the fish with raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp or bits of frozen (but defrosted) fish. If the fish eats that is great, but they can go for months without food. The bigger the fish the longer they can go without food so the fish should be alright for a while. However, as you mentioned, it does need food to help repair the damage so the longer it goes without food the worse it is.

You could try adding some live feeder shrimp to the tank if it doesn't take frozen but defrosted food. I wouldn't add live feeder fish though because they could introduce more diseases and kill the Oscar.

Thank you so much for this information, I had some antibiotics left over from a recent sickness where the Doc misdiagnosed me and by looking online I found the correct dose for fish. I really appreciate the breakdown with the water changes and salt. Fingers crossed.
On the salt i do think i was putting too little to be effective I live in hawaii so for us that salt is more readily available but its good to know i should be using more.

 

[Marc Pozz]

Sorry but I’d put him or her in an ice bath, freezer then the trash…..sorry !

 

[Naughts]

If euthanasia were necessary there are more humane options. Freezing fish can cause pain because the tissues are freezing while the fish is still conscious.

 

[MattW]

Is clove oil the most humane? It’s the only method I’ve ever used before

 

[Marc Pozz]

If euthanasia were necessary there are more humane options. Freezing fish can cause pain because the tissues are freezing while the fish is still conscious.

How would you euthanise a fish if you had to?

 

[Essjay]

Clove oil is the best way.

Painful fish deaths? You might be guilty!

Painful fish deaths? You might be guilty!

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

 

[anewbie]

I wouldn't put him down at this point; clean water and good food should heal him up. As long as he eats and has clean water he should be ok. The cut might be infected and it looks nasty but unless the infection is super serious the surface wound will eventually heal.