whitish patch on my oscar

[rookjhs]

hi all we had a oscar in a 30 gallon he began to get this whitish grayish patch on the same sides of his body, we moved him into a 75 gallon and it hasnt gone away, we have treated it with three different kinds of fungus meds, and he isnt getting better, and he hasnt eating in almost three weeks. i dont know what else to do and i just lost my other oscar to head rot, i dont want to loose another one, PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[Danny - the lost soul---]

First I got a question.
What meds have you treated with ?
What are the other tank mates? and is there nipping going on?
Oscars can be a bit nippy when in breeding and will at times fight each other off the nesting spot. Causing a wound to take on a secondary infection. which I will explain further down.
3 types of medications
I tell all my fisie friends NEVER to over medicate. This can do more harm than good. Not to mention what it does the the water chemistry. I really hate to recomend any method of treatment NOT knowing what was used.

Now what I would reccomend would be to use ( Maracide ) this is a product from Mardel Lab. which is VERY affective against many external fresh water parasites as well as many fungus infections.
This can be bought at most pet stores and it is a 5 day treatment. Though I would NOT use it till we know what you have used already. Over medicating can make matters worse before they get better. And in some casses can prove to be a fatal mistake. Again , all depending on what has been used.

Alot of times some simple aquarium salt will help some types of fungus.
If Maracide is used I suggest the whole 5 day treatment. 1 drop per galon of water so I would suggest using a smaller tank for medication. Remove carbon (if any) as to this will make meds less affective. After the 5 day treatment do a 20% water change and add new carbon if used. If the existing carbon ( if any ) is old it can remain in the filter as to this will have little affect on medication. ONLY if carbon is old. If NOT remove carbon.
The water may turn a shade of green while the tank is in medication. Though this can be removed once treatment is complete with some freash activated carbon. AGAIN PLEASE DO NOT USE till we know what else you have used.

Still with me?
There are several types of fungus with can bring on what you are discribing. Could be a wound / bite from a tank mate or mate that took a turn for the worst. Many open sores if let untreated and tank conditions are right will cause a secondary infection. In some casses this may look like white slime / cotton . Not saying this can be the problem though just an example of the many things that can be wrong.

Alright I will keep checking back after dinner. Time to feed the gut.
Hope this helps.....
Sorry about the short reply but I just got home and need a few to unwind and feed the zoo. 60 tanks - 3 Florida cooters (turtles)- 1 aligator snapper (turtle) - 2 painted box turtles - 1 dog - 2 cats - 4 kids - and 1 girlfriend. O, wait them aint part of the zoo. Or are they... Alright better go before I get in trouble.

Danny

too late yikes....

 

[pierre_john]

Oscars are extremely resilient, they will bounce back from almost anything. But, you need to check that your environment is what they require. As I mentioned they are very strong but prolonged "out of normal is not normal for them" and then they will end up sick.

But, what i found they really respond to a salt medication dose, just make sure you DO NOT have scaless fish!! Or fish that are sensitive to salt, as they react like you do to fire...

good luck.

 

[WILDER]

That tank is to small for an oscar, can you post water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, it sounds like columnaris, there is no trailing mucas hanging from the greyish patch is there.
http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml
http/www.flippersandfins.net/flexibacter.htm

 

[rookjhs]

thank you everyone for your help, well he is in a 75 and is only like a year old so its perfect size for him, we dont use carbon, now since we have gotten him he has had no other fish in with him, it has just been him alone in a tank, now he has a (sucker fish) in with him but they leave each other alone, the three meds werent used at the same time we would do like two or three treatments of one saw there was no change, tried another different kind and same thing, so on so on, the meds we have used are these, well my husband threw the bottles away so i only have the one med we used lol and its called BINOX extra strenght clears fungus and bacteria fast is what the bottle says, i dont know what the water stats are, i just know the temp stays at like 78-80, and he has two filters on his tank, what worries me is that he hasnt eaten in 3 weeks. He always like scratches himself on the gravel in the tank, if anyone could help me cure my fish i would greatly appreciate it, bc i dont know what else to do.

 

[colegamby]

if he is scratching himself he might just have ich. you can get some quick cure to take care of that but im not sure so id have to have someone back me up on that one

 

[WILDER]

Can you post water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, to make sure it isn't bad water quality, also does the fish have red inflamed gills or pale, is the fish heavy breathing.