I've got a feeling that one on my seven Oscars is a bit under the weather. He hasn't been eating for the last couple of days and is opening and closing his mouth quite a lot. I tried to catch him this morning to put him in the hospital tank but gave up. Going to try again a bit later. He's not so ill that he can't avoid capture, put it that way.

Hope its nothing too serious. I know what you mean about catching them as yesterday I had a heck of a time netting my two, to transfer them into their new quarters. I was treating the female of the two for the little holes in her fin but the holes seem to just remain the same, not getting better nor worse. Now I am wondering if its really holes after all or possibly just a clear coloration like a birthmark or something.
They really seem to be enjoying the new tank quite a bit and have managed to eat about half of the danios so far. They will surely grow quick now as they are getting more then there fair share of hard swimming exercise.

Well, finally managed to get him into his 20 gallon hospital tank at last, a very wet job I must say. I can't see how using a towel is any easier than using a net. That's what a lot of people seem to think Anyway.

I am really not sure what is wrong with the little tackier. Can't really see anything externally wrong anyway. I am going to try melafix to begin with and see what happens. If that doesn't work, we gets worse, I will try and internal bacteria medication. I'm not holding out much hope although I was not too bad at the moment. Not eating which isn't a good sign. I normally find that fish that are off their food for a while have sometimes got something seriously wrong with them. Since there are not many vets around that can help with fish, us mortal hobbyists haven't got a lot of hope in many cases.

We can only but try

Any news on u're poorly fishy Penn ?

Ali wrote:


He/she is still in the hospital tank being treated. Not really eating. He is moving around the tank but I don't think I can read much into that. It does look as though his jaw has been put out slightly so whether he whacked it on something I know not. And then St melafix for seven days and if that doesn't work, I shall wait a couple of days and start treating with an internal bacteria medication, that is if he is still alive. If there is no change at the end of all that and he is still not eating, I might seriously have to think about getting the clove oil out. Unfortunately, I can see it going that way but will have to wait and see what happens. Fingers crossed

Hi Penn - don't have much time these days to pop in, but I am sorry to hear about your fish being ill... not a nice feeling at all. I keep fingers and toes crossed that he'll be better soon.

Not sure if he's going to pull through to be quite honest. He's not eating at all, he's moving around the tank but just not eating. I thought he may have damaged his jaw because it looks a bit funny. It's either that, or sometimes internal problem. I am treating at the moment and then wil treat with an internal bacteria medication next week if he is no better. However, I'm not holding a lot of hope. Bloody fish, they tear your heart out sometimes

Sad to hear. Let's all hope for the best with him.
Maybe try feeding blood worms (something small and relatively soft, easy to get in and down)??

The holes in my Oscars fins are slowly filling in I think. I treated her for a week with melafix and aquarium salt before transferring them both into their new tank a week later.

Joliet Jake wrote:


A couple of times, including this evening, I have noticed him trying to grab something with his mouth. I have been trying frozen bloodworm defrosted. I think I will finish off with a melafix and then go onto an internal bacteria treatment if he is no better. He doesn't seem to be getting any worse which is surprising since he hasn't eaten anything. He certainly looks like he's lost I would have wait though.

I always defrost my frozen cubed bloodworms. Do you normally feed them frozen right into the tank (that's what you made it sound like)? Just wondering as I never tried that. I wouldn't think the temperature would be acceptable to the fish.

No, I either get the bloodworm out a few hours before, or put a little drop of warm water in an ashtray with the bloodworm. The bloodworm aren't actually for the Oscars, they are really intended for Jade Cichlid, Clown Loach and catfish. I once made the mistake of putting a whole block of bloodworm in. It was swallowed in one go and nobody else got a look in.

OK, that's what I do too. I put the frozen cube into an empty water bottle and add some warm water to let it defrost some before feeding. I almost drank from it once by mistake and swore I would find a better bottle or container to use, but I still just grab am empty water bottle out of convenience.

Well, I've got 5 zebra danios still left alive and the two Oscars just can't seem to catch them. It's fun to watch as the chase goes on many times a day. The Oscars are really getting some exercise but those lucky 5 are hanging in there. (5 of 14 left alive).