Somebody contacted me with a concern over something protruding from underneath their Oscar. As silly as this sounds, I can't think of anything it could be apart from a haemorrhoid. I've never had haemorrhoids before, but I know they can be very big and red. Check the picture out, I would imagine that this is what a haemorrhoid could look like. I don't see why fish can't get haemorrhoids. After all, they are a living creature with a digestive system. What do you guys think? If not, would you reckon it could be?

I suppose an oscar could get haemorrhoids. It could also be an infection or it could be a swelling. Just me guessing

Infection did cross my mind, apparently appeared quite quickly. I believe the fish is eating okay, normally when they got infection, they don't eat that well. I'll double check with them about this.

If it is haemorrhoids it will keep happening. It is not something that is cured. Its the muscles in the bowel that get stretched and they 'pop out'. What causes them in humans is usually not enough fibre in diet, fibre is needed to make your motions soft. If your motions are not soft enough, the bowels have to work harder to pass movements and this causes the stretching

The above took some working out to put it politely

My thinking is that if its not an infection it a swelling

I remember watching a film and somebody described holidaymakers as haemorrhoids. They turn red, they hang around in bunches, and they are a pain in the arse, a little bit like that photo. I then did a search on the Internet and found something on aquarium Fish about a flower horn that had a haemorrhoid, couldn't find a photo of it unfortunately. We'll just have to wait and see what the guy says. I told them just to wait a while and see what happens to this swelling, whatever you want to call it. Hopefully it will just disappear

This has been bugging me, after typing various things into Google, I came across a website that was quite interesting. Nothing to do with fish, but it talked about something called a rectal prolapse. Something to do with the intestine protruding outside the rectum. There was a photo of a child with one, I'm not going to put it on here because it was pretty horrible. However, it did resemble the photo of the fish to a certain extent. I'm really stabbing in the dark. I don't even know fish can get this condition. Haven't heard back from the guys I don't know what the fish is like.

I have been looking for a oscar site for hours for the same reason. I have had this oscar for 5 years and it all of a sudden developed the same thing. I am so afraid of losing him. I read somewhere that peas will help a constipated oscar if they will eat them. Is this true? If so, what kind-freash, frozen or canned. I would hate to lose Oscar and JR would his him as well. My sister thinks it is eggs but I don't think so. Please help!!!

Could you supply a photograph of your Oscar please? It would be very helpful to see this swelling. Unfortunately, can occur for many reasons (you may be interested in reading an article I've just submitted to the "helpful articles" section) I've had more than one Oscar that had a swollen abdomen. I've lost two Oscars that have had this symptom. I've never had a serious problem with constipation (my Oscar that is:lol:) a few years ago, my red Oscar did get a little constipated. However, the only swelling was round her anus, it wasn't her whole abdomen. I would be very reluctant to diagnose constipation if the whole abdomen has swelled up considerably. If this is the case, this is a serious case of a blockage in the intestine. Frozen peas are what you could try to begin with. Now, it's something protruding from your Oscar's anus? I have been looking into this and the last few days and whereas I couldn't find anything on a fish that resembled the picture on this thread, I did find something to do with human beings. It was called a prolapsed rectum. The photo on this page does in my opinion resemble a haemorrhoid. If I was you, I wouldn't bother searching the Internet anymore, I would go straight to a vet. By all means tell him what has been said on this forum, that will help him a lot. As for a cure for a prolapsed rectum, or indeed a haemorrhoid, I've never had one on my fish so I really couldn't tell you where to go next. If it looks infected, you could try some kind of antibiotic medication.

Sorry I couldn't be much more help

The pic ya'll have on this is exactly what it looks like. It is just not as red. I was floored when I saw it!! It was large like it and all. I have no way of taking a pic and posting it. I wish I did. But, it looks like that one for sure def!!! It is much better today when I got up. The anus hole is still very large, but the protrusion has receded back so it is internal instead of external. I am going to keep an eye on him. I can assume he is a he because he never attempted to lay any eggs at any time(I hope) I was wondering if maybe the other guy and I can trade info(if u hear from him again). Maybe we can discover why our 2 Oscars had this unknown issue. Maybe food or location or water issues, tank size:unsure: I am sure there are any number of reasons for this. Oscars appear to be complex on many levels. They are a fish with fascinating personality. Who would have thought A meat eater could be so cool emotionally!

It's good to hear that your Oscar is better than it was. I haven't heard from the other guy, hopefully his Oscar is getting better as well. Quite often, I tell people to wait a couple of days to see if things improve. Obviously in your case, your Oscar is better. I think a varied diet is very important. I think feeding them insects is a very good idea. Since that is what they eat a lot in the wild, surely it can only do them good in captivity?

Well. He is still with me and seems to be healthy and thriving. It flairs up every now and then still. I have seen it 2 other times since. I have even seen it go away right before my eyes while he was being fed. So weird. I treated him with antiobiotics in the food and also added garlic stuff to help with the taste. (bought in fish store). He ate that with gusto. I am keeping a close eye on him. The nit levels in the tank were elevated. I did water changes and cleaning every 3 days and that is now under control. He seems to be fine. I adjusted my conditioning salt and his body looks a little better. He was looking pretty rough. I adjusted the decorations in his tank as well and put in a new bubbler. It is a bubble Screen?. They all love that and spend alot of time playing in the bubbles. His tummy did get distended however, that is all but gone. My personal opinion is that he was constipated and it was too large and when he tried to poop, he got this problem. Thanks for your help!!!!!!

Glad to hear everything seems fine. Sort of sounds like a haemorrhoid, glad it wasn't too much of a serious problem. You should introduce whole prawns/shrimps to their diet, there is quite a bit fibre in the outer shell. I think this would be good for a fish that may have digestive problems.