Hi, we recently set up a 900L tank (display tank is 500L & sump is 400L).
After cycling for 5 weeks and using our old tank filters, we transferred our Tiger Oscar over.
He is about 2 years old and a good 25cm long
His tank mates are 9 silver dollars & 2 Jack Dempsys No aggression observed at all.
They have all been in the tank for 3 weeks now.
One of the introduced Silver Dollars brought Ick to the tank.
Some of the others also got Cotton mouth.
With in days all fish were covered in the white spots.
I treated the tank with Protozin and it has cleared up the spots on all fish.
But now Oscars eyes have gone cloudy (as have the some of the Silver Dollars).
His fins are ragged
He has no appetite
He is bashing himself at night and has a massive wound on his head.
During the day he is very mellow - don't know what is going on at night?
What can I do?


Ammonia - 0
pH - 7.8
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0
Temp - still at 29 degrees C to help eliminate Ick

Hi and Welcome, from your water readings I can tell you that your tank is NOT cycled...

If you transferred your filters to the new tank with nothing in it, you lost your beneficial bacteria... If it was done at the same time as you transferred your Oscar you may need to test your Nitrates again... Make sure you follow the directions EXACTLY..

But in the mean time I would suggest you do a 30% daily water change...

Could you Please post a PIC of your fish so we can see what is going on...

Thanks for a quick reply.
We did cycle with some little fish who are strangely the only ones doing well at the moment. They are still happily swimming around in the sump.
I did monitor the cycle process and we did get readings throughout the period. Though I didn't notice any extreme readings like the time we set up a tank last year.

How do i post a pic? I can't see a button to do this....

u need to load the pics up to either imageshack or photobucket or any other similar sites. then use the forum URL in ur post and the pic will be automatically linked to the site.
u might wanna increase salinity lvl in ur tank with salt to kill off the ich. raising temperature will only hasten the life cycle process but it wont really eliminate them. faster life cycle means more ich leeching off ur fish.

You will have to upload to photobucket, or any image hosting site and them copy and paste the image code here in the thread...

I would test your Nitrate again... Have you done any filter maintenance lately? If so, how did you do it?

Cloudy eye is a HUGE sign for water quality issues...

No, we haven't done any filter maintenance. It is a sump filter so we change the wool when its needed but haven't touched the bio balls/noodles or anything else down there.
Tested the Nitrate again (API test kit) and it is very yellow which matches the 0ppm on the colour card.

Here are a couple of pics showing his newest injury, it is his most serious one to date. That with his cloudy eyes and ragged fins has got us really worried. Most of the other fish seem lively & hungry again now that the white spot has gone.

oh my good Lord! that is one big wound. but i cant really see any ragged fins there. as long as ur water is in pristine condition, the wound will heal. i would use a bit of salt to kill off the ick. any progress on the cotton mouth disease?

I know, it is pretty bad and breaks my heart to see it.

His side fins are all tattered at the ends, it is hard to get a good photo because they are moving continually.

Cottonmouth seems to have cleared up on the Silver Dollars with the Protozin.

For sure that's a really bad wound but keep up the water changes..hopefully he will start feeding again and this should help him heal in no time.

Is there something sharp in your tank or Pointy? They tend to hurt themselves easy if there is.

The tank has a weir which takes the water level to the very top of the tank. Oscar could be launching himself at the underside of the lid supports which are glass. I'll need to look at siliconing some thin foam or something to all the edges if that is the cause.

I did another test today after watching the video post on this site about how to do a Nitrate test properly (shaking the vile etc) and the reading came back at 10ppm. I've never done that test correctly before. The instructions on the Protozin bottle say not to change any water during treatment for Ick. I've only a few days left to go - should i wait or change water now?

If you have a Nirate reading of 10ppm, you should go ahead with finishing the treatment.. You will need to do a water change when it is done.