i have a rather large oscar in my tank and recently he has just been laying on the bottom of the tank. i used to have a catfish in there with him but recently (about 3 weeks ago) took it out so he is on his own. he went off of his food so at first i thought he was sulking. but over the past week or so i have noticed he is getting fatter and fatter and looks like he is gasping for air. i did a water change when i took the catfish out and going by advice i did another water change yesterday. i netted him and felt his side and it feels very very hard and swollen. i did think it could be egg bound, but i have milked fish before and he feels too hard for that. he looks like he is gasping for air so i also increased the air into the tank but nothing has changed. i have also noticed something coming out of his bum, it looks like a sack of slim. the man in the aquarium told me to do the water change and if he doesn't change then he is more than likely a goner if he does change then he recommended some stuff for the tank. i have had the fish around 6-7 years and would hate to see him die but am torn between keeping my fish for the sake of sentimentality or put him out of his misery (when i say him i have no idea if he is male or female sorry)

i hope someone can help me

hi could we have a pic, also what size tank you have, and also your readings for nitrites, nitrates, ammonnia, it sounds to me he has an internal parisite infection xxx

hi, welcome on board.... it is difficult to give comment
without seeing a pic.... however, bloating is one sign of
constipation.... green peas is known to help out the fish for
indigestion....

how do i upload pictures on to the site? i cant do an amonia test as i have just found out the bottle leaked out. my local aquarium isnt open today so cant even go and get a new one till tomorrow. did propably over half a water change yesterday so doubt the levels are that high to be honest. Nitrate levels <0.3mg/l according to my colour chart.

the tank (2.5ft x 1ft x 1.5ft) is too small for the fish i know and i was getting ready to give him to my local aquarium to re house when this happened

it is such a sad site to see as i have had him for over 6 yrs. a fried pointed me to a site that says it could be a prolapsed rectum? not sure what this is or how it could happen. the mucas sack coming out of his anus is very wierd. i dont want to loose this fish but he is just laying on the bottom like he is gasping for air

now i understand... probably it is the payback time... the
internal orgar may have outgrown the body for keeping him in such
small tank in six years... if you gave him good tank size with
adequate water maintenance, he will be probably around 14 inches long.
how big is he now?

he hasnt been kept in the same tank for 6 yrs. when i fisrt got him i was very new to keeping fish and the shop didnt give me any information as to how big they would grow or how long they would live. i got him with an albino oscar as well and at 1st had them in a small tank then had to up grade and have done as the fish have grown. i got rid of the albina when they was both too big for my 3rd tank and put this one in this latest tank about a yr ago. unfortuantely he was growing faster than i could earn the money to get bigger tanks. he is probably about 10inches long and about 4 deep

okey then... that is normal to most LFS... telling everything is fine...
i just hope he is just constipated... just do regular water change
without cleaning the filter, and give him some fresh frozen greenpeas...

is he taking any food at least even a little?

what is a lfs??

he isnt eating anything at all and hasnt for about a week to 2 weeks. another site said to try to force feed him some cod liver oil would this be any good? he is just laying flat on the bottom now and i dont know if it would be more humane to put him out of his misery?

dont fish have to be upright for the oxygen to flow through their gills? do you have any idea what the mucas sack could be coming out of his anus?

lfs is local fish shop or local fish store....

in many cases, force feeding can stress further your fish...
and it will lessen the chance of survival....

i just read a topic on here about euthanasia with clove oil. do you think this is the right thing to do?

so annoyed with the shop that they didnt give me the information at the time but have grown to love my fish and dont want him to go. but seeing it in this state is really heart breaking

i know how it feels when you become attached to your pet...
i used to grill all my fish before... but from the time i stop
doing it, i feel bad whenever i loss any of them now