Hey everyone, my names Heather and I'm from Aus and I just joined this wonderful site in hopes of saving my favourite oscar fish, Jason - who's in serious trouble. Where do I start?...Well, we've had Jason for about a year now and he's about 6 inches long. He was a beautiful fish with an amazingly gentle and curious nature - until a few months ago. At first he wasn't eating as much as usual and was losing weight and stopped growing...and he just seemed to lose interest in everything and just sat at the bottom of the tank in the back corner. At first we thought he was being moody, but recently he came down with a case of Hole in the head disease as well as cloudy eyes. He wasn't the only fish to get those diseases though, as another of our oscars, Cheech, came down with the same thing at the same time. (We also have another oscar in the 6 ft tank, a pleco, a blue acara, few catfish and a silver eel, and they're fine) We researched these diseases on the net and then went to the petstore to buy some medication for him (those treatments were 'Stress Coat' and 'Melafix') We also got the water in the tank to the best of conditions as that seems to be a major cause in these illnesses. (PH - 7.4...Nit - 0...ammonia - 0) Now, those treatments seemed to work for Cheech as his holes are clearing up, his eyes are fine and hes eating like a pig again...but Jason seems to be getting worse!! He's so skinny it's scary!! You can clearly see his skull structure he's that thin. He wont eat anything, and I'm scared that he doesn't have much time left. I know that the water conditions are fine, the tank is definately big enough (300 litres) and he's been fed pellets, blood worms and meal worms. If anyone has any information or ideas that would be greatly appreciated - I don't want to watch him die!! PLEASE - share your knowledge if you have any...i've put afew pics in incase that helps.




You can see the holes in his head and the cloudy eyes in these pics


And this shows how skinny he is...its so sad....

thank you

-Heather

welcome to OFL, I'm sorry it's under these circumstances.

Your fish certainly looks in a sorry state. Exactly how long has the fish not eaten for? so your water is in very good condition at the moment? Ammonia & nitrite must be zero, nitrate is best under 40 ppm, lower when trying to treat poorly fish.

Hole in the head disease and cloudy eyes cam base be caused by poor water conditions and an unsuitable diet. You say the other fish has recovered from this but Jason has not. I would put this down to a very weak immune system because he's not eating them is obviously ill.

There are a few reasons why your fish has lost so much weight and doesn't look well. It could have intestinal worms, or flagellates, these are basically internal parasites. The fish could also be suffering from tuberculosis. The only way to find out exactly what's wrong regarding internal problems is to take a fecal smear. Tuberculosis however is not treatable in fish.

I've got to be honest with you, I don't really think there's much you can do for Jason, it seems this has been going on for a long time now, your fish is obviously showing signs of serious health issues. However,as a last resort, you could take the fish to a vet and get his opinion, he may have some ideas. It's very difficult for us to try and help over the Internet. Firstly, we are not trained vets, secondly, we can only go to buy what you have written.

I am very sorry we can't give you a conclusive answer. Because your fish is no longer eating, there isn't really any point in trying to find a medication that can be digested. Have a word with the vet, I think he'll bring everything to a conclusion one way or another

Hey, thank you for your concern. Jason hasn't been eating very much for about a month...although a few days ago he atarted to eat some blood worms (3 blocks at one stage) but then went off his food completely. It is sad to know that there is not much I can do, and theres only so much you guys can suggest, but I appreciate that you cared. I guess the vet is the person I need to speak with - it is just too bad that they arent open on weekends around here, I hope that Jason can hold out until monday...

Thank you again...
-Hev

the problem is, even if you did get some medication, I don't think you would see much change within the first couple of days so you might as well wait till Monday and then speak to the vet. Please tell him everything that has been said on this thread, that will help him I'm sure. He might disagree totally and come up with something that will help. I'm only going by what I know about the situations, I've not had extensive training. The vets should know a lot more.

Yeah, the vet should hopefully be able to help - thats what they're paid for. Thank you again, I thought that we'd caught the problem before it got too bad (like I stated before, at first we thought he was sulking) but obviously it was far worse and had been going on too long to fix it with off the shelf medications. Pray that he holds out until monday - ill be devastated to see him floating on the surface, even when I know it is possible. Poor Jason...

-Hev

Unfortunately, there is a very strong possibility that he will pass away. Just one question, how big was he when you got him? I just read your thread again, I realize that he hasn't grown much in a year.

How is Jason today?

He was only an inch long at the most -just a baby...well...you weren't wrong, it's too late for Jason. He passed away yesterday, didn't even get to speak to the vet...Poor thing was in such a horrible way. RIP Jason. Thank you for your help, wish they was more that I could've done....
-Hev

And since Jason's death, Cheech has been sulking badly bcoz his friend died...

I am very sorry to hear about the death of Jason, although it doesn't surprise me unfortunately. Your fish was too ill and was beyond help. I didn't really want to tell you that at the time. Anyway, these things happen unfortunately. You are the fish is probably noticing the change in the tank, I shouldn't worry, he'll come around.