Five days ago I came home to find my Oscar gasping and on the bottom of the tank. I checked the temp and found it to be around 81-82 deg. I did a slow water change to bring down the temp to 78-79deg and turned up the air to the tank. His breathing improved but is still not moving around much. He is also not eating. He's around six and has always been very active and aggressive.

I had the water tested and everything was fine. I had done a water change two weeks before.

Any advice will help.

Thanks,
Gary

you really need to be doing weekly water changes, and what do you mean by "the water was fine"??? we really need the exact ammonia, nitrIte, nitrate and pH levels to determine if water quality was an issue...

First, I apperciate your relpy.

I took a sample of the water to a reliable Aquarium store. " Oranda" in LA. They checked all you mentioned and it was good. I don't have exact levels. I can get those exact levels if it would help.

When you say weekly water changes, what would you recommend? I have a sixty gal. tank fitted with a dual bio wheel filter and double air stone on either side.

Any advice you have is appreciated.

Regards,

Gary

Hi Gary, welcome to the forum
Please do get the levels if you can, it would help a lot. Have you changed what you feed him? Lowering the temp was a good thing. At 6 he's middle aged, could he be constipated? Try some green peas (with the skin off) Does he have any tankmates? Has he been moved recently? The more you tell us the better help we can be. I hope he's already feeling better.

Thanks for your concern,

As I look at his eyes now, I see a cloudy spot on one eye. I don't think this was there before, but I am now looking at him so closely so often I think he's going blind. Could this be a virus or parasite?

He does react to me ( not as before) but I think it's my shadow that he sees.

I love my fish " Monster Zero".

Any advice ?

Best regards,

Gary

If his eyes are cloudy it's probably your water, please do a water change now, at least 50% and another in 2 days and so on till you see his eyes getting better. Did you call the fish store for you water levels?

your fishes had just experienced oxygen deprivation like
a person who walks in a very high altitude. 82 deg F is
high enough that could reduce your oxygen level in the tank.
unless you have good agitation or air stone, your fish could
choke to death. keep the regular water change to stabilized
the tank condition. a dose of salt will help enhance oxygenation
and will comfort your fish.

I will do the water change as you instructed and get back to you with the levels. Let me make sure that I understand that it is a 50% then another 50% in two days?

He's still is not eating, I tried to hand feed him but won't let me. It's been 6 days since this event.

Thanks for the advice it is appreciated.

Regards,

Gary

What kind of salt and how much per gal? Also, what is your opinion on his eyes getting cloudy?

Best regards,

Gary

gmorgan wrote:

If it was me I'd do 50% till I saw a change in him. The mods will know more about this. I'd do 50% for 3 or 4 days then back off to every other day till his eyes look better. If it's ammonia doing it the fresh water will help him. I'd also use Melafix. You can get it at Walmart or almost any pet store and it's not expensive. Is he doing any better at all?

Sinstinna wrote:


The box of salt will tell you. Any salt without iodine is ok, 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons is a basic rule of thumb

gmorgan wrote:

any rock salt with out additives. cloudy eyes shows you have water
issue over there. water change is the best move.