hey guys my oscar has been havein problems on and off for a while now, he was doin pretty good last week, all of the sudden his side has gone rough and white, and this morning the large white portion of his skin flaked off and i can see a huge prolly 1" wide red inner part of his flesh.

I've tried ermithrocin, lifeguard, salt..... this stuff call T.C i think......Should i just put him out of his misery for once and for all or what?

We are going to need some information from you before we can really help

You need to test your water and give us the results for ammonia, nitrates, nitrates and PH, please also tell us the temperature of your water?

Then you need to tell us how big your aquarium is, and what type of filtration you are using.

Also, what other Tankmates have you got? How big is your Oscar and how long have you had it?

Also give us some information on your tank maintenance routine, i.e. water changes, filter maintenance etc

Until we have got some of these answers, it's going to be very difficult to help you

OFL wrote:



Ok, I dont really have too much mula right now so water test is gunna be tough.

I've got two oscars, the healthy one is now about 6-7" and the sick one about 4"

Theres a pleco, 2 yoyo loaches, and 2 rafeouls? in the 30gal tank, i know its small but il be getting a bigger one soon hopefully.

I'm using two penguin filters with charcoal inserts,

I've had the fish about 6 months or so and they both had this white stuff build on them and then leave, come and go, come and go, the big one has been rid of it for about 2-3 months

I clean the tank using a python, do about a 1/3 water change every week, using profin water treatment for the chlorine.

If theres anythiing else u need just lemmme kno, thanks guys

It's good to hear that you carry out maintenance once a week. However, your tank is about half the size we recommend for one adult Oscar, let alone all the fish you have got. I'm afraid you are in a no-win situation. The only thing I can suggest you do is re-home all of your fish.

I'm sorry I really haven't got anything more to add. You're never going to be able to keep your water in good condition, your fish are doomed, really sorry to have to tell you this.

well my one oscar is doing fine, he had the same issues but he got over it and is very healthy???

If the one oscar got over it, shouldnt the other be able to? Theyl be gettin a bigger tank .....just depends on how work goes.

I agree with the Boss here... You need to rehome all of your fish, save some money, set up a MUCH bigger tank, with the proper filters, test kits and all the stuff you will need to PROPERLY care for these giants.

you will end up with a tank full of dead fish if you don't.

I agree. Poor water quality is to blame for most problems,your O probably has some amonia burns.

like the other have posted your tank is way to small for you stock list. add to that the underfiltration and inadequate tank maintenance you carry out and the results are what you are experiencing now. without a proper water reading it is more difficult to say what may be the cause of your dilema but i am positive it will be traced back to water quality. on a 30 gallon tank with the huge load you have in there you should be doing 30% water changes every second day if not daily.
what you need is a larger tank now, unfortunetly not when you can afford it. by that time your fish will be dead or best case senerio permanently harmed by the conditions they are kept in.
i dont mean to sound rude or uncaring but with your setup you are doomed to fail. for your stock list you need something in the neighbourhood of 150+ gallons.
if you cannot in the next day or two provide your fish with a better living enviroment then your only recourse will be to rehome them and hope that someone with an adequate setup will take them so they can live a happy healthy life.

sorry if this is not what you were hoping to hear but unfortunetly it is what must be done....

good luck to you and your fish

so for now until i figure out something, if i do a water change every other day this will help ??? i can do that, its not a big deal....trust me id like to get a bigger tank, its just not in the cards rigth at the moment

alright if you are serious about keeping your oscars alive and in some semblance of proper water conditions the fisrt thing you should do is to rehome everything else in your tank except the oscars. after that is done then i would recommend doing a 25% water change daily (adding the appropriate water declorinator) and getting yourself a master test kit. these can be purchased at most lfs for around 25 dollars.

then you need to get a larger tank for your oscars. like i said earlier something in the 100+ range.

what happened to me is that the bigger, dominint oscar beat up the smaller one at night

a picture of the damage portion can help us evaluate the problem
properly. damaging one side only is something to look at...
and yes, you have an over stocking issue.

encountering problem in the past shows you have water related issue
that need immediate attention.