Emergency! please help

[Qieter]

my two oscars are constantly fighting...recently ive noticed that the more peaceful one is coverd with white specks..at first glance i thought that its infected by the disease itch or white spot...but after some careful observation, i suspect that the white spots are wounds due to the constant fighting, could this be true?....what should i do?..should i move the more peaceful oscar to the cichild tank that i have since the cichilds there are smaller in size so hopefully the oscar wont be bothered too much....

Thanx
vic

 

[johnc]

white spots that appear as if salt were sprinkled onto the fish is usually an indication of ich, which is a parasitic infection that affects fish weakened due to extreme stress, like being picked on by aother fish...the best thing to do is treat it for ich...if it was damage from fighting, it wouldnt be white specks but more like scars...do not put the more peaceful one with other cichlids, despite oscars large size they are usually very peaceful for a cichlid and most other cichlids will bother them even moreso...treat the tank, or put him in his own...

 

[buckmasta]

How big is the tank that you have with the two Oscars? If it's large enough you could put a divider in the middle, then see if the sick oscar heals up, you'll know that they were "battle" wounds. If he doesn't clear up, thenyou know it's probably ich and needs to be treated ASAP.

 

[ryanp15]

Actually that's a bad idea. Sorry. But if he is infected with ich then he will spread it to the other oscar and he will become infected. You should move the sick fish into a quarantine tank and treat him there. There are medications you can buy for the treatment of ich or you can add salt to your aquarium and raise the temperature of the tank to about 80°-83°F. That is cheaper but once again if you suspect it is ich then get the fish out of the tank. Good luck. ;D

 

[Matt Nace]

I would NOT remove him. OR you can remove them both. It is probebly easier to treat for ick in the same tank. Even if you move one oscar out the ick is still dividing in the gravel or free swimming in the water. So chances are the other one will be infected anyway.

If all fish were removed, after the ick had no host it would die , but you would still have to treat the infected fish in another tank..so I say leave them both, and treat them both.

I would not move him to another tank until he is cured plus a week.

Raising the temp does speed up ick's life cycle, so you can kill it in the free swimming stage faster. Salt works and so does meds(I use maracide if I medicate)

Maybe a tank divider or a rearranging of the territories is a good idea for now. I would build some sort of divider like with big rocks if they are constantly fighting.

 

[666]

turn the temperature up to or over 80F and put salt in the tank. do not turn the temp. all the way to 80F in one day, do it slowly 2F per day. if its ick it will be gone in about five days and if it is cuts the salt will help.  remove one of your oscars, give it to someone or a fish shop because one of them will die sooner or later.

 

[colesea]

Oh dear, so many conflicting replies. We'll here's my two cents:

#1 Like Matt Nace said, better off treating both fish for ich because if you have ich, you have ich, and it is in the system not just localized to the infected fish. So to make it easier on you, keep them in the same tank with a divider like buckmasta said. Most dividers are perferated to allow for water exchange but not for the fish to get at one another. If you can, find an opaque divider as oppossed to a clear one. If the fish can't see each other, all the better.

#2  How big are your oscars in what size tank? As soon as the fish are treated and the ich is gone, definately seperate them or purchase a large tank. A friend of mine has a full grown pair in a 90 gallon tank, and the big albino still beats up upon the other tiger now and again. Make sure they have lots of large, heavy rocks siliconed to the floor so they can't redecorate but they still have territory to defend and caves to duck about in. Putting a submissive oscar in with other SA chiclids might not help matters.  Jack Dempsies, Green terrors, even Texas cichlids are known to kick the daylights out of shy Oscars.
~~Colesea