Help!

[Moo]

In my South American cichlid tank I have a tiny oscar that seems extremely ill. I've seen his bouts of pouting that disappears immediately when I have food in sight. This is different. His respiration rate is very high, and he is secluding himself in a corner and not eating. He appears very weak. There is no red or discoloration anywhere on his body, and he hasn't lost any color. No nibbled fins or superficial signs of injury/parasite/fungus. He appears perfect healthy externally aside from his behavior.

I did an emergency 40% water change. No one else is sharing in his distress, and everyone else's appetites are normal. I've had him about three weeks now and he's always been a very chipper and excited fish. He's never displayed this behavior. I am very worried.

pH: 7
GH: 75
KH: 40
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0


EDIT: Quick over of symptoms

Increased Respiration.
No Appetite.
Clamped dorsal and bottom fins.
Reclusive/Hiding.
Sometimes swimming with head downward.
Sometimes lying on bottom.
Prefers a corner by the heater where he won't be bothered.

 

[Moo]

UPDATE:

Very white poo.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Why no nitrates? Is this a brand-new setup? What size tank? What are you keeping with the oscar?

It's possible the O has a parasite, but it could also be stress due to an uncycled tank, tank mates, etc.

A single O needs a 55g tank at a bare minimum by himself. A 75g is better.

 

[Moo]

Hi Freshy ;-;

The tank is 75 gallons, and no it's not established yet. I've not had trouble cycling with fish in the tank, but then I've only ever owned hardy fish so far (and I'm happy sticking with hardy fish). This is a grow out tank. I have a 150 gallon down south where I'll be moving them between a time frame of 6 months to a year depending on when my next trip is (likely in 6 months). He shares his tank with other South American cichlids. A very quiet electric blue jack dempsey, an electric blue acara (also quiet), and a green severum. Everyone is very small right now, and I've had the oscar the longest. To be honest, I've seen this fish take far worse. I've had to do some rapid tank switches with him because of matching, and eventually bought this grow out tank for him. He hasn't exhibited any stress in regards to his tank mates, and has always been really excited to see me whether he was interested in eating or not. I currently have him floating in a breeders net with a bit of gravel on the bottom of it (for privacy, everyone likes to peek up at him from the bottom at it was stressing him). He's not breathing as rapidly today, but I feel like I should take that observation with a grain of salt. Knowing this fish and his history, I feel like it is very likely that its internal parasites. I am so on top of small water changes it's not even funny. Because I understand I'm cycling with fish in there, I've been doing ten to twenty percent water changes just to keep it as clean as possible, while feeding as carefully as I can. This behavior was very sudden, and he's always been such a fighter.

Besides netting him, I did a 1/4 dose of the recommended salt treatment (pre-dissolved in treated water) last night. I have Pimafix and Melafix on hand (which are my preferences since they have natural ingredients in them), but have been holding off because I know I don't want to make too many drastic changes. I'm heading to do another water change now, but I'm really thinking it is a parasitic infection. If it is, what do you recommend?

 

[Moo]

EDIT: (Since the post won't let me edit the previous one).

Temperature: 79 degrees.
Has a bubble wall.
Two Fluval 50 HOB filters.
Thin gravel layer about 1/4.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Can you get ahold of some healthy, used filter sponge or bio media from someone's established tank? Add that to the new 75g and it will be basically instantly cycled. Without that, you'll have to monitor water parameters with a liquid test kit (like API Master Test Kit) pretty much daily and do lots of water changes.

The mix of fish you've got going on there would be highly unusual to have work out long term. Lots of territorial cichlids that don't play well together, especially in a relatively small tank (for them).

 

[Moo]

I had someone diagnose him as more than likely infected with hexamita. I was told to treat him with metronidazole and praziquantal. I purchased general cure immediately, which contained the proper dosage of these two ingredients. I followed the directions, though I lowered the recommended dosage for an initial introduction of the medicine, and instead of directly adding the powder to the tank like it suggested, I premixed it in conditioned water. I treated the tank. A few hours later he passed. What I learned was that hexamita isn't always apparent until it's too late. It was explained to me that by the time symptoms show, the parasite already has too much of an impact. I'm really upset that I lost him. He was by far my favorite fish. I certainly learned a lot though. I'm worried about the potential for it impacting my other fish at the moment though.

I've kept a pretty good eye on the dynamics of my fish. I have a collection of tanks I can drop a fish into if there was a drastic problem. I know if it really came down to it prior to my move back home, I would do whatever I needed to space wise if someone was too aggressive, or I'd find a new home for the fish. That being said, if I continue to see them all doing as well as they've been with each other, then I'll continue to raise them and take them down to my home where there's a big tank waiting for them and space for more if they don't work in that tank.

I don't know anyone with old media, no. But I've been replacing a small amount of bacteria from the store every time I do a water change. That being said, I do check the water every day when I feed, and I changed the water quite frequently in small amounts. The specialist I talked to didn't feel it was a concern of water quality or ratio. He was pretty certain that since I only had him a couple weeks and had bought him from Petsmart that it's likely he was already carrying the parasite.

Really sucks. :\

 

[FreshyFresh]

Sorry for your loss. Illness and parasites can happen with new/newer purchases, which is why quarantining for 4-8weeks is the ideal thing to do before adding any fish to your established tanks.

IMO, proper water parameters and weekly water changes are the most important thing to the hobby. I don't do less than 50% weekly water changes on my tanks. On my oscar and severum tank, I take the water right down to fin-level on the fish, once per week.