Oscar jumped out of tank!

[monster]

This is a bad way to get introduced to the forum but I think my albino Tiger Oscar may be dying due to my stupidity. I took my glass top off to repair a break in it and didn't cover the top of the tank back up. Sure enough, my albino Oscar jumped out. I found him not moving with gills barely moving later; he looked like he had been out for awhile.

He is back in my tank but just lying on his side gasping and not moving. Is there anything I can do to help him out? Or is he likely to die?

Thanks.

 

[monster]

So, the Oscar is looking better and moving a little but mostly sitting on the tank bottom. I am worried about his sight; both eyes are clouded over and I suspect this is why he won't move. I'm assuming this is from getting dried out from air exposure. Does anyone know if this will heal or is his vision permanently compromised? Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Menagerie]

[center:ec12f5222f] Welcome to AA, monster! [/center:ec12f5222f]

I'm not sure about the eyes. Add a bit of salt and melafix to the tank. The melafix is to help prevent any infections that may try to take over now that the oscar's immune system is weak. What size tank is he in? Are their any tank mates?

 

[monster]

Thanks, Menagerie. I will try both the salt and melafix (if I can find some). How much salt would you recommend?

I have a 46 gallon bow front w/ another Oscar, a pleco, and a Severum.
The two Oscars seem to be companions so the other one is keeping the albino company right now...Hope he makes it because this would be a stupid way for him to go.

 

[Menagerie]

One teaspoon per 10 gals will help--use Aquarium salt found at the LFS. Melafix can be found in all LFS that I have seen--it's in a blue bottle and is a tree oil and will not hurt the other fish, or the filter.

I have a 46 gallon bow front w/ another Oscar, a pleco, and a Severum.

That's a lot of fish for a 46 gal. Many people will tell you that 2 oscars per 75 is minimum. Are the fish still young/small? You will need to upgrade the tank, or split up the occupants in the future. Happens to all hobbiests! When my fiance and I started a Mbuna cichlid tank, it was 29 gal Needless to say, it was upgraded to an 80 gal.

 

[monster]

Great, thanks for all the advice.
Yep, they are still young and small but there is no way I would try to keep all of these guys in this tank. I was actually going to change over to saltwater and had been looking for a good home for these guys before this mishap. Now I am putting that on hold to see if I can nurse this Oscar back into health.

 

[michaels]

My Oscars eyes are both cloudy and he never fell out of the tank so it may be stress related, I am not sure though

 

[monster]

Yeah, I looked around on the web and it looks like "cloudy eye" is actually pretty common and can result from a whole host of problems, including bacterial infection, inflammation, and trauma. You might want to try Menagerie's suggestion, Melafix, since it's supposed to treat cloudy eye too. I used it on this Oscar and his eyes had totally cleared within 24 hours.

 

[i3k]

Have you checked the ammonia levels in your tank? I have had fish jump out before but do to high ammonia levels in the water. High ammonia levels will make fish dash and jump around like crazy. test your water for ammonia and also test the pH levels.