Oscar's Eye!

[grass nerd]

Hello, I am completely new to this... so I apologize for my ignorance.

I am "fish sitting" for my roomate this summer, as he went home to work. He has 2 tanks...

1 55g with 2 Penguin 330 filters, 1 with 2 bio-wheels, the other has none
No undergravel filter, small bubble wand, 1 heater

1 10g with a top fin 10 filter, no undergravel, and small bubble wand, 1 submersible heater

The 55 gal has 1 Oscar approx 12-13 inches from nose to tail (3 yrs old) and a catfish that looks like a giant pictus cat (about 5-6 inch from nose to tail)

The 10 gal has 1 Albino Oscar about 4-5 inches (under a yr old)

I feed Cichlid Gold pellets only, because the Oscars will not eat anything else. I have tried to feed them beefheart but they will not eat it.

I feed 4-6 pellets large pellets to the big Oscar, 3-4 small pellets to the small Oscar, and I feed several Top Fin (sinking) Shrimp Pellets to the catfish at night.

I do a 20% water change on the 55 gal every 10 days or so and I have to do a full water change on the 10 gal every couple of days because of the stink!

The big Oscar has a small white covering on his left eye. At first I thought it could be ick, I don't know... He also has pitting around his face, which I thought could be HTH, but it doesn't look like the pictures I have researched.

Both tanks have very small black worms that are in the gravel. I can not tell if they are alive or dead. Recently I completely changed the gravel in the 10 gal to rid the worms, but no success.

QUESTION: What is the cause of this stink in the 10 gal, what are the worms and how do I get rid of them in both tanks (the worms I researched on this site were small white worms, but mine are black and found only in the filters and gravel), and what is the cause and how can I treat the Oscar's eye.

I do not know PH or Nitrate or anything of that matter. I have tried to tell you everything I know.

I tried to take a picture of the eye...

I can take more pictures if need be.

Thanks for your help sorry for the extremely long post.[/img]

 

[mattrox]

Welcome to AA.

I know the first thing that many will say is that the tanks are overstocked. So having already said that I hope no-one else feels the need to reiterate it or labor the point. Your friend should really look at getting a larger tank for the pictus and oscars. A 10 gal is too small and water changes would barely keep up with the waste that the fish produces. This could be the cause of the smell.

The white thing, I have no idea. Get a knowledgeable vet check it out. Make a few phone calls first. Could be bacterial or fungal, but I am not a disease expert. Don't worry too much about the worms. They might just be stray blackworms from previous feedings.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Another thing...you shouldn't change the gravel out completely because there is bacteria established in the gravel aleady and removing it could cause a mini cycle. As for the disease, it could be piscine tuberculosis, but I'm no expert in diagnosing illnesses.

 

[Toirtis]

Could be an injury, or it could be a tumour, or it could be a parasite.....can you provide some sharper, closer photos, please?

 

[grass nerd]

Sorry Tortis, I couldn't get a picture to turn out better. I guess my camera sucks!

I'm not quite sure he has hole in the head because they just don't look like the pictures that have been posted, but he is getting pits on his face and towards his top fin. I am assuming it is because of his diet.

I have only been feeding him pellets (Cichlid Gold).

So I headed to the store last week and bought some Freezed dried brine shrimp, but he only rips it apart and makes a HUGE mess. I also got some mill worms but he won't eat that either. He'll only eat the pellets and I'm afraid his condition (spots) are just going to get worse.

I have tried feeding frozen beefheart (that's why I got the freeze dried brine shrimp) but he won't eat that either.

Any suggestions on how to help Oscar's diet so he can become healthier?

Thanks.

 

[Rocket2001]

I am currently having problems with my oscar too..I'm trying to vary his diet but he will only eat Cichlid Pellets and free dried krill..try the Krill

 

[grass nerd]

Ok thanks.

 

[oscarbreeder]

You can also try getting crickets and earthworms from a bait shop.
Also try soaking the pellets in a vitamin supplement like vitachem.

 

[grass nerd]

I read in another post about soaking them in a supplement, but my Oscar won't eat pellets that are soft or saturated (with water), so I assume it wouldn't eat a soft pellet that is saturated with the vitamin. I could be wrong thought. I don't claim to know anything.