Injured Oscar

[jennandjuicetm]

We have acquired this very injured Oscar. He and his tank mate were dumped at a LPS after their tank broke and being stressed and forced in to a small space, the tank mate attacked him. I don't know how long they've been there, less than a week and a half. Last night the manager on duty refused to give him to us and today the fish manager was working and happily handed him over, wanting the best for the fish. But thats neither here nor there. What matters is that I have him now, he is acclimated after dripping for two hours and in a 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons mixture of aquarium salt at 84 degrees. I have him bare bottomed with an air stone, no filter. What do you all suggest as further treatment? Time? Antibiotics? Antifungals? Are there safe pain meds, I'm sure it hurts! Tomorrow i will add in some Seachem Stress coat, I didn't want to change yet another thing on him so quickly. I prefer not to do medications if not needed but I completely understand if he needs them.

 

[jennandjuicetm]

:Sigh: one last pic

 

[Patty1980]

Goodness! Is he eating? How big is he and your tank? You need filtration ASAP and lots of it. Until then daily BIG water changes like more than 50% with clean dechlorinated temperature matched water. The stress coat will do nothing but help I'm sure. He may still not make it, but keeping him as clean as possible will help his overall comfort. Hopefully some Oscar experts can help you more. I've been eyeing one for my husband so I'm curious to see how he does. Good luck!

 

[MICEY]

I used to us a chemical called binox that was great but I don't see it around anymore , it was a anti fungal and anti bacterial both gram pos and neg and worked great
go to a good lfs and get something to prevent infection , forget about pain there is nothing you can do about it and fish feel less pain than mammals

 

[Jmunroe]

Hello, I'm a long time oscar keeper and as yet I see no signs of infection or bacteria so the only thing needed to heal him is lots of large water changes. You'd be amazed at how quickly he will heal. Within days. But.... that being said you will need a proper size tank and cycled filter/s ASAP. Even with a proper size tank of 75 gallons and well cycled filter, you would want to do 50% water changes for a few days to get him on the mend. Then do 50-75% WC every time the nitrates hit 20ppm as regular maintenance.

 

[jennandjuicetm]

The 55 is being resealed this evening and long term i have a 75 gallon but as of yet there are other fish in there. For now hes in a 20 gallon which makes it much easier for me to do the large water changes on my own. I can add a filter right now, i just wasn't sure if I should. He isn't eating yet, mostly jist layong around.

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[Patty1980]

How big is he? An unfiltered/uncycled 20 is not going to work for him regardless of his current size. They simply produce too much waste. Huge daily water changes. Hopefully he starts eating. Keep us posted

 

[Jmunroe]

How big is he? An unfiltered/uncycled 20 is not going to work for him regardless of his current size. They simply produce too much waste. Huge daily water changes. Hopefully he starts eating. Keep us posted

Yes yes and yes. Why would you ever think a filter wasn't needed on the tank? And the 20 gallon as said is just a death sentence for an Oscar. Of course it's going to be easier to do the water changes on a smaller volume. You want LARGER water volume not less. You should rehome this oscar. You are clearly not ready to look after large messy cichlids. I would study up on the nitrogen cycle of an aquarium and get an understanding of what happens in an aquarium.

 

[Fishanatic]

As other said, whats really important is to keep the heat at a comfort level, keep the water in pristine condition and reduce stresss on him by reducing lighting time and handling time. The small tank wont be a problem as long as you keep the parameters low and he stays comfy(note: im stating this only for a temporary period and for his healing, he will definitely need a much bigger tank). Im quite confident he'll make it out alive.

 

[Mebbid]

How big is he? An unfiltered/uncycled 20 is not going to work for him regardless of his current size. They simply produce too much waste. Huge daily water changes. Hopefully he starts eating. Keep us posted

A 55g is going to be ready by tomorrow for him according to the op. With the amount of water changes being done you shouldnt need to filter it. Any waste is getting picked up and removed before being converted to ammonia. Any treatments will just nuke the biological filter anyways.

Yes yes and yes. Why would you ever think a filter wasn't needed on the tank? And the 20 gallon as said is just a death sentence for an Oscar. Of course it's going to be easier to do the water changes on a smaller volume. You want LARGER water volume not less. You should rehome this oscar. You are clearly not ready to look after large messy cichlids. I would study up on the nitrogen cycle of an aquarium and get an understanding of what happens in an aquarium.

Easy killer. She understands that the oscar needs a bigger tank obviously.

Would it have been better to leave the oscar at the lfs where it certainly would have died rather than take it home where it can have a chance?

I say good for you jenna, and good for the oscar!

I would highly suggest some methylene blue to help with the fungus that's taken hold. It will also help with some bacterial issues.

 

[jennandjuicetm]

The 55 should be done curing by tomorrow (we had to reseal it) and then we just need to leak test it tomorrow night. Those were my thoughts on the filter as well because when I asked a while back about cycling a hospital tank the consensus was why bother. Either way he has a cycled sponge filter since I figured if it kills the bactera, who cares, it will grow back once I clean it and place it back in the big tank. Being as vertically challenged as I am (aka short) its hard for me to get the bucket up on the 55 and use my hand to advert the flow by muself but the SO isn't always around to help, thats why the 20 is much eaiser, it just sits on a low counter. Is the methalyene blue sold at pet stores or is it the same thing as the New methylene blue used to stain bacteria under a microscope? I know we have some drops at work but I'm not sure if they are in date or if it even does expire. I'll have to look that up.
Last night when I got home from work it looked like his skin had sloughed off where there was previously a white area. It was very red and inflamed last night and tonight its less of an angry red and more light pinkish red and not so inflamed and raised but kind of scary because it doesn't look as healthy. My background is animal medicine and if this were a dog I would be doing warm compresses, wet to dry bandages, and antibiotics! I know antibiotics are hard on fish but im not really sure what to look for as far as infection. Has the game changed now that there's an open wound, should I go ahead and medicate him? He ate the two pellets of Hikari cichlid gold that I left in there last night but didnt eat anything over the day today. Tonight I left 5 pellets. I have an email in to a vet who is part of the local koi club so hopefully he will get back to me soon. Though, i'm not sure if that is as strict as maamals where the vet can provide advice without first doing an exam. Pictures attached. The first picture of his body is of last night and the second picture is tonight. The third picture is some orange tint on his cornea. Im not sure if that is nornal or not. Theres something similar on the other eye but in a different shape.

 

[jennandjuicetm]

Oops, pictures here!

 

[Mebbid]

Wow, thats rough. It might not be a bad idea to use some antibiotics.

The methylene blue should be the same substance used to stain slides. It can be bought in well stocked fish stores.

 

[Mebbid]

Dosage of methylene blue is 1tsp per 10g to hit a 3ppm concentration via kordon methylene blue.

 

[trennamw]

All I can add is that API stress coat has a small amount of Aloe, since there are studies on it helping with wound healing, I think there's a tiny chance there's enough for it to provide a little pain relief. Aloe has salicylic acid, the plant version of aspirin.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[Mebbid]

Idk... I've never seen a wound that bad on a fish before.

 

[Brookster123]

Would salt help in this case? As an anti septic, that looks scary bad.

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[Fishanatic]

I would indeed think salt would help in this situation to prevent further infection.

 

[jennandjuicetm]

Thats what scared me in to thinking i need to start antibiotics. Would Melafix and Pimafix be a good option? They are more herbal, though, amd don't seem to have any actual antibiotics in them. I know cephalexin is excellent for dog skin infections but I'm not sure if it is the same in fish!

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[jennandjuicetm]

Ok, in doing research I found this articles explaining some of the antibiotics:
Understanding Antibacterial Aquarium Medications | That Fish Blog

I just purchased:
API Tetracycline 500mg packets
Tetra Fungus guard which has Nitrofurazone, Furazone, and Potassium Dichromate
Melafix
Pimafix

I figured I could return what I don't use. I found a handy guide to medications and what can and can't be used together. "List of Treatments and Contraindications." I'm not sure if posting links to other forums is allowed, I didn't see anything about it in the rules but I only skimmed, so I won't post the link unless someone says it's okay. Anyway, the list say that tetracycline can't be used with any other medications and is less effective when used with salt and at high ph levels, my ph when cycled is 6, out of the tap 8.6 and out-gassed after 24 hours 7.4ish. However, The Fungus Guard can be used with the Melafix and Pimafix.

I'm not completely sure which direction to go in from here, any suggestions anyone?