Oscar fish

Discussion in 'Diseases' started by PopGun, Aug 20, 2012.

  1. PopGun

    PopGun

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    Hi gents and ladies

    I am a bit confused here......

    I bought a little Oscar Saturday but unfortunitely died. He started to lose his scales the following day and begin to float around, rather than swim.
    I put him into my "growth tank" which has another Albino Oscar in at the moment. He's about the size of a R5 coin, slightly bigger. The one that died is slightly smaller, not much.
    The Albino one has been in there for +-4 months, he is a bit of a hidder, but happy as larry. fed every day or second day just depends.
    Its a smallish tank. +-150L, before they/he gets introduced into the big tank.

    The question I have:
    Do Oscars lose scales and float rather than swim because of
    1 - PH
    2 - Stress
    3 - Amonia

    The reason I ask:
    1 - PH to me must be ok, because the Albino O is ok. And who has a decent PH tester on here? Where can I get one, preferably electronic.
    2 - Why would they stress?
    3 - Again, Albino O is perfect? I check Amonia almost every month or so. I do weekly or bi weekley water changes with dechlora.

    Another question I have....... RO water
    Has anyone ever/ or can you run a tropical tank using RO water? I have an RO maker...... It would make sense to rather use RO water, as its pretty much pure water. The PH is right, there will be no Chlorine and bad chemicals in it?
    Or am I missing something?
     
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  3. johan008

    johan008

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    I would say your albino O is the culprit in this so my Q's are

    1. how did you introduce him
    2. did you move some of your ornaments (driftwood) around
    3. what time of day did you add him to the tank
     
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  4. OP
    PopGun

    PopGun

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    Its funny, because the Albino O is pretty much a hidder, he doesnt come to the front to get his food. I previously had another black O, bigger O as well, in there with the Albino, he just dissapeard on Thursday, I assumed he jumped out and the dogs got hold of him, STUPID me. So now I have a cover on top of the tank. This could have stressed the new Black O that died?
    But are you saying, he died definately to stress? Not PH and not water problems?


    How should you introduce them? The Albino O and previous black O were bought together and added same time. Now with the Albino O alone, I thought he needed another mate.
    The Albino O is such a shy guy though.
     
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2012
  5. mydummyname

    mydummyname Balala shark

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    Hi @PopGun, i have to agree with @johan008, most likely your culprit is the albino oscar, as he has been in the tank long enough to establish territory. its also possible that he ate the previous black oscar. oscars are know to be very very aggressive fish.

    having said that, its always a good idea to have a cover over your tank, almost any fish is likely to jump out of an uncovered tank, if they should be spooked for frightened for any reason, and to be honest, the dominant oscar may have frightened or harassed the black oscar into jumping.

    i know that you say he tends to hide all the time, but just because he is shy of you, doesnt mean he wont defend what he perceives as "his territory" to a new fish..

    my other concern tho, is that you say he has been in the tank for approx 4 months or so now and is only 5cm, from what i've seen with friends who keep oscars, they grow mighty fast and i would have expected him to be closer to 8 or 10cm after 4 months. oscars are fast growers.

    now your water changing routine is very good, so it wont be high nitrates keeping him back, perhaps you are not feeding him enough, or often enough?

    do you mind if i ask what, and how often you feed him?

    p.s. please update your profile to show your location.

    cheers :)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 2, 2016
  6. johan008

    johan008

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    If your new O was stressed he would have been hiding too.

    When you get/buy a new fish one should put him with the bag into the tank (which you did) but you should have left him in the bag for longer and then slowly add water from your tank to the water he is in (and never add water from the bag to your tank - you can get some nasty's) and then he should have gone into a QT for at least a week or two.

    When adding a new fish to a tank where you already have other fish in (especially in predator tanks) one should move the "ornaments" around because the other fish has got territories and even if your albino O is hiding when you are close doesn't mean he hiding when you are not there
     
  7. mydummyname

    mydummyname Balala shark

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    absolutely true!

    @PopGun, if you are truly serious about adding another oscar to your setup, i think one of the safest ways to do this would be to move the existing oscar and the new one to another, temporary tank for a week or 2, add both of them to the temp tank at the same time, this way, they are both new to the tank and so neither will have set up any kind of territory, then, after that 2 weeks, you put them both in your main tank, together, and even then, make sure your decor and scape is very different from when you had just the one in your tank, that is probably your safest way of getting them to live together in ( reasonable ) peace, altho it might be tedious, its worth it.

    all of the best dude!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 2, 2016
  8. OP
    PopGun

    PopGun

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    Thanks guys! Didnt realise it.
    Oscars are like children! lol
     
  9. johan008

    johan008

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    More like teenagers LOL
     
  10. mydummyname

    mydummyname Balala shark

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  11. DigiGram

    DigiGram

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    On your question about RO Water, remember RO does not have any buffers in it, so when the pH starts to swing up or down (most of the time down) from minerals, chemicals etc in your tank, the fluctuation will be BIG. Seachem makes a product to stabilize RO water, or do your water changes with 30% RO water, 70% treated tap water
     
  12. OP
    PopGun

    PopGun

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    Thanks DigiGram
    So it is safe to add 30% RO water on changes without any chemicals, other than a chlorine remover?
    Is there any benefit adding RO water this way? Is it worth the hassle?
     
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2012
  13. DigiGram

    DigiGram

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    Well, depending on your water hardness. RO water will lower the hardness, so if you start of with Cape water, it will not make much of a differance, but you need to judge for yourself if you need buffers. Here in Potch you can do a 50%-50% mixture and your hardness will not even lower much, thats how hard our water is. In Fourways if I remember correctly, I'll mix 25% - 30% RO with treated tap water. And use that for your water changes. But keep an eye on your pH...

    EDIT: Oh, and for the benefits, it lowers your hardness a bit, some people want/need that, and it does not introduce more minerals/nitrates etc into your tank with each water change. If you need that for plants, you need to dose anycase.
     
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2012
  14. Tiger barb

    Tiger barb CPT

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    I'm no expert here, but after reading through this thread I can only pin this down to pH shock. The small O was not properly acclimatised to the new water conditions.

    I have had an experience when I moved some fish over from one tank to another. The fish scales started looking very rough and almost falling off. The next morning two were dead and a thrid on the way, I quickly removed the fish and dripped them slowly back into the original tank and treated with salt. The fish was belly up in the bucket and by dripping him back and adding some salt I managed to save it. Long story short, I put this all down to not acclimatising the fish properly and thus causing a pH shock.

    Anyone please correct me if im wrong.
     
  15. OP
    PopGun

    PopGun

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    By adding salt, how does this help with PH? Might be a stupid question?
    But he did basically lose his scales. I tried to even put him into RO water mixed with tank water, 50:50
    To acclimatise a fish properly, is it correct in saying you mean, add some of the tank water into the bag he is in, little by litte..... how long should this take?
     
  16. Ryno

    Ryno Kenaal baber

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    i let the water drip into the bag over an hour
     
  17. mydummyname

    mydummyname Balala shark

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    i beleive adding some salt stabilises the ph, but i speak under correction.

    if he was losing scales it could be due to being bitten harrassed, and as @Tiger barb pointed out, it might also be the swing in ph, or a combination of the above, its also possible the fish you bought was already sick, or half starved to death..

    you could acclimatise him over a period of an hour or so..
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 2, 2016
  18. OP
    PopGun

    PopGun

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    Thanks guys!
     
  19. Tiger barb

    Tiger barb CPT

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    My intension for the salt was to release some osmotic pressure on the fish, thus helping him to recover quickly.

    I dont know if it will have an effect on the pH. That you would have to ask the experts about.
     
  20. OP
    PopGun

    PopGun

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    Drip, would you puncture small holes in the bag? Do you have a method how you do this?
    In the past I would add a cup ever 15 mins, twice.... to the bag
     
  21. Ryno

    Ryno Kenaal baber

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    haha same way as a hospital drip
     

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