Sick Oscar ):

Question
QUESTION: Hi Lynda! It's me again! ( In case you forgot, seeing that you probably get lots of questions, I have a year old oscar who has been bloated.) Well O'malley (the oscar) Is still bloated and seemed to like hanging out at the top of the tank which is unusual for him and he wont eat. Plus the other morning I woke up to find a huge gash on his forhead. So I'm treating him for the gash and the bloat using the medication you sugested. But there's still a little bloat left. What can I do? He's already on all these medications! But he did poop yesterday ( I was so happy to see him pooping I dropped down and hugged the tank and started to cry infront of my friends I had over. . .so embarassing but I was happy to see there's hope) that's good. . .right? That he pooped. Is there anything else I can do? I've been keeping the tempurature up to over 80 degrees F* bc he seems to just hang around the heater all day.

Here's a picture of his bloat and his poop. I know that the long string means there's a parasite involved with all this. . .I get paid tommorow and will buy him that kind of medication. Can I do anything else??

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j222/OrdinaryFreak101/?action=view¤t=utu

and here's a pic before my poor baby got sick,

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j222/OrdinaryFreak101/?action=view¤t=apr


ANSWER: Hi April,
I have answered you, but I guess you did not see my answer.  Photobuchet would not let me see your picture.
Here was my answer to you...

He must have hurt himself on something in the tank, or maybe he tried to move a rock.  Oscars do this, they move things around, and we must make sure there is nothing sharp in the tank.
Melafix is good for open wounds.  If you have some blue methylene, take a Q-tip, and rub some directly on his cut.  Do this every day until he looks better.  Keep up the Melafix treatment.  Melafix is a natural medication, but do not overdose.  If he is having a reaction to this medication, change 25% of his water, and give him half the dose.  Adding diluted aquarium salt to your tank would also help.  One teaspoon to 5 gallons of water.
If his cut is not better in two days, you will have to give him antibiotics.  
I'm hoping that this is not "Hole in the Head" Disease.  If the wound gets bigger, you will have to treat him.  Hole in the Head happens to big fish, so I am a little worried.  Hole in the head is usually caused by poor water conditions, lack of calcium, and vitamins in his diet.  Hopefully this is not the case.
If it is, an antibiotic "metronidazole" should be used.  ( Octozin) is also used for hole in the head,  and is suppose to be very good at killing internal parasites.  I have never tried this product, but from what I read about it, it is supposedly very good at killing parasites.
Make sure that his water is free of ammonia, and nitrates.
I hope it is not serious, and that he will get better soon.
Lynda


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I took pictures to the local pet store and they assured me that its not hole-in-head. And right now I'm using tank buddies by the company Jungle which are tablets. I'm pre-disolving them in distilled water like directed, is that a good medication to use? And one more thing, I don't want to try to deal with my canister filter that anytime I try to take something out of it and I do one small thing wrong, it floods my floor. So I unplugged it b/c I could not get to the carbon. Plus some of the medication said it was bad for biological filthers. But I only have one 60 gallon overhead filter going during the medication. And its one where all there is, is a carbon. . . slide in piece. . .? I i dont want to just take it out and have no filtration, is there anything I can do instead? I'm also using that stuff to rub on his head like you suggested. :D

Oh, and I'm sorry about the double asking of the question, I was at work and called my boyfriend and asked him to write into this site and to ask you a question b/c I was worried about O'malley. But I didn't get a reciept for the question. . .so I just figured he didn't do it right. :P So sorry about that. . .

ANSWER: Hi April,
I have never used tank buddies tablets for Swim Bladder Disease, or for cures on fish that have cuts, but seeing as the pet shop fish manager has seen your Oscar, hopefully he gave you the right medication, from what he saw.   However, if your Oscar has this disease, this medication will not help him.  Like I have told you in previous letters,  Kenamycin or Tetracycline or Furan 2 would be my choice for SBD.  Tank buddies would not be my choice of medication.  Make sure that he does not have SBD has every minute counts for him. You will have to unplug your filter, and remove your carbon, there is no other way . He also needs lots of oxygen.  You don't want your water chemistry to change, this would be terrible for the Oscar.  The sponge in your filter is giving him good bacteria which he needs.  There is no other way to do it.  
Keep checking his water, making sure that PH, ammonia, and nitrate levels are safe.
Hope he gets well soon.
Lynda

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I finally got the carbon out of the big filter. So I have that one running. And I have two bubblestones goind. Two big ones. That I try to move closer to him when he's backed into a corner. I can tell he's fighting bc he doesnt give up easily. . . I am using the Tetracycline that you suggested along with a general cure medication by the same company. But today I woke up and he was looking stressed out again and I looked at his butt and he has a bubble coming out of his buthole. Not like soap kind of bubble but a bubble that kind of looks like brown flesh or poop. I don't want to touch it for fear it might be bad. What is it? Is it a bad sign? Or (please tell me) a good sign, that his bloat is getting over? The lady at Pet Smart told me they will act down and depressed for a while and not be active while they are getting it out of their system and that everything should be good. Is that correct? Or should I worry more. I really don't know what to do.

Answer
Hi April,
I would discontinue "General Cure" and treat only with Tetracycline.  Too much medication isn't good for him.  Do another water change.   If he is still eating soak his food with Glyercil, or Caster Oil.  Poor O'Malley, he is really having trouble passing waste.   It's a good sign if he can pass this.  Hopefully his tummy will go down.  For now, do a water change to help remove some of the General Cure, and add more Tetracyline according to the amount of water you removed.
Try feeding him anit-parsite food found at your Pet Store.  Once he is better, and the tank is free from all medication, you could treat him for internal parasites.  Prazipro is very good for internal parasites.
Keep me posted on how he is doing.
Lynda