oscars skin coming off

Question
QUESTION: I have a 55 gallon tank 6 months old with 2 oscars. I am guessing hey are
about 8 months old. They were 1 inch when i purchased them, now they are
about 6 in. They have been showing signs of breeding. I went on vacation for
a week and when i returned, the tank was NASTY and the large rock was
turned on its side. One of m oscars had a large white patch on each side of its
body..not white spots...a large area. His scales started coming off, then the
whole area turned completely white and thismorning, the white patch is
peeling off on one side and i can see his meat!!!! What is wrong with my fish??
What do i do to help him? He is not eating much and hangs out by the heater.
I have cleaned the water and added some salt and turned up the heat. My
other oscar shows no signs of illness and is very protective of the sick one.
They are very close. What is this and what can i do to help him??

ANSWER: Hi Alicia,
 The one oscar is attacking the other oscar.  You need to separate them or provide LOTS more structure (wood, rock, etc) in the tank so that the weaker one has places to hide.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


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

QUESTION: what do i do to help the hurt one heal? How long will i take for his skin to
grow back? hey have been locking lips and their tails have been
shivering....why would they attack each other if they are trying to breed? Also,
i have a large placo in the tank and he makes alot of waste. What are my
other option for tank cleaners with the oscars being so large. I don't want
them to eat anything new. This is my first experience wih oscars. i have 2
rican ciclids in another tank that are doing wonderful.

Answer
Hi Alicia,
 Fighting is an important part of breeding with many cichlids.  They often fight before they mate to "test" a potential partner to see if it is up to the challenge of defending a nest full of kids.  In the wild, if one of the partners is not strong enough, it swims away. In a tank it can't do that  and the other one will often chase it and keep fighting which can result in very serious injury.  

 It will take several weeks for the wound to heal.

 It is a mistake to think of a pleco as a tank cleaner. You are the tank cleaner.  There are very few things you can put in with oscars that the oscars won't eat. Very large plecos are one of those things. I would not put in any smaller fish.  They will be dinner sooner or later.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>