Hi Ron! i heard your an expert on oscars! help me!!!

Question
QUESTION: Okay well-
i have one albino oscar, about 8 inches. i'd say, 9 months old. and well, i have this HUGE infestation of what looks like/seems to be fish lice? and i've tried over 3 treatments, adn yes, they destroyed halfthe pop. but they keep reproducing! i'd had enough. i've become VERY attached to my oscar and pacu over the 9 months. (im 14) i do all the cleaning, water changes, ph measurments, and for heaven sakes ron, i buy the equp. with my own dough! i wanna save my fish adn get rid of this damn diease! i heard about the bleaching technique? if so, how does it work? what are the SPECIFIC STEPS? how long will it take? any other choices? ill go for anything.
-thanks man.
andrew

ANSWER: Hi Andrew,
  How large are the lice?  Can you physically grab them with a pair of tweezers (some lice are really big)?

  I would be VERY leery of bleach.  In fact, I would never do that.

  You might consider dipping the fish in salt water in a bucket (i.e., get some Aquarium Sea Salt and mix up 3 gallons or so as directed)  Be prepared: this is very hard on the fish but it is harder on the lice.  The length of time is impossible for me to say.  I would start with a minute and see what happens but be prepared to pull out the oscar if he starts to look distresed.  This is not for the faint of heart but it may be necessary.

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


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

QUESTION: well... i haven't tried picking up the fish lice with twizzers. they are TOO small. but there are alot of em on the tank itself. i asked the local petsmart what theyed do. they said the bleach method. i was skeptical as well. but if at all, there are little lice on the oscar. it's the infestation on the main tank itself. the gravel it what gets me. any other advice? i recently transfered the oscar to the pacu's tank. he's doing better there. that's his temporary home until i serilize EVERYTHING. but how??? the decor.? gravel?. the glass tank? filters? air stones???? help! haha. sorry for this ron, but i just want this cured.
-thanks again

p.s. my oscar has not been eating that well. he is EXTREMLY voracious when he sees the pellets. and eats em. but then he spits it out, adn then repete. any advice???

ANSWER: Hi Andrew,
  Please describe these "lice" to me.  

  If you bleach the tank with the fish in it, he will die. And
worse yet, he will die horribly.

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


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

QUESTION: no well, he is NOT in the tank. he is in a temporary 55 gallon tank while i treat my 75 gal. these fish lice are green disk things, not too big. only about a millimeter in size. they usually attack on leftover food pellets, and anything food related. but they also stay on the gravel and bottom of glass. sO IF YOU can give me any advice, that would be cool.

Answer
Hi Andrew,
 There shouldn't be any "leftover food pellets".  Only feed your fish what he will eat right then. NEVER put in food for him to "eat later". That could easily be the root cause of your problems.  
Fish food becomes rancid extremely quickly when sitting in water and you don't want your fish eating it after a few minutes anyway.

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