sick oscar fish

Question
hi i have a 1yr old oscar fish in a 3 foot tank, my question to u is that i changed his water about a week ago and he was fine for two days and now he hasnt eaten any food for a week and a half now,and his mouth stays open and its like he gasps for air and just stays in one spot near the filter. He is slowly changing colour like theres white spots on him i have put fungus solution and salt in his tank but even that hasnt changed anything.What should i do? i even brought him a treat a little guppy but he don't even seem interested in it so now he has a friend with him i have tried everything and i don't want to lose him as he is quiet big now can u help me?

Answer
Ann,

It sounds like he has Ich. The best and fastest way to get rid of it does not involve medication. The first thing I would do is up the temp to 86 degrees. Do this 1 or 2 degrees an hour until it is 86. The higher the temp the faster Ich goes away. While you are treating him add some aquarium salt at the ratio of 1 teaspoon of salt to 1 gallon of water. Since the heat will be raised, you will need to drop in an air stone or 2 depending on the size of the tank. The heat depletes the oxygen in the tank and the air stone adds it back in. With the temp raised, the Ich should come full cycle in 2 to 3 days. Once the Ich is gone, you can start doing daily water changes of 25% until the salt has been removed. This should get the Ich taken care of. If after this is done and he is not better or at any time he gets worse let me know.

Ich is almost 100% preventable with good water quality and regular water changes.

Continue treatment for at least 10 days.