high nitrites Oscar mouth opening and closing

Question
QUESTION: You have helped me before. I HAVE A 7 YR OLD OSCAR IN a 55 TANK ALONE.  He has never been sick.  The last day I noticed his mouth and gills are opening and closing.  He did not eat today he is not attentive as usual.   I tested the water and the NITRITES(the first time ever)  were 1 so I did a 40% water change and added Amquel plus. And added a nitra-zorb media to the filter.  Its been 7 hours Nothing has changed yet.   He is still opening his mouth.  The nitrates are usually .20 .30. Ammonia is 0.  Any suggestion?   He has a 110 Aqul Clear and a 200 power wheel filter. I do water changes every week. And media maintenance.  He is fed every other day pellets, shrimp, blood worms, peas on occasion. Ill check it all in the am.

ANSWER: Hi Fran,
Good thing you found out about the nitrite problem. Thats definitely a very stressful thing for your oscar to handle. I've observed this behavior in Oscars I've had before and it is usually a stress response to something wrong with the environment

Water changes are the best way to go. It is the best thing you can do at this point. I'd try doing 50-75% everyday if you can.

Also, try to figure out why the nitrites suddenly appeared. Has the biofilter been disrupted by any power failures, temperature changes, overcleaning of filters.... Or maybe overfeeding?

Best of luck with your Oscar! I hope he gets well!
Karen~




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opening mouth and gill   QUESTION: I am getting worried. Yes I had a power outage for 3 hrs but in the past I have had them for days and this never happened. The temp went down from 78-76.  Also I have a 75 gal with another oscar in it as well and his water is fine after the outage.   I feed them every other day and not much.

Its been 7 days and he is still opening and closing his mouth and gills and is not eating. Is this normal for nitrite probs? I did water changes last wed thurs fri and sunday, today tues a 50% even put media from my other tank in the filters.  Did your Oscar go 7 days like this from stress?  How long can they go without food?   I just wondered if its something in his throat. Every now and then he coughs up.  I had a fish store guy come and do a house call he said I should treat him for the HITH. If I do Ill move him into my hospital tank.   He has a bit of HITH,  is opening and closing a symptom of that>? How he got HITH I do not know.  I do water changes every 5 days and rinse the media every 3 weeks. . I check the water reading every 2 weeks. His nitirites were normal in Feb. As I said he was fine last mon and tues and then wed this all started.  Im getting worried he is not eating and its as though he is struggling to breathe. I have a another closer picture that shows his gills they look swollen this pic they look brownish/reddish

ANSWER: Hi there,
thank you for the picture. I can see what you're talking about. It certainly is possible for nitrite poisoning to be responsible for part of his issue. But now that you've mentioned he has HITH, heavy breathing is also a sign of stress. Especially when the fish is ill. HITH is something I have experienced before in oscars as well and it can be difficult (but not impossible) to treat.

There is a continued debate about what causes HITH...there is quite a big list of triggers people have debated about...everything from use of carbon in the filter to straying electrical currents in the aquarium. I believe that diet and water quality are the two most common and biggest triggers. A diet lacking in enough variety and certain vitamins combined with the high bioload and heavy feeding of oscars and therefore unavoidable nitrates on the higher end of the reading can create stress on the fish and encourage HITH to develop or become worse. Many sources advise medications and everything but I'd certainly encourage you to start pre-soaking his food in fish vitamins. And continue with the massive water changes. If you can continuously do them every day, please do.

If your oscar is not eating his normal food. That is definitely a sign that something is wrong...he may be sick.

Fish can go up to a month or even longer without eating. You might want to try offering live earthworms or 'bait' worms as they are often sold as. Few fish can resist them even those that do not want to eat their regular food. You can also probably find bait shrimp at the freezer section of your grocery store and if you're OK with taking their shell off then this is a very good food source for your oscar.

Here is an excellent article about HITH that really explains it better than most.

http://www.worldcichlids.com/diseases/Adamhith.html


And here is this one - ((this site also contains lots of very good Oscar info))

http://oscarfishlover.com/helpful-articles/hith-disease

I know how it is to have a sick Oscar and be worried about him.

I do hope this helps and best of luck!
Karen~

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QUESTION: Karen

My oscar is 6 yrs old he has never been sick never been medicated. HE will not eat and is breathing heavy through his gill and mouth, since last wed (7days)before that mon and tues he was fine.   HE IS SICK I need help.  I have done water changes for the last 6 days he is still the same. am o nitrites 25 and nitrates 10-20  ph 7.0.   I have read everything on the internet for the last 6 yrs and days even the link you have above. HE will not eat its been 7 days. Im not a person who buys an oscar and puts him in a 10 gall for 5 yrs. I have one in a 75 and one in a 55. They are beautiful.   IM anal about my oscars. I soak pellets in vitamins and feed shrimp pellets blood worms, peas.  i do water changes every week. He is sick I have done everything and I dont know what to do. How can an Oscar be fine one day and the next not eat or show signs of illness.

Answer
The nitrites are seriously stressing him. This is your major problem here and you must do larger water changes than what you have been doing everyday to combat the problem or use a very good water conditioner that neutralizes nitrites as well as the usual chlorine and chloramine. Amquel+ and Prime are two very good water conditioners that preform this function and neutralize ammonia and nitrates.

I can't advise any medications because we can't medicate for just a stress-symptom. Misdiagnosing can be very dangerous and could make the situation worse.

Whatever you do, you gotta get those nitrites down.

I hope all goes well!
Karen~