Create a New Forum Admin Login Member Login Contribute to Voyager Search VoyForums Help Desk VoyForums Exchange VoyForums Directory/Categories VoyForums Homepage VoyForums News FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time ]

Subject: oscars Author: andrew canning [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 17:38:48 05/16/02 Thu could someone please help me with some advice i think our oscar is in big trouble.over the last few days he has begun to breathe heavy and is floating sideways alot on the surface and he is also having choking type fits.we noticed a couple of days ago that we had extremely high nitrate readings of 140ppm.our external filter(fluval 304)was far too dirty i obviously have left it too long between maintenance checks so i cleaned the filter and did a big water change to bring the nitrate down i also brought a nitrazorb bag the levels have come down to 60ppm in two days but the fish is still doing his sideways impressions and not eating much and what he is eating is going straight through his gills.i also noticed red blotches along the top of his body is this nitrate damage?.any help gratefully received as he is a much loved pet of all the family. ps. he is 4 years of age and is 12" long housed in a 4X18"x15" tank. yours hopefully andrew canning(andrew. canning@ntlworld.com) [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> Subject: Re: oscars Author: Dave [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 20:30:44 05/19/02 Sun Have you checked that he is not indeed choking?, I had one a few years back that had a pebble lodged in his mouth/throat. The red blotches could well be a stress symptom, nitrate in itself is not overly toxic unless it goes to extremley high levels. The lying on his side thing is a typical oscar "sulk", if they are not happy about anything, they will often keel over and play dead. I would suggest you keep a close eye on all water parameters for the next few days and try to increase the oxygen (increase airation / surface disturbance) level to assist him if he has got breathing problems. Please keep us informed as to his progress, don't hesitate to come back if you need any more help. Dave [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: oscars Author: Jonathan Mewborn [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 23:54:29 07/14/02 Sun Hi, I purchased 2 oscars a couple of days ago and they were doing fine. Now only 1 of them are eating and he has plucked fins. The albino stopped eating his normal rate and now all he does is drift around. I checked the ph and nothing was wrong. Then I checked the ammonia levels and I had alot of ammonia. I added some ammo lock2 and that didn't seem to help so I made an 80% water change and he is still lofting around. I did change the enviroment but I dont think that is the problem. There still is a little bit of ammonia left though. They're babies. I really need some help! [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: oscars Author: Martin [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 13:04:06 07/24/02 Wed Jonathan, I would think that the ammonia is definately your problem. Oscars are prone to creating a lot of waste matter and this can cause water quality problems unless your filteration is capable of dealing with it. What type of filtration are you using and how long has it been set up for. The only thing you can do for now is to keep up with the water changes until the filter(s) have matured. During this time your oscars will probably continue to sulk and wont be too happy. Do not overfeed at this stage, maybe once every 2 days until things have settled down. Good luck. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]