# Please help - oscar is sick



## goldina (Aug 15, 2011)

Hi there, 
our Oscar got pop-eye. Started treating with salt. 

Also treated with Melafix for a week, didn't help much but an ulcer appeared on that eye and started oozing. 

Then we did treatment of E.M. Erythromycin for a total of 4 days. Another ulcer appeared and oozed. The eye is still popped.

Continued with salt and started back with the Melafix and added Pemafix. Also added a treatment of Furan 2. We are on day 2 of the treatment and don't see any improvement with Oscar.

One other fish in the aquarium got fin rot. There are 5 more fish (3 plecos, 1 small cichlid and another fish) in the aq. but they seem ok.

Does anyone have similar experience? Any success with treating pop-eye? Will Oscar die if the pop-eye does not go down?

Your advice is much appreciated. Thank you, Andrea.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

Have you tried doing multiple water changes before the med dosing?


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## goldina (Aug 15, 2011)

yes, we did water changes during the treatments and after as well. The fish seemed to feel much better with the water change but Oscar's eye does not look better. I'm not sure if it is better but it looks worse. We're afraid he's going to lose the eye and die.


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

I agree with Riceburner. It sounds like a bacterial problem caused both the pop eye and the fin rot and this is usually due to poor water quality. I don't know how big your tank is or what type of filtration you are running however I also recommend large 50% water changes every day and add 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt to the replacement water. When you remove the water due a gravel vacuum and push the gravel tube right down all the way to the bottom of the gravel to remove as much crap as you can. Stop adding all the medications or you'll create a toxic soup.
Hope this helps.
--
Paul


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## goldina (Aug 15, 2011)

thank you guys for your input.

we have a 70 gallon aquarium with eheim filter. 

we'll try to do more gravel vacuum but probably finish the Furan 2 treatment (2 more days to go including today).

did anyone ever experience the pop-eye and fin rot with their fish? Did the fish die? I wonder what are the chances for survival?

any comments on oscar's eye? it looks pretty bad.


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## DaFishMan (Dec 19, 2006)

I treated it successfully, took 2 months with maracyn II. The trick is to get an antibiotic in soon as possible, then continue for the duration of the illness without mixing/switching meds. 

Pop-eye is also a symptom of dropsy.

When pple are sick it's 5-7 days before a med starts to help, and that's when it's taken internally. Treating the water takes longer. Many people want to switch it up at 4-5 days. Don't. Double the treatment time if you have to. Consistency gives the med time to work. 

Pre-treating flakes or pellets with diluted liquid vitamins would also help bump up it's strength.

Best of luck.


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## DaFishMan (Dec 19, 2006)

if the eye popped the hole can close over and heal. A fish blind in one eye can can still have a long life, happy even if you spoil it. Sorry to hear of this I raised a few oscars from juvie size and had for about 8 yrs.


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## goldina (Aug 15, 2011)

HI DaFishMan!

Thank you for your info, it's very helpful to hear from someone who successfully treated his fish.

we might have some questions for you if you don't mind. I will email you tomorrow.

Thank you, Andrea.


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## DaFishMan (Dec 19, 2006)

I don't mind pm's but asking questions in here gets you a variety of advice from everyone here. Whatever works. The main thing is sticking with one med longer to allow it to do it's job & don't create the toxic soup situation from mixing meds. I've done it.

Melafix isn't a med and it can be combined with meds. It's supposed to reduce stress. It's made from Tea-Tree oil which is a natural antiseptic. If the eye popped i would use it as directed it will help clean the wound, promoting faster healing of the eye and hopefully also preventiing a secondary infection like fungus from kicking in. I prefer to underdose it especially if there's already a med in the tank or sensitive fish. I use it whenever I see wounds or ripped fins/tails etc caused from cichlids fighting or hitting objects in the tank. It does help. How goes the battle ?


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## goldina (Aug 15, 2011)

*Oscar*

Hi DaFishMan, 
thank you again for you info.
I'm sorry I have not replied sooner. My husband is the one who looks after the fish and he was away.

The update is that it looks like Oscar's going to lose the eye. I have attached picture. 
He used Furon as the last treatment (that's when I posted the posting) and left the treatment in the water for a week to work longer but Oscar's eye does not look good. It looks like the pieces of his eye are falling off.
He also cut the food supply for the fish so they would not pollute so much the water.
He has just changed the water and he will put carbon in.
Any suggestions? You mentioned to stick with one medication and repeat the treatment. Treatment is usually 4 days of medications. How many treatments in the several months did you have to do? Did you do more water changes than recommended or leave the treatment in longer?
How did your fish's eye look like at the beginning and when it was healing? How does the eye look now? Did it look like our Oscar's?

Thank you, Andrea.


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## DaFishMan (Dec 19, 2006)

I would resume feeding immediately if you don't want your pet to starve to death.

My fishes eye was a little swollen, this is more serious.

If I was going to double a med treatment I would first do a large water change then use a new charcoal/carbon pack to remove all the leftover med. Also test the water for ammonia and nitrite to be sure you're not cycling

For some reason I couldn't see the earlier pics while on my phone. This appears to be an advanced case of hexamita also called hole-in-the-head disease. See the deeper than normal pits in the lateral line and the other hole in it's forehead. It has now infected the eye area and eye itself. It's a treatable bacteria disease, sometimes not in advanced cases. This is advanced. This is beyond my experience and hoping other members can chip in with their experience of it or best way to treat.

This is now 'third-party' stuff I'm looking up for you. More info about hexamita.

http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/freshwater-conditions/hexamita.aspx

Fish food treated with Metronidazole is your best bet. That and frequent water changes, a varied diet and figure out how to get vitamins into it's food.

Although mine did not have hexamita, I did the vitamin thing a few ways: a) diluting liquid multivitamins with water a little then sprinkling it on fish flakes, let it dry. b) soaking pellets in it for about 30 seconds, let dry. The reason to let it dry is so the vitamin soaks into the food as much as possible. c) injecting it into pieces of chopped shrimp and canned small peas.

If it heals (from the disease) your fish will still be missing it's eye by the looks of it.


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## goldina (Aug 15, 2011)

Hi DaFishMan, 
thank you for your reply. I will show to my husband.
To clarify - he does feed the fish, just not so much as usually & Oscar's holes in the face are old. He's had them for a long time so it is not related. The problem is the eye that got bulged so we understood that it was a pop-eye. I just looked up the info on Hexamita and I don't think that's our problem since he's had it for a long time and no issues with that.

Andrea.


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## rob1984 (Jun 20, 2012)

im surprised no one has asked what the water perimetres are .. or maybe i missed it in the thread, what are the temp set at ? do you have lots of surface agitation or a air pump hooked up to the tank ? when treating with any med it reduces the amount of oxygen in the water .... when i treated the resuce's ive got ive had the temp set at 81-82deg and have a air pump with a bubble wall in the tank (oscars seem to like to lay and swim in the bubble when they feel sick or depressed/sad) as when there sick in the wild they move to clean fast flowing water liek condiotns onyl way to really creat that effect in the tank is a bubble wall...

im not sure if that would be labelled as "pop eye"... but im would guess some type of a bacterial infection possibly and yes your oscar DOES have HITH, oscars are messy fish and get big and need very GOOD to excelllent water conditons, ive seen guys treat the HITH with just salt (tablespoon per 10gals) and large water changes weekly ... but i would get the other infection dealt with before and then treat for the HITH, sometime it gets better and goes away other time it scared for life. ive done HITH resuces and all have come out like they've never contracted the disease

you could always take pics of him on your phone go to a local fish store and show them and see what they suggest for meds usually what i do if im unsure of what to use... and there are certian rules for when dosing with meds like some meds you leave in for a couple days others you have to do 25% water change and then re dose.... when i treated my bacterial ifection i used 2 meds for it, and one day i treated with one med, then the next day i treated with other med, and then the third day i did 25% water change, then the next day i only treated with one med, then did 25% change the follwoing day and then the next i dose with both meds and etc etc etc... if you are unsure how to dose and treat and do water changes with the meds you use do ask someone at the fish store to explain it to you so you understand and write it down if you forget... it took my oscar a month or so to heal after his bacterial infection


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