White spot problem with my OSCAR

[shailesh.khaire]

Hello Everyone,

I have a pair of pink and Black oscars, all are in good healty condition but since some days the black ones are developing some white spots on their bodies.
Also i have a pair of Koi in my fish tank whose scales are remitting their colour

I read in the fish diseases section but the cure for the same is not mentioned
Please help with the cure. Also Is this disease harmful to my other fishes also and to what extent ?.


Thanks
Shailesh

[genocidex]

sounds like some ick to me. qting the oscar and treating with several ways would be best.
some people like to salt and bump the heat up high (to the upper limmits of the fish).
others might recommend just the salt,
but ick meds i think are the best idea. if you qt the oscar make sure it has a cycled filter.

but i could be wrong as "white spots" could be a couple of things.... pictures would be great.....

the koi.... idk....

[Northernguy]

Is it possible that they are scars(white marks on scales) from bumping into decorations,bit by other fish in the tank.
My oscars get these all the time from driftwood,rocks,each other... They also heal and disappear on their own rather quickly with out adding anything to the water.Usually a day or two.
Can you please post some pics of the white spots before treating the tank for ick.

[shailesh.khaire]

Hi

Thanks for the quick reply
cannot post photos as i am at the office currently
but these are not scars we can make out the white spots on the body and fins of the fish. also all these fishes are new to my tank ( about a month ago ) and the spots have been developed nowadays. Also would try the option given by Mr. genocidex for the treatment. what should the temp. be raisen to i have an automatic heater so will that suffice.

Thanks
Shailesh

[Northernguy]

Glad you know the difference :22:
Is the tank cycled?
How big are the fish,tank...

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Treating Ich

As long as the Ich parasite is protected inside its cyst, it is virtually impossible to get to - the levels of medication that would be necessary to affect the parasite inside the cyst would kill the fish as well. This is why we must focus on the free-swimming tomite stage when the parasite is much more vulnerable.

Bring up the water temperature to 85-88 degrees F (if you think you fish can handle it).
As mentioned above, Ich can attach itself to the gills of fish and make it hard for them to breathe. It is therefore a good idea to increase aeration in the aquarium to keep the levels of oxygen really high. Adding more aeration is especially important if you increase the water temperature since cool water holds more oxygen than warmer water.
Add roughly one teaspoon of salt per gallon of water. (You can adjust this amount depending on how salt tolerant you fish are.)
Carry out a series of water changes and clean all the gravel. Changing around 50% of the water once a day is recommended.
Continue the treatment for at least one week, since you can only kill the free-swimming Ich parasites. The speed of the life cycle is temperature dependant (it will for instance take three days at 80 degrees F) and continuing treatment for an entire week is recommended to be on the safe side.
If this is not enough to combat the Ich outbreak, you need to visit your local fish store and pick up some anti-Ich medication. Unfortunately, the Ich parasites seem to become more and more resilient towards treatment each year. Lazy aquarists and pet shop keepers are often tempted to constantly use medications to fend off disease, instead of devoting themselves to frequent water changes etcetera, and this makes it easy for resistant strains of parasites and bacteria to develop.

[Lady Hobbs]

I would simply turn the heat to 82 and treat with aquarium salt, 1 T per 5 gallons and add a airstone.

[shailesh.khaire]

Thanks Lady

I tried the way you suggested and now i think the spots are dissappearing slowly
i have raised the temp to 80 F and added some salt in it.

Also should i take any precautions in the diet of the fish. currently feeding them chicken heart and normal fish food.

I am also planning to go for a flowerhorn/ Arowana in the same tank will it work with my oscars or will they all be disturbed ?


Thanks
Shailesh

[genocidex]

if the listing in your other thread is right (2 pairs of oscars and 1 pair of kio IE 6 really big fish.) then i would say its over stocked as it is. the arowana gets HUGE as in more than 3 feet. the flowerhorn ive never even read anything on so im not sure. i would suggest looking into getting that tank healthy before thinking of anything else.

[Lady Hobbs]

I would say no and I would find a pond of those koi. Warm water and gold water fish do not belong together and koi are nearly always kept in ponds due to their size. One Oscar for 75 gallons. I don't know what size tank you have but as already posted above, Arowana's are another huge fish that require a huge tank.

Continuing treating that ick for about 10 days even after you no longer see it on the fish.

[shailesh.khaire]

I was actually planning to get rid of the Koi Pair to a friend of mine and then purchase the Arowana / FlowerHorn.

My tank is of around 132 USG (5x2x2) will it still be over crowded as my oscars are still kids and about 2 inches in size

Thanks
Shailesh

[Northernguy]

It is a large tank but not for an arrowana.
The Flowerhorn lives in different type water then the oscar or arrowana,much harder.
I have a 135 and I find it too small to try and raise an arrowana.Its a great oscar tank though.
Don't try and fill the tank you have,as your fish grow the tank will appear smaller.lol

Get a nice pleco for the tank.

[Lady Hobbs]

Or a school of Silver Dollar fish. They will grow to 5-6" and not be monsters.

[shailesh.khaire]

Thanks Lady and Northern Guy

THis thread was really helpful for me deciding how to go about this

Also will post some news and photos once the kids start growing up

Thanks a Lot once again

Shailesh