Problems Problems

the following is my Water test results, of my Oscar Cilchid,

PH 7.2
AMMONIA 0.15 PPM
NITRITE 0 PPM
NITRATE 60 PPM


i did say my Oscar had hith i think and i have been treating it with MELAFIX, PIMAFIX

What i have noticed is that the very top of the Tank water level there is a film of white which you can see under the water looks like an oil slick but is white and i have also noticed something wriggling in tank about this long __ , there are a good few of them

Water changes, water changes, water changes.

The Ammonia should be 0ppm
The Nitrate is a bit high as well.

The white oily stuff you mention sounds a bit odd. Is there like an oil slick on the surface as well?

The wriggling thing. Is it like a thin worm? Moves a bit like a caterpillar?
If it is these can be a sign of overfeeding or not removing uneaten food. It is normal to maybe find some in the substrate but not a lot of them. They are harmless to fish.
I cant think of the name. I think they are mentioned in the Beanch atlas 1 if anyone has it handy?

I would give the tank a good gravel clean. Any decor should be moved and cleaned underneath. Plenty of water changes.

Good water quality and a clean environment is a must for any fish with HITH.

Sounds like Planaria, the wriggly thing. Left over food lying about brings them along, uneaten food may be also giving you the ammonia reading too. Reduce the feeding a little bit.


As Darren said, cleaning and water changes, this should be the normal routine anyway for a healthy tank.

good luck matey getting the Oscar on the mend.


Mark

Just to add to the advice aleady given, give your filter a clean too. The Planaria will most likely be in there too. Not too long ago I had a battle with HITH with an Oscar. It was a bit of a slog but he pulled through. Try to keep your water spotless and get that ammonia down. You wont have a hope of clearing HITH with ammonia present. Good luck.

Jay

how is the surface movement in the tank? put your filter outflow or powerhead at the surface it will stop the oily film (and increase oxygenation), forget what its called but basically it stops alot of oxygenation happening rather like stagnation, and that will contribute to poor water quality.
i dont know about everyone else but if i put a fry trap in my tank, the still surface in the trap will have an oily apperance its normal but always why we need surface movement

Good advice from above.. but get an external filter as Platy252 says water quality is a must!! and as above planaria are a sign of poor conditions, dont feed for 5 days or so and they will begin to go:).. and as i remember before your tank is a bit small.. maybe time to move him on??? If your in Dublin drop him up to me and ill exchange him for more suitable fish..

I'd say lowering your p.h might help(slowly) oscars come from a wide p.h in the wild from 6 up to 8! however i've found the tank bred ones less likely to suffer from hith when the water is softer.try some tormec.It's great stuff for tanning and lowering p.h..just as I said..dont do it too quickly.

Like I said (on the other thread) and others have said here....HITH is rarely a 'strange' malady that fish get: It is a symptom of things not being right.

Water changes are absolutely vital. Even though we have super filtration systems nowadays, water changes are needed for much more than simply removing muck and keeping nitrates down.

Interestingly, I found that most cases of HITH brought to me have been from acidic/soft aquariums. And where the water has tested for being 'hard' and 'alkaline' (eg from a rift cichlid tank), I found the redox to be like that in soft/acid water and the organic acid content to be be quite high (eg a mucky tank).
It would be true that under certain acid conditions, certain secondary bacteria may have less chance of surviving. But on the whole, and this includes Discus, I'd go for a calcium buffered water and do loads of water changes.

What this Oscar really needs is a smear of its faeces to check for hexamita and spironucleus and capilarria worm to see if the extent of infection of those is at a level of concern. These are likely to be present in many healthy fish, but there is a stage at which the damage done becomes too much for the fish to handle.

Ammonia.....if your test kit can detect any ammonia, then consider the ammonia is too high (even if it is an artefact caused by certain ammonia removing agents).
Do NOT use one of those liquid ammonia removing agents in this case......the oxygen levels may be brought down too low for the good of the fish. But an ammonia removing zeolite resin would be fine (but used only as an emergency case).

ian

serratus wrote:

Good advice from above.. but get an external filter as Platy252 says water quality is a must!! and as above planaria are a sign of poor conditions, dont feed for 5 days or so and they will begin to go:).. and as i remember before your tank is a bit small.. maybe time to move him on??? If your in Dublin drop him up to me and ill exchange him for more suitable fish..

drew that is so very nice of you, and i think he would be mad to not accept it, would you be confident in fixing him up and moving him to a better home.

mate do that you cant fix this fish in that tank unless you have a bigger beter home

*av are heading the awards list for most fantastic shop, they really do give a dam

*these reflect my views and are not the views of itfs (they cant really get involved as it would be unfair to the other sponsors) if interested the award ceromony will be held on the 20th of november in my brain and will be unofficially sponsored by itfs (drew if you cant make it we will try award you via video link)

i appeciate ur offer it is very kind of you,

i did a 60% water change this fish is a different fish now swimming around its amazing,

i intend to do a lot of water changes till i can get a bigger tank

so if any suppliers out there can help me out with a bigger tank prefably a corner tank that can hold an oscar , if its not to expensive that if they can get back to me

im using a Tetratec 1200 external filter

there is a bar that goes across that allows the water out about 8 holes i have it under the water under the water level as it is quite noisy hearing the water spray off the top of water.

put it under the water pointing slight up so it creates a good ripple going across the tank

as dar said, just have the surface rippling should be enough. also, dont do as much as 60% water changes, maybe 20-25% daily or every 2 days for the next week, see how he is improving, but good to hear he is in better form