CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Hi there.

I have an Albino oscar (5yo) that is very sick. Something (chemical) contaminated my main tank causing massive losses. I moved the surviving fish to a spare tank with new filtration etc. Tank has now been established for 6weeks and while other fish died in first 2 weeks, O that survived has become worse. It has sores on it's skin (these are getting better) and is currently stuck head down in the tank and belly is distended. I have treated with a course of Myxazin but hasn't helped. He hasn't eaten in weeks. Water tested by LFS and all tests came back good.

Wow. Sorry to hear about your disaster. Sounds like there may be multiple things going on. What size tank is your O in now? Have you done any water changing since the med application?

Lots of water changes are needed. How long as this been sence the contamination?? seems after a LOT of meds you might just want to do JUST WATER/dechlorinated/salt and see if that helps.. Medications are mostly for parasites and or fungus not really for contaminations from another sorce.. FRESH water, a clean filter and temp him with shrimp OR any other food you can GET OUT if he does not eat it within 5 min..

Do you know what the contamination was?? Stop medicating and start with fresh water/dechlorinated/salt for a while and see how he does...

Hello, thanks for the replies. The contamination smelt like WD-40 or CRC which are water dispersent sprays. The new tank is 212L/56G. I'm doing regular water changes. Oscar got sick about 3 weeks after the last fish deaths. There is also a large Pleco that doesn't seem phased by anything.

What amount of salt should I use?

I agree with Barb. Very important to keep water changes going. There are different approaches to using salt. Here are a couple:

http://www.cichlidfish.com/portal/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18041

and

http://www.cichlidfish.com/portal/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22464

Sorry to hear about your oscar. i agree that salt is a good idea but only as part of treatment for sores. U should find out if your O still has a good slime coat. Not likely after med. and sickness. Replenish slime coat to prevent further sores. lots of water changes!!! oscars are usually tough, maybe as much as 1/3 every other day. oil based stuff hard to get rid of.