Help please!

[LenaGirardi]

Hi everyone I'm new here and I've got a very sick Oscar. He's starting to get better now, he's eating, but I'm really worried about his eye. It looks really bad I got back to town a couple of days ago and have been treating him the last 4 days with Furan-2. He's about two years old and he's a good 6 inches. He's had fungus before but never this bad and never in the eye like this. I'm really afraid that he's going to lose his eye. If he does, he does but I'd like to do everything in my power to prevent this. I'm relatively new to fish care so I'm not really sure what else to do for him. What I've been told is that it's good he's eating and that he's on his way to recovering but I'd really like to cure his eye. I know that they usually relay a lot on their eye sight. Any information that you could give me would be wonderful and I'd really appreciate it.
Thank you so much!
I have two pictures of his eye. They aren't the best quality but you can see my concern:

[callen]

Welcome to the site and sorry under these circumstances.
The eye looks really bad and it looks like he will lose it but many O's can still live a long life with one eye. Please let us help you more by answering the following questions as best as you can. The more we know the better we know how to treat.

• Tank Size:
• How long has it been setup:
• How many fish:
• Type of fish:
• Size of fish:
• Filtration:
• Ammonia Reading:
• Nitrite Reading:
• Nitrate Reading:
• PH Reading:
• Temperature:
• Any recent changes in tank decor or tank mates:
• Any medication:
• Food what kind how often:
• When was last water change and how much:

[LenaGirardi]

Tank Size: 30 but we are looking to transfer them to something higher than 75 we just havent been able to gather the funds yet
How long has it been setup: I transferred them (the oscar and the cichild) from the tank they were in to the 30 G tank cause the other one the water was in really bad condition. The setup of their current tank has been there for a while though. I had 3 shubunken in there and when I left for my trip my dad didn't take care of them properly and unfortunately they died. That was about 2 weeks ago. The water had nothing to do with the death of the 3 shubunken.
How many fish: 2 fish
Type of fish: An oscar and cichlid
Size of fish: 6 inches (oscar) and 3 inches (cichlid)
Filtration: I'm not sure what you mean by this.
Ammonia Reading: No idea
Nitrite Reading: No idea
Nitrate Reading: No idea
PH Reading: No idea
Temperature: No idea
(I've never had to test the water which is probably not good of me but with my shubunken I never had problems with water.)
Any recent changes in tank decor or tank mates: None
Any medication: Furan-2 (treats bacterial fish disease)
Food what kind how often: Cichild Cold (Hikari brandmark) during the afternoon/night and two cubes of frozen brine shrimp (one for the oscar and one for the cichlid) in the morning.
When was last water change and how much: I did the water change of 25% at 2 in the afternoon. I've been doing so for the past 4 days as the instructions of the box say to do.
I can go to my local pet shop and have them test the water but I don't know if it will do much good because of the medication I've put in. Would it?

Thank you for your help!

[OinKY]

I transferred them (the oscar and the cichild) from the tank they were in to the 30 G tank cause the other one the water was in really bad condition.

This baffles me a bit.
If a recent transfer,what were they in before ?....and define "water was in really bad condition" (how,why,in what way ?)

The setup of their current tank has been there for a while though. I had 3 shubunken in there and when I left for my trip my dad didn't take care of them properly and unfortunately they died. That was about 2 weeks ago. The water had nothing to do with the death of the 3 shubunken.

If not the water,then what killed the Shubunken ? Did the tank just sit empty between the time the Shununken were in it until the O and cichlid (what kind of cichlid ?) were placed in it ?

Really,the readings on ammonia/nitrite/nitrate are necessary to get to the main cause of the matter. There has been an ongoing problem as a 2 year old Oscar should be 11+",not 6", and that falls to mainly water quality...and by association tank size,filtration,and water change routine.

JMO,seen this type of eye damage before,but it's a 50/50 chance it can be saved once all the info's in.

[JohnL]

Welcome to the forum. The big things that jump out at me are tank size, not knowing what you have for filtration and it sounds like you don't do regular water changes. Tank size should be a bare minimum of 75gal with an O and one more fish. You should know what kind of filtration you have on the tank but I suspect there isn't any. With a 30gal containing an O and another fish 80% water changes should be done daily. As oinky said your O is stunted he should be at least 11" at two years old. Another question that comes to mind is there a heater in the tank? Sorry to hit you with so much, not trying to pick on you just trying to help.

[LenaGirardi]

To Oinky:

if a recent transfer,what were they in before ?....and define "water was in really bad condition" (how,why,in what way ?)

Before the transfer into the 30 G they were in a 20 G in my best friends room. We had not done a water change in a very long time. The water was to the point where it smelled something awful. I acted as quickly as a I could and got them both out before anything else happened to them. Transferred them to the 30 G. I will buy a big tank next week when I get the money.

If not the water,then what killed the Shubunken ? Did the tank just sit empty between the time the Shununken were in it until the O and cichlid (what kind of cichlid ?) were placed in it ?

I don't know what killed my shubunken I wasn't in the country. I left my fish in care of my father and he said that it was cause there was no light in the room. I found out later that the tank was missing water and that the filter that was in there wasn't working properly because it wasn't getting the water it needed to process air for them. Yes, I didn't touch the water at all in between the change of the tanks. I figured my tank would be better than the one they were in before and since I really needed to act quickly I picked to transfer them. The tank did not sit empty there was a beta in there who was having the time of his life having all 30 G to himself. I don't know what kind of Cichlid it is we caught it in the wild.

I will go get the water readings and post them up as soon as I get them.

To: JohnL

Welcome to the forum. The big things that jump out at me are tank size, not knowing what you have for filtration and it sounds like you don't do regular water changes. Tank size should be a bare minimum of 75gal with an O and one more fish. You should know what kind of filtration you have on the tank but I suspect there isn't any. With a 30gal containing an O and another fish 80% water changes should be done daily. As oinky said your O is stunted he should be at least 11" at two years old. Another question that comes to mind is there a heater in the tank? Sorry to hit you with so much, not trying to pick on you just trying to help.

The filtration is the one that's for 30 G tank. I didn't think of getting a bigger one because all I had were shubunken. They don't require much water changes and only eat pellets.
80%!?!? isn't that a bit too much for a 30 G? I thought it was bad to change the water so quickly and so much of it. How could I do an 80% water change with the tap water? I'd be terrified of killing them from the chlorine in the tap water. I don't understand how you'd like to me change the water, please explain.
There is no heater in the tank. I didn't think they needed one; I've never read that they needed one.

I'm seriously over my head here. There's so much I really don't know about fish care. Like I said my shubunken never needed more than a little bit of water change and pellets.

Thank you for all your help! I really appreciate it.

[callen]

Thank you for being honest with us and letting us help you.

Water changes and big ones are one of the best things you can do for your fish. You have to think of a fishes tank as a living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Fish are swimming in their own waste and if not cleaned this builds up and causes high ammonia, nitrate and nitrite issues. Your fish is showing signs of ammonia poisoning so right now fresh water and lots of it will help. Be sure to treat the water with a declorinator like Prime or whatever they have at the LFS.

Here are some links that will help...
Cleaning a tank viewtopic.php?f=26&t=13651
Feeding viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13487

Test kit would be a good investment.

Hang in there and keep up posted...we are here for you and your fish.

[donsfish]

Welcome to the Ospot. You've got some good replies already, and would do your fish good to read through the links/information provided. Understanding the basics of aquariums, having a cycled tank, adequate filtration, importance of water quality....testing, regular water changes is fairly simple to learn and necessary to keep healthy fish.

[Gerry]

Welcome to the site.

I think if you read the two links callen has posted you will be able to work out what has happened.

Good luck on saving the eye, looks bad though.

[LenaGirardi]

Hi everyone I got the results for the water and the guy that I talked to when I got the water checked said everything was fine. He didn't give me exacts but he said that I should just continue the what I was doing. Get the big tank as soon as I could, of course, but that my Oscar will be fine so long as I continue taking care of him as I have. He said regrettably that there's a high probability that he'll lose the eye but at least he's a strong fish and he'll bounce back with no further problems. Just keep an eye on him and time will tell. Thank you for all of your help and the useful information you guys have given me it really has helped.

[Katt]

Welcome to the Ospot.

Now I wouldn`t be putting my trust in a guy at the LFS, most don`t know what there doing or just enough to get by.

As the other`s have said, you need to be doing WC`s at lest 3 aweek of 50%. In so small of a tank. Clean water healthy fish.
Would also get a new filter that you can use for the biger tank....But use it on the 30 now. Your under filterèd.
No heater, what is the temp of the tank ?

Good luck.

[OinKY]

A good read of the FAQs/Articles board should answer all your questions and adress all your concerns. Just take a deeep breath and dive in,you'll get this sorted.

As far as getting a water test at a LFS,they should never say things like "Fine" or "Good". They should show you the readings,explain what each one means,how they affect your fish,and how to go about making them better if they aren't perfect. Perfect being zero on ammonia and nitrite as even a trace is not "good" or "fine".
If they just dipped a strip then be suspect right off the bat as strips are highly inaccurate.