# Oscar skin coming off SOS



## twoinchina (Mar 6, 2007)

Hi, our black oscar Grumpy seems to be dying!

Scales on both sides seem to have somehow come off and he looks more whitish than black now.

Plus a patch of skin maybe around a quarter of an inch is coming off on one side - with meat exposed underneath! It looks like a thick scab and is coming off! 
Grumpy won't eat and wont move from around the heater!

What is it???

We just lost our albino oscar a few days ago to something similar - his side looked like a raw burn before he died! 

What's happening to our oscars? We've had this tank for 3 months without casualties, and it's the 2nd oscar in 4 days! Similar symptoms!

We isolated the heater really well to make sure it wasn't burns, since it very much looked like burns!

We were blaming our blood parrtos thinking that the oscar was suffering from the bites that got infected. But the parrots have always been there, and the oscars are dying!

Help


----------



## scottysgirl (Jan 10, 2007)

If I remember your tank specs correctly I believe that you have these fish in a 50 gallon tank, which is barely big enough for one Oscar. Is there anyway that you can upgrade your tank? I think the problem in your tank is that you have toxic levels of nitrates, and probably nitrites and ammonia as well. Do you have a test kit? We are here to help you as much as we can but there isn't too much we can do about a severly over-stocked tank. I am not trying to be rude or upset you but the over-stocking is the problem. Perhaps returning many of your fish to the pet store is an option? Feel free to ask more questions.


----------



## JouteiMike (Oct 7, 2006)

Yes, I agree...overstocking seems to be an issue here...which can lead to many different problems.

Immediate attention needs to be addressed with this situation...you tank cannot handle all these fish. You need to purchase either a MUCH bigger tank, AT LEAST 120-200 gallons range...or multiple 75-90 tanks to house all those fish. Giving them away to a local fish store or friend if they have a proper set-up would be a rather inexpensive option. 

As previously stated, toxic levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are most likely plaguing your fish. 

What type of filtration do you use? How often do you maintain them? How often do you do water changes? You should be a very rigorous schedule with all those fish, and my rigorous I mean water changes often and filter maintenance often. I do 25-30% water changes twice a week on my 75 gallon tank that has only 2 fancy goldfish, 2 weather loaches, and a school of danios, and sometimes I find that my nitrates are STILL high. So you see the situation?

Do you have a hospital tank? It would be best to separate the injured oscar so you can treat him with antibiotics and/or fungus medication. Best of luck.


----------

