# Reversing OTS, unidentifiable problem



## Jme (Jan 18, 2015)

I slacked some on tank maintenance during my last semester of college. It wasn't intentional, I just had a lot going on. I was doing weekly water changes, but failed to do regular water testing. Most of the issues have been fixed, but I'm still working on bringing my nitrates down. Currently, they are at a steady 20 ppm, but they were extremely high to begin with. I tried to reduce them gradually to prevent shock. To clean up the rest of the nitrates, I did some partial water changes and just added Fluval nitrate remover to one of the filters. GH is 180, but my KH is at 1 degree. It tests this way from the tap too... I'm worried about PH swings (PH is 7.0) because the KH is extremely low. I have been reluctant about using baking soda to buffer the water since it's something I haven't done before & doing it wrong could end badly. It's a 55 gallon with an Oscar. I have 3 filters; two H.O.B's for up to 90 gal and a recently added sponge filter... 

There are tiny white "bugs" crawling on my Oscar, but I can't identify what they are. Honestly, they look like ick, but I've never known ick to crawl (fast) over a fish's body... I don't always see them on my fish either. I haven't done treatment, because I don't know if treatment is necessary or what I should use. My best guess would be to use an anti-parasitic, but the last thing I want to do is crash my cycle or stress my fish out more. Does anyone have an idea of what I'm dealing with and the steps I should take? Despite hours of research, I am absolutely clueless as to what I'm dealing with at this point.


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## SeaHorse (Dec 27, 2010)

Sorry no one has replied to this and welcome to the forum. 

I don't know the answer but I did a search and found this awesome list of potentials for you to look thru. Let us know what you think it might be! (there is no forum that I can see linked to this so should be ok to post for you)

What is that bug in my Aquarium? .:. Various small creatures that can inhabit a Freshwater Invertebrate Aquarium


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## Jme (Jan 18, 2015)

Thanks for your response SeaHorse! 

I had considered that it could be some form of copepod, which is why I have held off from doing anything beyond monitoring and improving water quality. Have you ever seen copepods crawling on fish though? Beyond being on the fish, they are sparse in the aquarium from what I can see, though I do know that copepods don't like light and will scramble to hide... I haven't seen them on the glass, but I saw 2 of these white bugs on a terracotta pot this morning after turning on the light and 5 or 6 of them on my Oscar that look exactly like ick, except they move rather fast. After leaving the room and coming back, the large ones were no longer on the Oscar, but smaller ones were still on it. The smaller ones look like very tiny fiberglass hairs; their movement doesn't seem worm-like though. 

She flashes ever once in a while, but it's not constant... Some days, She'll yawn frequently. Because of the yawning, I increased aeration and water circulation to be on the safe side. Other than that, the fish isn't showing any obvious signs of stress. She feeds normally and interacts with me like normal.


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## SeaHorse (Dec 27, 2010)

It has been a long time since I've kept Oscars, close to 20 years and I sure don't remember ever seeing anything like this. I remember "Hole in the Head" disease... always wondered if something was eating them to make the holes. Are you seeing the moving "spots" all over or just on sides or fins or head? 
I didn't read thru the article other than it looked like potentials for review. Hoping other members in here might have seen something like this. Wish they weren't so small you could get a pic of them.


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