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79.5 deg, 0 am, 0 trite, 80 trate, PH 7.2, GH 375.9. Five 10" ATO's in 120 G. tank. 1 AquaClear 110 , 1 Marineland 350 Magnum, and 1 28" bubble wand. A week ago fish became lathargic and stopped eating. White scales on one turned grayish. It now sits on the bottom at 45 deg. Two days ago 2nd fish same thing. Today all five are sitting on the bottom. There scales are still white and they're upright. I've made a 50% water change twice. One a week ago and another two days ago. I'll do another today but it's had no effect. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hi,
Here is a site that describes various fish diseases,
their symptoms, and medications:

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm#Scale%20Protrusion

This is, in general, an infection and caused by poor
water quality. In addition to the water changes you
need to vacuum the gravel. A nitrate reading of 80
is lethal to some fish and will cause a decay in their
health. The nitrate reading in your tank should never
go past 40 at the very maximum, and actually should
be below 10 at all times.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks for the response Frank. What puzzles me is the fish have been in the same tank with the same food & maintenance for a year now. Water changes are 10% weekly and include vacuuming. Filter changes alternate monthly. Once a week I give them two dozen feeder goldfish. Maybe they got something from them. This is all out of the blue. I'm working on the nitrate level(50% water changes) but it come down slowly.

Hi,
Yes the problem could have been brought in by the feeders
and made worse by the water quality (high nitrate) and
shreds of dead fish caught behind objects or between grains
of substrate.

Lots of folks I have known in the past have used "feeders"
of one stripe or another for their fish. As I think back,
very nearly every single one of them had some disease
strike their tanks, sometimes, many times over. In each
case they would trot down to the nearest LFS when they got
a new shipment in, purchase a dozen or so, and toss them
either directly into their main tank, or into a holding
tank for a week or two, then back off to purchase more
food.

Most of us would agree that a "Q" Tank is a necessity and
frankly a week or two is not long enough to treat any
disease. If your habits approximate the ones I mention,
you are opening yourself up to problems, and you might
reconsider how you get your fish. At the very least, I
would treat the holding tank with regular doses of an
antibiotic, and have a UV filter system running full time.

Just some things to think about...

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

might i suggest you buy some high quality giuppies. one or two males and seven females. put them in a ten gallon tank and have another ten gallon tank. when fry are present put them into the second tanka nd allow them to grow... once old enought, you can sell off the males (or keep them but out of the parent tank for inbreeding purposes) and feed the fry females to the oscars... this may take up to three months to get running properly... but it will be much cheaper in the long run and less of a hassel then the diseases brought through feeders... if not guppies: platies, mollies, or anyo other livebearer will do...

also frequent water changes and a larger tank is needed for that large of fish in that "small a tank"... usually they say 75g per oscar and 125 for two... so you have a lot less room then reccomended... you need like at least a four hundred gallon tank... but a two or three would suffice for a while...

also double filtration and a UV sterilizer is needed if oyu are going to continue to feed feeders or if you wnat the health to stay up! (add aeration too)...

oscas are easy fish, but demand care... especially when in groups.. also soon they will start mating behaviour... be prepared to destry the eggs or have a vast amount of outgrow tankage and fry food! also be prepared for the mating agression!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"