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Firstly a month or so ago i noticed a small hole about the size of a pin head in my Oscars tail fin.At first i thought nothing of it but was watching it, then it began to get bigger.I do not think it is life threatening, i am just skeptical as to what it is.But anyhow it gradually got bigger then stopped, but now appears to be increasing in size.I also noticed well feeding him today not only does he have the originall hole which is about the size of a small pea but another pin sized hole coming in too.all water parameters are in check. Ammonia .25ppm, nitrate around 40 ppm and nitrite >.5ppm. My only thought is that my O likes to move thing and may have injured his tail in doing so, as he swims the water moves through his tail and gradually stretched it out, almost how kids "guage" there ears. But i wanted a better opinion and if possible advice. I have tried treating with Melafix to no avail(yes i have removed the carbon) and now think it is just a spot that may never heal or needs time to heal, What do you all think?

I don't have an idea about the individual sickness, but .25 ammonia is not in check. Look up how to cycle an aquarium. Does the oscar have any tank mates that could have eaten away a hole in his tail?

Hi,
With an Oscar which has a large body mass, and the Ammonia
+ Nitrite reading, we are homing in on an imbalance in
the tank water. Unless you are using Ammo lock or
some similar water conditioner, in a fully cycled
tank you should never read ANY ammonia or nitrite.
Additionally, with many species of fish, they won't
tolerate a Nitrate reading that high.
In Fish Only tanks the Nitrate reading should be held
to zero. In a planted tank it should be held to
between 5 and 10.

Generally speaking, a Nitrate reading of 40 indicates a
tank badly in need of maintenance. Frequent water changes
of 50% (until the nitrate comes down to something
reasonable (10 at the most) including vacuuming the gravel
right down to the glass bottom of the tank will bring the
tank back into stability and improve the health of
the fish.

You don't say what size tank the fish is housed in.
If it is a "small" tank, for the fish and any other
occupants, the waste output could be outstripping
the ability of the bacteria in the tank to neutralize it.

Lots of unanswered questions that point out possibilities
for your problem.

Frank

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

hi, he is about 5-6 inches and is in a 30 G, moving to a 55G US in about a week after christmas, then hopefully even larger around 75G to 120G.he has no tank mates.So basically my weekly water changes arent doind it and i need to do it more often or just take a bit more of the water out, i already do gravle vacs

Hi,
Personally, I think that is a "huge" fish for a 30G tank,
and it seems that you recognize it as you are planning on
moving it to a 55G very soon. At that size, their waste
products (solid and liquid) are large compared to
many other fish and that accumulation, even over just
a week can be the source of the problem.
Meanwhile, as you surmised, you will have to "manage"
the tank with more frequent water changes.
Sometimes larger water changes are not always the
best idea as you can easily change values such as pH,
GH, KH, substantially with a large water change if
you aren't careful. That could cause a whole different
set of problems.

Doing two changes in a week, of the current size,
along with the gravel vacuuming should resolve the
high nitrate problem. Now, the only problem is finding
the time to do it - religiously.

Frank


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

What filtration are you using? For the 55 you should go for 10x the water volume per hour, a good filter for this is the aquaclear 110

Thank you very much frank, you are always a big help in my many woes and ahs of fishkeeping.and i was planning on using the filter that come with the 55 G starter kit which is made for the 55G and my 30-60 G filter i have currently at the same time in the 55 would this be good?

The two will work well together. It also helps alot with water movement to have more then one filter in a tank that big. I have two on my 55 gallon goldfish tank and it wouldn't work without them lol.

Hi,
As was mentioned, the AquaClear 110 would work for
that tank. I don't know what comes with the 55G startup
kit. It may or may not be ideal for what you are asking
it to do. I, personally, would use a large canister filter
as those are the only ones that can hold enough media to
make a dent in that kind of tank.

I suspect that the Oscar will not be the only fish in that
tank, and I also suspect that at least some of the other
fish will be "large size" as well. Oscars are a terrific
fish to have. I had a pair in my 55 and the truly became
pets. I had a large canister style filter on that tank.
Later I was transfered to another base and sold the fish
to a person with a 300G tank.

The fish can become large enough to "pan fry" and feed
a family! In turn, they put out a huge amount of waste.
The solid waste can resemble Vienna Sausages and the
urea volume is just as large. To handle keeping fish like
this you need a filter (I believe) that has more media in
it than the average HOB filter can hold. They are messy
eaters, and food fragments that other fish would call a
banquet, will simply float past the Oscars, ignored, and
land on the gravel. Some "may" get drawn up by the filter
but the bulk of it will simply lay around on the gravel and
decay. You simply cannot leave the waste laying around on
the gravel. It will turn the tank into a sewer and the
accumulating organic compounds will kill the fish.

This is just one of dozens of articles about these fish:
http://www.helium.com/knowledge/51469-how-to-care-for-oscars

Frank


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

once again thank you frank.also i dont know as to whether my lfs has any canister filters i have never seen them.but what would be a good one, if my lfs doesnt where could i find one, and what is the stimated cost.
thanbks

Hi,
I'm not the person to ask about good, quality canister
filters. The one I had 30 years ago no longer exists.
Corner someone in the Chat Room such as Keith or PM him.
Frank


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

ok will do.thanks

I just got a PM from Frank.

I think it might be easy to start a new thread in Technical T stating what you have and also if you are prepared to go top shelf "Eheim" or a cheaper quality copy

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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