Oscars fighting, what can i do? Loss of scales and white holes

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fetto

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 7, 2011
83
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Northern NJ
I have 2 oscars, 1 albino, 1 tiger. They were aquired 2 months ago from petsmart, as i saw them and felt bad. THey were only 2-3 inches big. Now they are about 4 inches or so. I had them in a tank with 3 dozen convicts and the black one got alot of his fins nipped, so i removed the convicts and cleaned the tank

the last 2 weeks or so, ive noticed the black oscars fins slowly growing back, but on his sides, his scales are dissappearing, and white holes appearing, and i catch my white oscar charging him, and snapping at him when he swims by alot, but then they go back to being friends and swimming together like they are a pair.

Just recently (over the weekend) Developed ick in the tank, and treated it (which seems to have put my red tail catfish into a slump, as hes not as active right now) and did a water change. The ick seems to be gone, but today i noticed another hole on his side, all white, and scales missing.

I am new to oscar keeping, and is this normal behavior for oscars? i have googled but havent found much other then to just seperate them, but thats not an option.

I also notice that he likes to almost lay on the gravel all the time, they dont swim around as much, and seem mellow. But as soon as i come home from work, walk in the door, they both swim right up to the top of the tank, and wait for me to hand feed them some krill, which they seem to love.

Ive been adding melafix to the tank to help promote generation of the nipped fins and scales, but im at a loss. So here are some pictures, sorry if they are big

Close up of tiger oscar
http://i.imgur.com/lfV32.jpg
albino oscar charging tiger oscar
http://i.imgur.com/GLyc3.jpg
here you can see his fresh scales missing, this must of happened during the day while at work
http://i.imgur.com/gjgjh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EYUS6.jpg
and his other side, which is worse, yet they hang out together
http://i.imgur.com/hbfR0.jpg


This couldnt be dreaded hole in the head could it?

thanks guys. so far this sites been a big help, and look forward to posting more and learning more.


edit** before you ask..tank size is 40 gallon long, as they grow, so does the tank size. not investing in a huge tank and they dont make it.

Hardness is very high due to my location and the water, general hardness 180,carbonate hardness 240, sadly i cant do anything about this unless i dont use tap water, and even with conditioners i cant get it down much (same with my african tank), nitrates are 0, nitrites are under 40ppm, sometimes reach 80 to help the live plants, but i try not to let it higher, ammonia levels according to the test kit are 0, and ph is around 7.5
 
Im no expert but it seems to me that your tiger is getting beat up. Ive had the same problems before. I would recommend continuing melafix as well as some smart aqua scaping. aqua scape is the Key if your going to keep aggressive cichlids in the same tank even at a small size. Use plants and rocks and even pots to create territory and use the plants and rocks or even floating plants to break up sight lines or LOS (line of sight). This or removing all decorations as been successful to me. Its not exactly the best thing to do but I found sometimes my fish wont fight if there is nothing to fight over. As far as this being HOTH Im not so sure to me the pictures just look a beat up oscar. Again im not an expert and I could be leading you astray but in my Oscar fishkeeping and Ive had 6 at separate times. This has worked for me.
 
Ps: Props for adding water conditions, and tank size. Almost no one including myself remembers to do it On the OP.

Ps: ps: I saw the edit but still props
 
Definitely seems to be getting nipped at a lot. Do you have another tank to separate them for a few days? If so, rearrange the tank and try to give each oscar their own personal 'cave' or hiding area. They'll quickly establish territories and hopefully be ok. Continue the melafix as it's a great help for these hardy fish.

Wish you the best!
 
The white marks on its sides are most likely from the Oscar scratching itself on tank decorations. Fish will tear themselves up when trying to get away from aggressive tankmates. Once the Ick treatment is complete, stop adding any other medications. The easiest and best way to promote healing in Cichlids is to feed properly, provide proper space, and do appropriate water changes. The lost scales and torn fins will heal quickly without medications. Too many meds can lead to more health and water problems. Ick can usually be cured with warmer temperatures and salt. If your Oscar is constantly being chased and scratched on objects, no matter what you add to the tank it will not heal. It will continually have damage to its body. Stress can also make cichlids susceptible to Ick. If you cannot keep the oscar together peacefully in one tank, you may do better by separating them before the weaker one dies from injuries, stress, or disease. If they are to stay together for life they will need a much larger tank too. Good luck to you and I hope your oscar makes it.
 
Maccoy;4953160; said:
Im no expert but it seems to me that your tiger is getting beat up. Ive had the same problems before. I would recommend continuing melafix as well as some smart aqua scaping. aqua scape is the Key if your going to keep aggressive cichlids in the same tank even at a small size. Use plants and rocks and even pots to create territory and use the plants and rocks or even floating plants to break up sight lines or LOS (line of sight). This or removing all decorations as been successful to me. Its not exactly the best thing to do but I found sometimes my fish wont fight if there is nothing to fight over. As far as this being HOTH Im not so sure to me the pictures just look a beat up oscar. Again im not an expert and I could be leading you astray but in my Oscar fishkeeping and Ive had 6 at separate times. This has worked for me.
Click to expand...

Well thanks for the info. Ive done africans for the last 6 years, and familiar with the territory shifting, i just didnt expect it from oscars, i figured they were more mellow, but i was wrong lol. Im glad its not HOTH , ill have to rearrange the live plants to make a divider in the middle

Maccoy;4953164; said:
Ps: Props for adding water conditions, and tank size. Almost no one including myself remembers to do it On the OP.

Ps: ps: I saw the edit but still props
Click to expand...

hah yeah thank you, i always see people make a post about a symptom, and the following post is always asking for the parameters of the water and tank size , so i figured id save time and a useless post. and i forgot to add it so i had to edit it
 
Gruff Master;4953569; said:
The white marks on its sides are most likely from the Oscar scratching itself on tank decorations. Fish will tear themselves up when trying to get away from aggressive tankmates. Once the Ick treatment is complete, stop adding any other medications. The easiest and best way to promote healing in Cichlids is to feed properly, provide proper space, and do appropriate water changes. The lost scales and torn fins will heal quickly without medications. Too many meds can lead to more health and water problems. Ick can usually be cured with warmer temperatures and salt. If your Oscar is constantly being chased and scratched on objects, no matter what you add to the tank it will not heal. It will continually have damage to its body. Stress can also make cichlids susceptible to Ick. If you cannot keep the oscar together peacefully in one tank, you may do better by separating them before the weaker one dies from injuries, stress, or disease. If they are to stay together for life they will need a much larger tank too. Good luck to you and I hope your oscar makes it.
Click to expand...

thanks for the tip, yes i do have some lava type rocks in the corner where they both go behind and chill, and he does get chased out sometimes, so that could be the culrpit, ill have to arrange them so theres no way to go in them, or use them in the middle.

the ick has cured, and i did the water change. i dont have another tank though to seperate them, as my 55 gallon is my african community (lol that sounds wrong every time) And ive been trolling craigslist for an affordable 100 gallon or so , but no luck, side note, theres a red tail cat in with em , but hes only a couple inches, i need a reason to upgrade , god knows when, or i will find a good adoption home with space. I have an aquarium about 45 minutes away that has a gorgeous display of the rtc and cichlids, who im sure would be more than happy to adopt if needed

Edit* thanks for all the great information, this site for the few weeks ive joined, has been a big help with useful info and knowledgeable people.
 
Dont rule out HITH. Water changes make happy fish. And more hiding spots too. I would rearrange the tank with the light off (or you can remove them from the tank). Then they will have to reestablish territories with the change. Its just like a reset button, doesnt work all the time but its a idea.
 
While aggression is clearly the main issue here, don't forget to gauge your tank's capacity by nitrate levels. Looking at the size of the fish and tank is only guesswork. Nitrates tell the true story of a tank's state assuming there's no ammonia or nitrIte.
 
Unfortunately you can't keep 2 Oscars in a 40 gal for long. The tiger will be killed. You can easily house 2 females, but you are going to need a tank of 120gal "minimum".

fetto, have you ever seen a full grown Oscar in person? When petsmart sells them "SM" and "LG" versions - "LG" maybe big for them but in reality they are only 3" long,- Oscar's can and WILL grow from 12"-18" When / if yours grow to full size (in about a year) you will have two fish too large to turn around in their own tank. And with age comes aggression. Couple that with a tank 4X Too Small = Destruction.

What I'm saying is, they'll most likely be much less aggressive / temperamental in a much larger, well aqua-scaped aquarium.

Good luck.
 
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