I've totally not been around much here, or online in general. I've been just a tiny bitty bit busy.

Animal Control called me actually a few weeks ago now asking if I could help out with some fish and stuff. I said sure, I didn't mind. A pet store went out of business, and the owners just split and left a bunch of animals there. The building landlord was actually the one to call the animal control folks.

Anywho, little did I realize what the hell I just signed up for. I talked to the AC guy and he said there were a few fish that he didn't know what they were some red ear sliders, and a whole lot of small goldfish. I figured no big deal, I'll set up the kiddy pool and the turtles will be set for feeders for a while.

So dude comes by in a pickup truck the sort with a lid on it and cracks it open. There's 11 big totes, (the 18 gallon kind) and a handful of cardboard boxes.

I got:

2 different weird eels, one that looks like a bichr, another that I have no clue.
2 dozen crayfish
5 fancy but misshapen goldfish, some missing an eye and what not.
7 Adult Sliders. The kind that are about a foot.
2 bright blue african cichlids, (currently unknown what type)
4 larger red bellied pacus,
3 Convicts, there were more but they didn't make the trip out since dude ended up using some tap water on the bag. He found the Convicts well after the bagging stage was done.
2 Leopardinas
3 Small Jack Dempseys
300 or so comets and minnows

and. wait for it.

57 Oscars from 3 inches out to 9 at the largest.

Apparently too, the African Cichlids, Pacus, Convicts, Leopardinas, Jack Dempseys and one Oscar were all in the same tank together with a slider. They were all in the same bag together, so they all went into the same tank together here and I'm amazed they're all getting along just fine. I've never mixed oscars or africans with well much of anything else before.

But yea. 57 Oscars. I ended up having them in a different kiddy pool. One of those intex pools with a water bed heater under it and some more in a 75 gallon drum. Thankfully I found homes for most of them. A few died from fighting and I have three left, but I'm keeping them. They got the crap beaten out of them in the larger areas and I managed to get them out before they died.

The other thing I wanted to mention too, was treatment. For goldfish and koi, I use Melafix and Pimafix. In my area it's labeled as a pond product only. It worked pretty good (with some other meds) when we removed a tumor off a larger koi as well. I didn't have anything else, (and in all honesty didn't care enough to go buy something else) and decided to test them both out with one of the oscars.

I had one, that had gotten picked on badly. The other Oscars removed most of this ones side of skin on it till it was an angry pink/red color. In all honesty I didn't think it was going to live at all. So anyway just like with the larger goldfish, for the inital dose, I gave it a dose and half of both Pimafix and Melafix for the first day in the morning, and then fed it at night. I also had two others that weren't nearly as bad off that I was using as sort of a control group as it were (obviously in a separate tank). Water temp was about the same and I did the same water changes and feedings for both too. The filters were different but they were a fairly similar capacity and the control tank did have two in it. So not exactly equal. The medicated oscar was the dark blackish sort. Control had one Albino and one black.

So, Day 1:
Oscar didn't do much except sit on the bottom when I put the meds in. Evening feeding it gimped up and ate a tiny bit then went back to the bottom. (I used floating pellets)

The control group was fairly similar.

Day 2:
Angry pink is turning lighter, and bits are hanging and flaking off. The oscar was moving around a little (more than day 1) but hid behind a rock on the bottom after I dumped meds in. Also ate again that evening.

The control group didn't have nearly as much activity and also did not eat that day either.

Day 3:
Morning meds, nasty peeling skin almost completely fell off, is now a sickly light grey. It almost looked sort of moldy/lumpy, but on closer examination it was where the orange/red marks were. Besides feeding, I dropped in one (quarantined) minnow, to give it something to chase/eat. It did eat it, but the minnow swam right up to the oscar. Not a smart minnow.

The control group was a bit more with it, and ate pellets, but showed no interest in the minnows. Their minnows were a bit smarter too and stayed away from the oscars.

Day 4
More meds. Oscar still looks really rough on the one side and it's still gross/healing but is otherwise acting like a normal oscar. At this point it's also realized that I'm the food bringer. (Thanks to the minnow no doubt) So is looking to eat. I gave it a few pellets and it ate them.

Control group is acting alot like the medicated Oscar on day 2. One of the minnows is missing, and they are getting better just a much slower pace.

Day 5:
Oscar is still rough, but definitely looking like it will make a full recovery. I decided this would be the last day of meds. It's eating and acting all Oscar-y.

The control group is essentially on day 3 of the medicated one. The minnows were finally gone, and they were definitely showing signs of improvement.

All in all, it took almost 2 weeks for the medicated oscar to completly get it's color back. There are still scarring which I'm sure will go away as it grows, but otherwise it would be hard to tell anything that happened.

Both control group Oscars also healed, however it took considerably longer for them to start acting normal. A full week for the one, 10 days for the more injured of the two. Keep in mind too the medicated Oscar was the most injured of the three and healed up the fastest.

So while not a major case study by any stretch. It would seem that at very least Pimafix and Melafix will not harm Oscars and in some cases speed up recovery of wounds from fighting.

WOAH 57 OSCARS holy crap! I use Pimafix and Melafix on all of my fish this includes my 2 oscars and I've never had a problem. If you need to rehome a few things let me know I might be able to take some fish off your hands.

Ps this was very awesome of you to take in all these fish!

Great story and a good read. Hands down to you for taking in the fish you did and rescuing and re homing as many as you could. Thanks for sharing your experiences! I have always used Melafix for wound treatment help without knowing if it worked or not.

The only brand of Mela and Pima around me is labeled "Pond use only" and on the back it "Not recommended for tropical fish." It's why I wanted to test it out.

It was pretty insane tho. I can laugh now that it's mostly over but what a mess that was. Most of it was the animal control guy not knowing hardly anything about fish and thinking the Oscars were cheap/feeder sort of fish since there were so many of them. All told I think I managed pretty well. I had 6 deaths from fighting, but that many fish in that small containers not much I could do.

One thing I wish I did do was to tape them feeding the one time. I'm on pretty good terms with a fish farm near me and I went and picked up some bulk food and while I was there they gave me a few pounds of smaller minnows to feed them all. I dumped them in all at once and it looked like the water was boiling with the feeding frenzy that went off.

Mike, where are you at? I have 4 Oscars left that someone said they were going to take, but bailed at the last second last week. I'll try giving her a call tomorrow and see what's going on. I don't know what to do with the Pacus either. I really like them alot, but I have no clue where I'd put them when they grow up.

I still have the mystery fish too, but I'd like to id them before they go anywhere. I'd hate to just guess and accidentally give someone something nasty. I have to take pictures of the eel and the cichlids at some point and see if you guys have any guesses as to what they are. The eel is a complete mystery and the africans are still on the small side, so I'm guessing they're juvie still.

It looks like all the Convict survivors are males, so I'd actually like to get some females somewhere and set up a breeding tub for them for feeders. I'm getting a few 75 gallon drums soon, so I'd like to set them up in that. I have comets going but they grow out so large it ends up being a hassle if someone doesn't eat their feeder.

I dont have room for the oscars and pacus are illegal in my state (Maine.)

I know someone who would prob take the bichr from you.

once you post pics I'll see if I cant rehome some of these fish for you.

Pacus are illegal in Maine? I wonder why that is. No chance they'd survive the winter out there. They're sweet, and friendly and the big one at least is eating out of my hand. One is 14" the other 3 are between 6 and 8. Sadly, or much to the thrill of my kids, depending on who you ask, I've already been tossing around how and where I'd need to build a pond in my basement to keep them.

As for the eels, as far as I can tell the little one isn't a bichr. My best guess from the pictures I've gone through is it's a red snakehead. but I'm not even entirely sure on that. This one looks similar to the pictures I've seen online, but it's not nearly as red striped. It may be that it wasn't being fed properly and I've read that they lose their color as they get older, but this guys only at 4 inch. If that is what he is, I'm not sure what to do with him at all, since they're fairly illegal to start with and get huge and mean. My issue is the huge and mean part. I wonder if a zoo or an aquarium would be interested in housing him. He's very nice at this size and I know at least I wouldn't have the heart to just kill him.

The bigger eel is an American Eel. It's so far been very happy digging around in the gravel in the Channel Cat/Dempsey tank I have set up, but all I can find about them is that they're often used for bait. So far it seems pretty happy, but he's in with some big boys, and I don't know if he's a scavenger or a predator.

In other exciting news. It looks like I'm going camera shopping this weekend. My oldy old camera just keeps flashing *err* in the viewfinder. Bleh.

I have a home for the eels. Are you on MFK?

Ya know, I signed up for MFK, and I didn't really feel like I fit in there. The last thing for me was some dude was posting about needing a bigger home for his pacu and couldn't afford a 300g tank. I recommended a livestock tub and to make a lid for it and it sorta felt like I was getting the "what a retard" vibe.

For what I like to do, if it holds water, it holds fish. Those guys seemed far more, single big specimen tanks and stuff like that.

saint_felony wrote:

I recommended a livestock tub and to make a lid for it and it sorta felt like I was getting the "what a retard" vibe.

I have been a member over at MFK for a couple of years...not really a fan of a lot of the members there.
Hope you don't feel that way around here?! It sounds like you have a lot to still sort out. I have 3-4 female HRP's which are similar to Convicts
that I would like to get rid of but have to sort a few things out first. I hope all goes well on the camera hunt so you can get some pics up!

I still am posting here right?

I know what I do is fairly insane. You guys have been totally cool so far, or at least have only snickered in PM.

As far as everyone goes, my larger tanks are pretty full until I move out the last 4 Oscars, so I can't take anyone new in that's large anyway. I have a few free 10s and a 20 that can be put into service if need be. But everyone is doing good in their respective tanks.

I'm planning to build out a pond in the basement for the Pacus, perhaps one that will house the Red Tailed Cat too, but I want to do research to make sure they'll all get along. I've grown rather fond of both of them and it would suck if they killed each other. Otherwise I've heard good things about people keeping Pacus and Koi together so long as the koi are big enough (and it stays warm enough too)

If you were closer, I'd totally take your extra HRPs, tho I'd probally pester you to throw in a male too.

As for the camera, I'm sure I'll have to order online somewhere, since the odds of finding something local that takes Nikon F mount lenses that isn't a complete rip off is slim. How I wish B&H was just a little bit closer of a drive.

I'm all about the DIY. If you suggest something like you did on MFK I'll be the first one to go out and try it. I once kept con fry in a 30 gallon rubbermade tote with a penguin 330, heater and I used 2 drop lights to light up the tote. Oh yea I'm also buliding a 135g plywood tank. Good luck with everything

I saw your plans for the tank. Fiberglass is some seriously nasty s**t, but otherwise it looks awesome.

Completely off topic, and I've never tested it for waterproofing a tank, but Alumilite and/or Kleer Koat Epoxy has been quite waterproof for other things I've used it for and not nearly as skin burningly evil.

Thanks! Its going to have a non toxic epoxy paint to seal it compleatly.

WOW That's a lot of orphans. Hats off to you, great job.