[annie0516]

Hi all,
I posted a bit ago about the roundish looking wounds/holes on my otherwise exceptionally healthy looking Tiger O, "Astro" in his lower jaw area.
JSS was mentioned and after some digging I have found much in the way of a few threads where various treatments were employed, mainly Baytril and Neoplex.
I have looked at pictures and sure enough what I am seeing on Astro looks very much like what has been posted. From the pictures I have seen it looks to be VERY early stage as the holes are very very small.
I will be checking all aspects of my water as it has been said that there is usually some stressor involved, but for now I want to start treating him asap.
I would like to go the neoplex route first and wanted to ask for some experiences please.
Mainly I am interested int he amount of time it took to see improvement in those that responded successfully to the neoplex as I dont want to waste time if Baytril will be needed.
I have located an online source for the neoplex and noticed another product recommended by seachem in addition called FOCUS. Does anyone have recommendations for its use? I liked the idea that i could bind the med to food with it.
Thoughts appreciated.
This guy "Astro" has only been around since last November but he is a cool fish and we really enjoy him. We really want to see him grow up and be an old fish.
Thanks,
Annie

 

[annie0516]

Ok...I looked at a couple of recent pictures of my boy and when I zoomed in, sure enough I could see the little wounds.
They are hard to differentiate from the bubbles so I circled them. Hope this helps you guys see what I am talking about.

 

[BlackShark11k]

I have not had any experience with JSS in my own tanks, so my reply is based on other people's experience and i am not sure if what you have posted is JSS or something else. However, if it is, there are some things you can do. Neoplex, as you suggested, is a commonly used medication to treat JSS. Note it only helps if JSS is yet in it's early stages. I would recommend using neoplex as others have had success with it. If neoplex fails, then Baytril may be the only way to go.

Good luck,
Art

 

[Big Vine]

Annie,

JSS ('John Satisfaction Syndrome'), is the term coined by Doc Bottom in reference to the Aeromonas infection in his oscar, who goes by the name John Satisfaction. Doc Bottom is a member over on the www.oscarfish.com website, and he has written a fantastic article on the topic:
http://www.oscarfish.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=75213

Have you noticed any other symptoms aside from the apparently enlarged sensory pits in the pic you posted? Any increased slime production? Cottage-cheesy/grey patchy areas surrounding sensory pits on the head/'temple' area? Anything on the gill-plate area?

Based on what I'm seeing, I would say those 'pits' that you circled do appear to be slightly larger than normal, and they do in fact very closely resemble the 'enlarged' sensory pits I witnessed on my (3-4" at the time) oscar, Triton's head/'temple' area. This was several months prior to what eventually became evident as an infection of some sort. The real red flag was when I noticed a similar cluster of lesions in one spot on his gill-plate (this was back in October, when he was about 6" or so). Rather than elaborate here, I'll post links to several of my discussions on the topic.

Here's the original one I started on the oscarfish forum:
http://www.oscarfish.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=69902

Here's a briefer, more general one from another forum:
http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/disease ... ction.html

Hope the links help.
Takes wading through a lot to gain a firm understanding of JSS, so I applaud you for taking the first steps in researching Astro's ailment.
BV

 

[annie0516]

Thanks so much for taking the time to write back, I will go through all the links you included right away, some I think I have already read.
Nope, not a sign of any issues at all. He, or she as we really dont know, acts just like his rambunctious Oscar self. Hearty appetite, greats us anytime we walk near his tank exuberantly, and shows no outwards signs of any problems with either his skin or gills etc. We are constantly admiring the sleek look of his almost velvet like skin and how full and flowing his fins appear.
After losing his buddy "Cosmo" to a freak jumping accident, we took all kinds of measures to insure Astros safety and we really have gotten attached to him over the past months.

I am pretty familiar with the HITH issue as we recognized that not long after we brought Cosmo home. I did extensive reading on it at the time and made sure to follow all advice on water parameters and such. It was really what educated me as to the importance of not just assuming a clean tank is a healthy tank by appearance, but only by actual readings done by tests.

I was actually pretty proud of myself when Cosmo looked good as new in a couple months with absolutely no sign of HITH at all :thumb:
It made it all the more tough losing him to such a senseless accident that we could have easily prevented by using a mere 6 inch piece of plastic on the back of the hood...live and learn though, and one thing I have learned is that a fish can be as much a pet as any other animal and that it is usually within our ability to keep them healthy for a long period of time if we only have the info to do it.
That said, these forums have been a great source of info, although sometimes I do have a heck of a time getting responses, but then I know it is most likely becasue I am asking questions others have asked many times before, so when someone takes the time to re-answer MY questions I really do appreciate it

We started off less than a year ago when I decided to spruce up a pretty bare 10 gallon tank I had sitting around after the death of the single, almost 10 year old cichlid that we had in it. This led hubby to say, "Hey why dont we get a bigger one? ....maybe just a 20 or something?"
We came home with a 56 instead and then we got hooked. We are now up to 6 tanks.
Two are single Oscars, One a Malawi community, One trio of JD's , One is an extremely spoiled betta, and the final one is a 29 Gallon empty except for a few goldfish as it cycles.

So thats our complete fish story if you wanted to know :fish:

Annie

 

[TheFishGuy]

We've currently got two recues that are too far gone to even treat. It stinks because they have so much personality We're just making them comfortable in "hospice"

They were kept in a 29 gallon, they are both 10" or better...

Sorry, I guess this post isn't very helpful except that if you do notice something on your oscars start treating right away and keep those water conditions PERFECT!

 

[Big Vine]

You're welcome, Annie.
Always my pleasure to help out wherever I can---especially when I see folks taking some initiative and researching on their own. Your best bet is to keep doing what you've been doing and browse through as much of the links/articles as you can. As it stands right now based on the pic you posted, there doesn't appear to be quite enough symptom-wise for me to say "yes, go ahead and treat for such and such with such and such medication..." By all means keep a close eye on things and let us know as soon as you notice any changes, but at this point trying to treat for something we're not even sure is actually there can end up doing more harm than good.

Thanks for telling us a bit more about you and your husband getting into the hobby, and about the types of fish you're keeping. I'd love to see some more pics of them...especially Astro. 8)
BV