I have 2 Oscars. I have had them since they were the sinze of a half dollar, they are now about 5 inches (Oscar) and the other about 4 inches (Bella). Oscar has started jolting at Bella and ripping the scales off. I separated them with a divider, But I want to know is Bella is going to live. Bella seems very depressed (as anyone injured would), But Bella is still eating and swimming. How do I keep Bella from infection, and how will I know if infection Starts. Any help is appreciated I am very attatched to these guys. I am in the process of getting a larger tank as well as I have found out Oscar was attacking for more space.

you can take them to the vet thats the only way to know for sure whether there will be an infection or not.

Get a friend for bella to play with. Separating them was a good idea but they will both suffer from loneliness.

Both of the previous answers are wrong, ignore them both. Oscars won't get lonely, and you can tell on your own if there is an infection, easily. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com

Look at the places where Bella has been injured. If you see what looks like cotton, or any whitish fluff/material growing from those areas, you have a fungal infection to sort out. If it looks very bright red and inflamed, you're dealing with a bacterial infection. In either case, these things are not difficult to deal with.

Any multi-cure fish medicine will treat both fungal and bacterial infections, and you can go ahead and use it preemptively in order to prevent any infection from developing. It will usually require that you heat the tank up one degree more, and take the carbon out of your filter during treatment, but follow the directions of your specific medication. Additionally, if she doesn't look sick right away, you can keep feeding her, but if you notice an infection and begin to treat it, you should hold off on feeding Bella for the first two days of treatment. It seems odd to do so, but it is actually beneficial to fish in speeding their recovery. Best of luck, I hope she makes it!

pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com

P.S. From personal experience, if your fish is still eating and swimming without clamped fins, the chances of survival are very good. Take heart in that!

OK, well you have done the right thing by separating them. I suspect that you actually have 2 males there, and they become mature at 5-6" which is why one suddenly became aggressive. They may not live together even in a larger tank, unless it's really HUGE.

Anyway, what you need to do is keep the water quality as good as you can. If the fish is still eating then it has a good chance of fighting off any infection and recovering from it's injuries. If you see fuzzy fungus or a spreading sore near the wounded areas then you probably need to treat with some sort of anti-biotic, but I would only do that if you see an infection starting.

But long term you may end up with the fish in 2 separate tanks.

Ian