I recently adopted a 29g tank with a 5-6" albino oscar and a 3" jack dempsey (just 3 days ago). Yes, I already know that the tank is much too small for the pair, but this is what they came in and what they will stay in until I can get a much bigger situation for them.

The oscar is eating well, but I noticed he's been scratching and possibly flashing. He will swim along the wall of the tank and then flip around in a sort of half circle. It looks kind of cool, actually. I broke out the flashlight and noticed what looks like small grains of salt, but only a few grains. The JD doesn't appear to have any bad signs.

What do you guys think? Ick? Treat it for ick? The previous owner was keeping the tank at 72 degrees F and so I've increased the temp to 76-78 degrees.

Thank you!

a picture would be good but yes probably ick. raise of temp is good and in my experience it has always worked. on the other hand i have always raised mine to around 84 and when i had oscars it was gone the next morning. since the fish are in 72 degree water (pretty much the lowest temp thoes fish should be in) raising it that much runs some risks, altho oscars and jds are tough 12 degees is alot for any fish. as far as other options there are alot of anti ick meds u can get at any petstore. ive always had good luck with api. btw when i had oscars the tank got up to 90 one time and they didnt seem to care at all. and once again a picture would be nice because there are slight possibilities that it could be something else

When the fish in my tank recently got ick, I raised the temp in the tank to 86 degrees the warmest my heater would go to (it is recommended though that u raise the temp to at least 89 since that is the temp that kills the the ick.) I also added 2 tablespoons of aquarium salt per 5 gal of water. The ick started to disappear in about 3 days, but u need to keep the temp up for about 10 days after all visible sighs of the ick are gone. My tank has been ick free for about 2 weeks now.