CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

We bought 2 tiger oscars yesterday afternoon. When we picked them out at the LFS they are very lively and swimming around. Since we got them home they have been acting very odd. Well, at least I think so, these are the first oscars that I have ever kept. I do have 4 goldfish. Anyway, since we put them in their tank just about all they have done is sit at the bottom, together. Laying next to each other, I have never seen this behavior in fish before. They would swim every now and then, but not very far. When they did swim, it was together. They have not left each other's sides. We decided to give them a break and let them rest so we turned out the light. They came alive then. Exploring the tank, swimming around happily. Still swimming together, syncronized oscar swimming. If we would get close to the tank or turn the light back on they would go back down to the bottom and ignore us. They are watching us, but just laying there. We turn off the light again and they swim around again. We go bed.....
I get up this morning, turn on my Goldfish light and feed them. Then I turn on the light for the Oscar's and they huddle up together at the bottom again. They are still there, sitting at the bottom side by side. I am beginning to feel a little rejected.

They will swim around if I turn off or dim the light and not get too close to the tank. Are they scared of us? Are they sick? I have read that oscars can be moody and pout, but this beats all I have ever seen.

Any suggestions or ideas on what's going on? I want to know what I can do to make this easier for them and be happy fish! :love:

Thanks,
Kim

that is totally normal oscar behavior. i had my two o's in a ten gallon tank(shame on me i know) when i put them into their 90 gallon new home they acted like they were lost and didn't know what to do. they would swim side by side and not want any bright lights. if someone came near the tank it was straight back to the bottom and to the back of the tank. don't be alarmed if the seem kind of mellow for the next few days, the are just getting to know the new place that they are in and you:D

by the way how big are your o's and the tank you have got them in right now. and be careful about light, lights are good but too much light can cause stress. i didn't have a hood for my tank and had two flouresents on the tank and it stressed my o's out.

oh yeah and if your o's are a pretty good size you can always offer them a treat, let them know that you love them. i give my o's tuna at least once a month as a treat(it is fresh fish and you don't have to worry about all the disease of feeder fish) by the way if you dont already know. feeders are bad news. they can cause disease and all sorts of havoc:mad: well good luck and welcome to the site. and dont forget to give those fishes a treat to earn your turst:D he-he

First of all, Welcome to CichlidFISH.

Caboose is right. As with any new acquisition for your tank, your Oscars are just skittish from being in a new environment. Keeping your lights off for a day or so will help them get used to it.
If your lights still bug your Oscars after that, read this:

http://www.cichlidfish.com/portal/forums/showthread.php?postid=98912#post98912

I posted the method I use to reduce the brightness, but there's a few other ideas there too. One may work for you.

We got our 2 at the beginning of Nov., so our pair are larger than yours.
Ours are fed 2X a day(or you could say 3x). The morning feeding is pellets/FD Brine Shrimp/FD Krill.
Evening feeding is in 2 parts. I'll hand feed some frozen brine shrimp/plankton, prawn or salmon pieces first... then about 2 hours later, I'll feed them a few king-sized meal-worms.

They both know they have to approach & touch my hand or allow themselves to be touched before they get fed.
Blondie's got it down pat. In fact she's gets a little too eager sometimes - rushing forward and mistakenly grabbing the skin in between my thumb & first finger looking for the worm. They're getting big enough now that it feels like someone grabbing my skin lightly with a pair of pliers. The nips are not breaking the skin, but I can definitely feel the roughness of Blondie's "lip teeth". I hope that she calms down a little as she gets bigger or I'm gonna start gettin marked by her enthusiasm.
Rajah is still somewhat hand shy - after a month of "training" like this, he's just now lettin me very briefly touch his tail, side or under his jaw.

NO WORRIES, Your O's are just pouting. You will get excellent advice and information from this site, try anything and keep using the stuff that works for you. If you have any questions just post it and read the other posts because chances are somebody has the same question already posted. Reading other posts will also teach you alot and will help you with up coming ideas and questions about your oscars funny behaviour. Have lots of fun and welcome.

yea... like usual all the advice above is 100% correct... my oscar pouted for about a week and a half and then finaly came to life....
scorpio.... im going to try your advice on hand feeding them like u said with the worms....

Kimma -
I'm a total newb at this but I can tell you that my O lays on the bottom every now and then. If I wasnt used to it I would think he was dying but I have come to learn that this is just something he does ...

Well, I am glad to day that my oscars, they now have names Rambo and Louie., are doing a lot better. They are even coming to the side of the tank to greet me and my husband. They do love us!

What we figured out is that they do not like the bright aquarium light. AT ALL!!! We have dimmed their light and they are happy.

Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful advice. I am glad they are coming around, it was starting to bruise my ego!

Kimma

EDIT------We tried the worm trick too! They haven't taken them out of our hand, but they love them! I have never seen them move so fast.

fair warning worms*like graden worms) are hell to clean up afterwards:mad: but fun to watch them eat them. glad your o's decided to stop pouting!!! see i told you they would love you sooner then yu thought:D keep us posted and get us some pic's!!!! and if you ever need us you know where to find us!!!!!!!:D

Caboose:D

I will get you some pics soon. Trying to get my hands on a camera now because we THINK my goldfish have ich, but it could be a fin injury. Pictures of that are wanted on my goldfish forum. The only other thing wrong now is the water and how bad it smells. But I posted a thread about that, just waiting on a response.

Everyone here is so nice and helpful. Keep up the good work.