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Our Oscar(1 year old)has been sitting at the bottom of the tank without really moving for hours now. He did this a few other times before can anyone give us advice on what to do? Not sure if he is sick or if this thing is common. We are really worried, please help. Thanks

is he eatting?


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Brian

Yes he does eat. In fact he will still come to the top and beg like normal. Everything else with him seems fine but he goes to the bottom and sits on the bottom for long periods of time.

What size tank is your Oscar in?
Is it alone in the tank
& what do you have for filtration?

Katie

He is about 4" long he is in a 30 gal tank we are getting a bigger one for him. for filtration he has two powerheads with an undergravel system and a 330 biowheel.

i would first start by testing all the water parameters.(nitrite, nitrate, ph, ammonia) if everything tests out ok you probably have a fish on your hands that likes to pout. i have seen my own oscars do this many a time. i dont know if they are just being lazy or what but they are healthy as can be and the water is fine. like i said though test the water first and go from there.

He is only 4" long at one year? seems a bit small. You need the bigger tank for sure. I would get the water tested too. I have 3 month old baby O's that are almost 4"

Katie

i just realized you said the oscar was a year old and only 4 inches. just wanted to make sure that is right. that seems awefully small for a year old o. maybe someone else could help. my red and tiger o are just over a year old and a solid 10-11inches each. it almost seems like your fish maybe stunted or something. im gonna leave this one to the pros.

my bad I dont know where I was getting that from he is actually a good 8 or 9 inches roughly.

I would get him in a 55 gal tank ASAP
Katie

Sounds like stress due to not so perfect water conditions.
Water conditions deteriate faster the smaller the tank.Especially with oscars being so messey.
Id be doing water changes of 15% twice a week untill you can get a larger tank.
The use of cooking salt(1 tablespoon per 5g of water) will help with the stress.

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TONY
Australian and proud of it!!
My Cichlidfish.com Home page
No Feeder Nazi
worldcichlids.com

Well the plot thickens just before bed last night I noticed little white spots all over my poor fish. So I take it that means he has Ich now. I changed 50% of the water increased the temp to about 85 degrees and am about to add salt. In a little while when the lps opens Ill go pick up some ich medicine.

This topic is of great interest to me. I recently purchased two adult (~10") Oscars that were raised together with a third (not purchased). The first day they were very active, eating aggressively, cruising the tank (55gal) a lot. Since then, they have come to frequnet the bottom, usually laying head to tail with each other, or head on side of the other, much of the time, on their sides. They are very lethargic, coming up to eat now and then, but once they try a bite, they lose interest in food. The owner of the lfs told me the temperature was too high (~76/78º) and directed me to bring the temp down to 70ºF. (?) This sounds odd to me. I am feeding them the food I was sold and what he claimed they grew up on (cichlid sticks). They seem to like blood worms and flakes better and I am trying to peak their interest in some live feeders (though worried about adding problems). In all they seem very healthy, the water is healthy, they share the tank with two Rapheals (same size) and they have decent filtering and air bubbles. Question: I am worrying too much or should I be more worried? Is this normal behaviour?

Im new to all this but it sounds like your tank is to small for all those large fish. I think you need at least 75 gallons for just 2 oscars. The feeder fish I gave my oscar gave him ich so thats not cool no more feeders. I took all the scenery out of the tank now he has more room and swims alot more. and as for the temp the optimum temp I think should be 79.

I spent my Friday night hanging out with my new oscars and reading from several of these bulletin boards and after experimenting with the variables that differ greatly from the store conditions I have concluded that they definitely do not like the hood light and the are active during the early morning hours (feeding with deliberate focus and swimming in tandem) and my inital attempts to change their hours and living quarters so drastically was the only problem. So; I am satisified with the 78ºF temperature, suspicious of the purchased cichlid sticks (possibly old & stale) and happy that they are doing well, a bit pouty at times, very comfortable with each other and basically I need to learn a bit more about their personalities (likes and dislikes). Thank you to all (on all the BB's), for the great information.