I recently aquired a very old and fairly large Tiger Oscar, he is in the range of 10 and 12 inches and he has 2 mates in the tank. There is another oscar female albino around 7 to 8 inches, and a Black Bullhead cat in the range of 11-14 inches. when the cat is well fed hes fairly docile, however he is agressive when hungry. the tank is a fairly large aqueon class 42 bowfront, water is stable and plenty of filtration, substrate is about 1.5" rock with a small log for the catfish and otherwise a plate rock but thats about it. The tiger is very very old, and has some strange habits, he nearly always mopes around the top of the tank, sometimes even sideways and upside down, and I have been told he has been doing this for several years. I have not had success in getting him to eat either, I have tried blood worms, live feeders, Oscar pellets, dried shrimp, nothing seems to catch his appetite. I did notice one of the feeders had its head bitten off, which I find hard to believe the catfish's doing, even though I have seen the cat eat the feeders. I believe it to be the work of the albino, which fortunately enough at least 2 of the 3 are eating. The tank is a temporary solution till my 75 is available, yet i don't see the tiger making it that long if I cannot get him to eat. Any suggestions?
20 year old Oscar
- Thread starter xenocide21
- Start date
Where did these fish come from before you got them? Have you had these fish the whole time or did someone give them to you recently? For all those fish that size they need like a 150 gallon minimum. My guess is the old Oscar is not eating due to stress.
I would think a 20 year old Oscar would be a bit larger than 10-12" unless it was slightly stunted in which case wouldn't live to 20 years old. Also how do you know the albino Oscar is a female?
I recieved them in a 45 gallon tank, the fish have been vented to learn the sex. I believe the tiger has not been well taken care of, and under fed which is why he is only about a foot long, I am going to do a 60/40 water change and add some aquarium salt, however I am not sure how much to add due to the fact there is a catfish in there, and Im not sure if they can be subject to salt, i have been seeing more dead goldfish in the coming nights, with the same symptoms, bitten off heads, shreaded bodies, etc. I think one of the oscars is the culprit since the cat eats his whole.
the only history I know about the tiger is his previous owner has had him for about 2 years, the owner prior had him for 3, and before that, it was the previous owners family fish, had been with his father and grandfather for 17 years, being passed down. He does have a lot of battle scars, even looks old, doesnt seem to labored in breathing however his mouth is huge so you can certainly see him breathing. He will "cough" sometimes but not very often. The tank also has a mirrored background, however the tiger has only taken a liking to himself once and showed off. He does seem a bit depressed but im not sure. This is certainly my first oscar tank and I would like to extend his life as long as possible. I do hear the life expectancy is only about 10-15 years so he is well past that