I recently acquired a red Oscar and now has been acting strange. I have had him for about 3 months and he is approximately 5 inches long now. For the past couple of days he acts scared, hiding in the back of the tank. He has no tank mates and has always been very friendly coming to the front of the tank when I am there. I do the weekly water changes, pH and temperature have not changed and he does not look sick. He also is spitting food out and does not seem as interested in his food. I do not know what else to do. Any insight qould greatly be appreciated.
New to Oscar fish
- Thread starter Lola2009
- Start date
Wel
Welcome aboard
Could you test and list the rest of your parameters ammonia, nitrite,and nitrate. Do you use a dechlorinator during water changes?.
Welcome aboard
Could you test and list the rest of your parameters ammonia, nitrite,and nitrate. Do you use a dechlorinator during water changes?.
yes, I have noticed that. I am wondering if I have fed him too much and need to back off the food for a little.
the rest of the parameters with the water check are fine. I treat the water with every water change.Wel
Welcome aboard
Could you test and list the rest of your parameters ammonia, nitrite,and nitrate. Do you use a dechlorinator during water changes?.
hmm, what do you mean fine? What are the levels? That would help us to help you.
Also, tank size? Other fish in tank? Anything changed recently, like new décor or anything?
tank size is 55 gal. no tank mates. no new decorations, no live plants. can't specifically tell you the numbers of the levels right now, but I check them regularly and it has not changed. the pH is about 7.5 ish and has not changed. I do weekly water changes that are about 10 gallons.
What kind of decor is in the tank? Any logs or rocks to feel secure in? Do you have substrate?
What about light intensity and duration?
At 5", it has about maxed out the size of the tank, and you should be thinking of an upgrade, since most Oscars max out at about 12 -15 inches, so to be reasonable I'd going straight to a 125 gal or larger.
In nature oscars live in close proximity to other fish, large schooling tetras do a lot to making oscars feel secure (called dither fish) but the 55 is really to small to be adding more.
If it were me, I'd be doing 50% water changes at least twice per week.
What about light intensity and duration?
At 5", it has about maxed out the size of the tank, and you should be thinking of an upgrade, since most Oscars max out at about 12 -15 inches, so to be reasonable I'd going straight to a 125 gal or larger.
In nature oscars live in close proximity to other fish, large schooling tetras do a lot to making oscars feel secure (called dither fish) but the 55 is really to small to be adding more.
If it were me, I'd be doing 50% water changes at least twice per week.
I am talking about ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, do you test for those? If not read up on the nitrogen cycle, basic bread and butter of keeping fish alive in tanks. Something every fishkeeper needs to know. and test for those levels. If something is off we will know right away from that.
Also possible it's not related to the cycle at all. Lots of factors that could make a fish act like that. But if it was acting fine, comfortable, and this is a sudden thing, that seems to me like something changed. And if you didn't intentionally change anything, the first thing I'd check would be those 3 levels.