Oscar acting depressed

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FrshRoani

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 4, 2008
40
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Stillwater OK
Hello MFK's

My mothers Oscar "Cowboy" has been acting very depressed the last few weeks. He used to be a very interactive and happy seeming fish. Always at the front of the tank begging for food and doing the signature tail wag. That all changed last month, he no longer interacts with us or seems that interested in food. Now he spends most of his day laying in one corner of the tank for hours on end. Occasionally he'll get up to swim through the bubble bar, but for the most part, he just sits in his lone corner. Any suggestions on how to cheer him up or possible causes of this sever mood change?

He's in a 55g tank with plenty of filtration, and has two small cichlids for tank mates. Ph, nitrate, nitrite and ammonia levels are all good and the temp is held at 79 degrees F. The only thing wrong with the water quality is the water is very hard, other than that, the tank is perfect.
 
is there any white stringy poo, pitting in his head or body, what kind of food do you feed him? any physical changes in appearance? if he is new, and went from soft to hard water he could be stressed. you could soften the water by driftwood or by boiling oak leaves and putting the tanic water in your aquarium.
 
Lowering the pH is a good idea if done gently. Has he just recently reached adulthood? How big is he, and what, exactly are the nitrate readings on the tank?
 
my oscar did this once before, he just sat on the bottom and his colors faded. i did a 50% water change and turned the lights off. the next afternoon he was back to his normal self and has been fine since then. i think sometimes O's are just moody fish. it could be something worse, but try to keep the lights off and relieve stress from the oscar, it might be all he needs
 
as asked already, any clue on how old your oscar is??

oscars are extremely moody fish. if you recently changed the stupidest thing in the tank, like moving or adding a plant, a cave a decoration etc....it could be enough to upset your oscars world. heck, even changing something outside his tank that he was able to see could possibly upset him. oscars honestly are big, giant babies :)

try getting frozen bloodworms or live blackworms from your LFS if you can. even the largest of fish cant resist them usually, their like fish crack. trust me, i have 20" pacu that go after 1/2" worms
 
Check your water again. It is very rare that the water would be very hard and the pH "good" (which I assume you mean to be "not high").

Also, if I had to guess, I'd say your nitrate is high based on the fish's behavior. Lots of people say their water is "good" when at most times they are just making an educated guess.
 
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