problems with oscar

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Gambusia
MFK Member
Jan 12, 2011
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hey i have a 46 gallon bow front with a tiger oscar about 4 inches a 4 inch african catfish and 7 inch senegal bichir. i added the tiger oscar about a week ago and he is always at the bottom.... one day i looked in the tank and the oscar had a big chunk of flesh taken out.. i keep an eye on the tank and he never got bit again but still on the ground never really swimming. he only eats when a piece of shrimp floats right in front of him. he has been this way for 1 week. WHAT SHOULD I DO?????:confused:

Thanks :)
 
What are your water parameters?

I see from your video that you did not quarantine the Oscar, that could be a problem for your other fish. And you did not acclimate the fish. This fish also appears severely stressed directly after you put him in the tank.

He started lying on his side within SECONDS of you putting him in the tank.

EDIT to add: He was active an healthy in the bag, on his side 10 seconds after being release.
 
i have six oscars at the minuet non of them lay on the bottom the only time iv seen them lay on the bottom is when there sick or stressed i notice this is normaly due to water parametres.
 
How long was that fish in that bag? The water volume in that bag seems minamal for that size fish - also IMO the fish doesn't seem healthy in the bag either. It wouldn't be a stretch that the Silver (Schilbe Intermedius) Catfish started nibbling on a fish that is dying due to an extended period of time without dissolved oxygen however this is just a guess.
 
I agree.
Furthermore I'd like to commend you'll first have to learn how to walk before you start running.
 
John2708;4820854; said:
i have six oscars at the minuet non of them lay on the bottom the only time iv seen them lay on the bottom is when there sick or stressed i notice this is normaly due to water parametres.
Click to expand...

I'm with Him :iagree:


Got two Oscars here and mine are never on the bottom excepting 15 minutes or so that their pouting over a water change. But I time my water changes to be about 30 minutes before meal time and they perk right up for food.
 
I would guess your bichir took a little bite out of him. Sounds like it will be a lot of fish for that tank in the near future too, I would find a cheap 75 on craigslist, and that should help a lot with aggression and water quality.
 
Aggression and poor water quality in an overstocked tank isn't surprising. Not trying to bring up a flame war since I know everyone has there own opinions on stock sizes but in all honesty a 46 gallon tank isn't even big enough to house one O full size let alone an O and two tank mates. 55 gallon would be the minimum with an O alone with their large bioload, and then when they mature and start getting territorial with two other fish you're looking at even more problems.

a 50% WC weekly wouldn't even get your nitrates consistently below 20ppm with just the O alone.
 
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