Alright, I will try to find a tape measurer around the house and get a water testing kit, I know that all the fish in the tank get very big but I approximate the tank is about 4' long 2.5' at it's widest, its a bow fronted tank, and about 3' tall.
Shy Oscars
- Thread starter jlsmonkey
- Start date
I had the same problem when i first got my oscars, they were similar size as yours. mine would just hide or lay on the bottom of the tank againts the glass. i ended up getting a couple fancy goldfish, they are highly active and always eating. within 2 days my oscars were swimming freely around the whole tank, and eating everyting in sight.
PNWFisherman, he's had them 6 wks. It's not a matter of the fish not being used to his surroundings. My suggestion is no-do not throw goldfish in there.
Oh, and when I got them at first I only had a 20 gal tank, I knew how large they get so I got my new tank an tranfered them, would that have scared them into not trusting me for a while, I think they were in that small tank for 2 and a half weeks but they showed no problems and I kept the water clean.
are your oscars eating at all? what are they eating? by your guess of dimensions i think your tank will be too small in a year or so but your oscars don't care about that right now, its not like they are thinking "oh no my tank is too small for us as adults lets act depressed". any fish will be happy and oblivious to a tank they currently fit in so its not the size thats affecting your fish.
a basement... its not credible but i think most fish end up happier when they get real sunlight. do your fish have their own tank light? or just a little basement light that dully lights the whole room? they should have their own light in the tank.
and also anything else. do you play loud music? does anyone yell alot around the house? do you constantly tap glass/poke them to make them "do something" ?
also, never feed goldfish to any kind of fish. never feed goldfish or fathead minnows and a few other "koi" related fish because they have chemicals in their body that sicken fish and are high in fat. if you wish to feed live foods, feed shrimp, bred insects, guppies/ swordtails etc, small cichlids, and any other fish thats small that is not in the koi/carp family. and of course no poisonous fish.
a basement... its not credible but i think most fish end up happier when they get real sunlight. do your fish have their own tank light? or just a little basement light that dully lights the whole room? they should have their own light in the tank.
and also anything else. do you play loud music? does anyone yell alot around the house? do you constantly tap glass/poke them to make them "do something" ?
also, never feed goldfish to any kind of fish. never feed goldfish or fathead minnows and a few other "koi" related fish because they have chemicals in their body that sicken fish and are high in fat. if you wish to feed live foods, feed shrimp, bred insects, guppies/ swordtails etc, small cichlids, and any other fish thats small that is not in the koi/carp family. and of course no poisonous fish.
They eat fine, they eat feeders, I know your gonna say they can get diseases and all that but I carefully watch all the fish and take any out that look even a little odd. I also feed them pellets on occasion. I have windows that shine light directly into the tank and a light on top of the tank. I play music loudly only when a good song comes on, not much yelling, I don't tap the glass to often just to make sure the pleco is alive, he hides in some peculiar places and never moves, and I have never poked my fish.
a tank that is 4 x 2.5 x 3 should be large enough even for two adult oscars . . . I'd rather it was a bit wider, maybe 5ft, so I wouldn't say it's ideal, but we're probably talking about more than 200G here . . .
once we've confirmed the water is okay - - not just ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, but I'm also curious what the temperature is, since it's in the basement - - and if everything checks out, I'd consider adding dithers . . . large barbs, danios, leporinus, etc. . . . but not goldfish; too messy, and wrong temperature
once we've confirmed the water is okay - - not just ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, but I'm also curious what the temperature is, since it's in the basement - - and if everything checks out, I'd consider adding dithers . . . large barbs, danios, leporinus, etc. . . . but not goldfish; too messy, and wrong temperature
if its a bow front how wide is it at the narrowest? even a 4x2x3 is 180 gallons, no problems keeping an adult oscar or 3 or 4 in there, try to get them onto pellets more, mine really like them 
they attack the glass when i grab the bag and you dont have to worry about parasites
they attack the glass when i grab the bag and you dont have to worry about parasitesSee that's how I am thinking, not really gallonage but size, a 1 ft or so fish can easily turn around and swim around easily. 200g seems a bit much to me I guess nearer 80+ maybe. I'm gonna look for some kind of thermometer and if the temp is low I will warm it up. Also, I need a water test kit, I am lucky enough to have two LFS that are relatively close, Critters, and PetSupplies+ which is the one I get my feeders from, the feeders are kept in better condition and in lower numbers.
