stimulating appetite in oscars

[crazy_cavi]

hey there i am the owner of 3 tropical tanks right now and im having some troubles.
in my 55 gallon i had for over a month 2 albino oscars and 1red tiger and one red oscar coexisting peacefully. but then out of the blue the red tiger started bullying all of the oscars took chunks out of most every fish in the tank.
i thought possibly it may have been because i have been feeding them only pellets lately but when i purchased some feeders for them the red oscar ignored the fish. by this point i have already used a tank divider and seperated the whites/blacks (racism in fish terms). but what should i do? should i let him have reighn of the tank and take out the divider, or just observe his behavior and judge at what time i may be able to let them join again, (or maybe get a new tank for one set?).
(BTW, the reds are palm size and the whites are a bit smaller, they do seem to be eating pellets)The reds used to love, and i mean LOVE feeders, now it seems they're not interested.

 

[piranha45]

oscars (quickly) grow too large for 55g tanks. A 75g can hold 1 grown oscar, though I would recommend at least a 125g.

your only solution is to remove the bully, take him back to the LFS or euthanize him. There is a high chance that a new bully will arise from the remaining oscars, though. So you may end up removing a lot of fish. Oscars are big fish that need their space.

 

[dookie]

are they all equal in size?

 

[crazy_cavi]

biggest one bully for the moment is 7" and albinos are about 6 and other red tiger is about 6.5"

we grew the two big reds from babies to about 5.5" in only a 20gal
im looking into a two large tanks built into my new house. 10x2 and 4ft high
so they will have plenty room then for now its stay in the 55 home. i also have another 55 i may set up but im renting right now and i dont have adequate room to set it up anwhere unless i got rid of the tv and placed it there
or built a stand to stack the 2 55g on top of eachother

 

[cabouta1]

you have one too many oscar in your 55 gallon tank. I would suggest getting a bigger tank, or separating them.

 

[Stella]

That 55 gallon is only going to hold one oscar. You need to pick a fish and take the other three back to the LFS or start looking at 180 gallon tanks.

Laura

 

[fsc46]

IMO oscars don't need or care for a 4' high tank. if you have the space get a 10x4 by 2 foot high tank! they need floor space more than anything. but then you will have less living space in your house, lol. such is life.

 

[Mourinho18]

IMO oscars don't need or care for a 4' high tank. if you have the space get a 10x4 by 2 foot high tank! they need floor space more than anything. but then you will have less living space in your house, lol. such is life.

i was gonna say that

 

[Peanut_Power]

Sit infront of the tank and eat his food...make him jealous....then put some in the tank...should take it then.....

 

[Mourinho18]

or starve the little guy for a few days, he'll be begging for food then