str8cute

my tiger oscar looks like he's changing colors he was a black and red now he look a lil gray.i tried to feed him some frozon shrimp still won't eat i think he's really scared of me is there some thing i can do 55 galon tank just did a water change today.i thought oscar r suppose to be aggressive but he's nice so far he dont even mess with the catfish and him and the other oscar r best friend and they act just a like..

Chief_waterchanger

Color changing and greying out are both stress indicators for the Oscars.

Before the waterchange today when was the last one and what %?

Did you cycle the tank before putting them in?

How big are they?

How long has the tank been setup?

Is it a male and female or two of the same gender?

What kind of catfish? (plecostomus of some sort?)

Are you putting any medications/chemicals in the water?

What are your nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia readings?

What is the pH of your water and is it soft or hard water?

Thanks for any answers you give, it will possibly help in diagnosis of what's wrong.

str8cute

WELL THIS WAS THE FIRSTY WATER CHANGE THAT I DID SINCE I PUT THE OSCAR IN THERE IT'S ABOUT 2 1/2 INCHES LONG THE TANK HAS BEEN SET UP FOR BOUT 2 WEEKS AND NO I DID'NT CYCLE IT I GUESS I DONT EVEN NO WHAT THAT IS AND NOW U TALKING BOUT WATER LEVELS I DONT NO.BUT I WILL TAKE A SAMPLE OF WATER TO THE PET STORE.I PUT SOME CLEAR WATER IN THERE THEN I PUT SOME PRIME IT REMOVES CHLORNE AND STUFF LIKE THAT..

jsalemi

While you're at the pet store, pick up an API Master Freshwater testing kit (or save some bucks and order it online). Monitoring the water chemistry is one of the maintenance tasks you should be doing at least every couple of days at this point, and once a week or so as the tank cycles.

As for what the cycle is, read this and memorize it (there'll be a test afterwards ):
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

Chief_waterchanger

Thanks Jsalemi.

He hit the nail on the head with the link for the nitrogen cycle. It basically is the establishment of good bacteria in the tank.

Good luck.