farzadkavari

I have a 30 gallon freshwater aquarium setup. I recently purchased two 6" Tiger Oscars and they are always hiding and not really eating. They were very much active and moving around when I bought them. Now they just go to the bottom of the tank and stay very close to each other. I've tested the water and everything seems to be good. They come up a bit when nobody is around the tank but when they see people they just go back to their hiding place. Why are they behaving like this?? How can i fix this?

mathas

How recently did you get them? They could still be getting used to their surroundings.

When you say you tested the water and everything "seems to be good", what does that mean exactly? What are your parameters for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates?

Your aquarium info says you don't know about the nitrogen cycle; if that's correct, read this article. If your tank was not cycled properly, or you did not dechlorinate the water you added to the tank, they could be stressed due to poor water conditions.

And as much as you probably won't want to hear this, 30 gallons is entirely too small for one oscar, let alone two. I wouldn't keep a single oscar in anything less than 75 gallons, though 55 gallons can work if you're diligent about water changes. For a pair, I would personally want at least 120 gallons, if not more.

farzadkavari

Yea I mean I mean its a 30 gallon, I thought it might be a bit too small but thats why I didnt put any other fish in there. It has been 2 days since they have been in there. I did the color test in the water and everything was in a safe range . Since the water has been cycling for a week now. Is it normal for them to be this shy??

mathas

I wouldn't worry about them being shy, if it's only been two days.

But with regards to your water conidtions, could you please be a little more specific? "The color test" could mean a variety of things... for example, I have tests that involve coloring water for PH, GH, KH, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Also, the phrase "safe range" is subjective. What test(s) specifically did you do, and what were the exact results?

And it sounds like, though again some explanation would help, that you did not cycle your tank before adding the fish, or that you just let the water sit for a week? If so, you really need to keep an eye on your water parameters, and do frequent water changes until you see no ammonia, no nitrites, and <40ppm nitrates. Someone with more experience than I have will have to tell you how frequently and how much water to change, but I would imagine you'd need to do at least 25% water changes daily, probably more given how messy oscars are once they do start eating.

Shawnie

Great adivce mathas...I just want to know what you got for ammonia and nitrite readings as well....they must be 0 or your fishies will die...I can say unless you used bio spira or safestart, your tank probably isnt cycled and they are having stress from ammonia..at this point, 50% water changes daily and using prime to lock down ammonia and dechlorinate the water will help them survive...I also agree 30 gallons isnt big enough for 1 let alone 2...so either upgrading to at least 75 gallons or return them for some smaller fishies would be best...goodluck!

farzadkavari

OK thanks guys. I will give it few more days to see if they act normal. I will also update you with a more specific water test results later on today.

farzadkavari

Ive used a Qucik Dip tester. Here are the results.

Nirtate - 10ppm
Nitrite - 1.0
Total Harness - 75
Total Chorine - 0
Total Alkalinity - 120
pH - 7.0

mathas

I've heard that the strips aren't as accurate as the liquid tests (such as these, which are currently on sale for a great price), but you need to get rid of that 1.0 nitrite reading. From the link I posted earlier:
Do your strip tests capture ammonia readings at all?

pepetj

Hi farzadkavari, wellcome to fishlore! Sorry you're going through this difficult times. Try not to feel bad about critics made here, most are made with the intention of helping you, and me, and all of us fishlorians. We, including the Masters, are learning something new everyday.

Well, you definitely have a nitrite spike there (unless it's a false positive). Your Os are in real danger of dying. You do have soft water and a real good pH for keeping Oscars! Do 50% partial water changes every 2 to 4 hours until you decide what to do. Allways treat tap/well water with chlorine/chloramine and heavy metals remover/neutralizer.

I suggest you use Prime since besides doing all that, it will lock down ammonia, nitrites and nitrates to "safe" levels (better said survivable levels, the only safe level is ammonia 0, nitrites 0, don't worry for nitrates now)

Keep in mind you are testing with a test strip. Not reliable readings.
You need to do something really fast, this is what I would do if I were facing your situation, not saying the obvious of get yuorself a liquid reagent test kit, which IMO is a must, not a choice if you want to be a responsible fishkeeper:

a) Remove your Os to a cycled tank ASAP, even it that means keeping them at a LFS or placing them in smaller tanks appart, PLUS do a fishless-cycle and keep this 30gal for Hospital tank AND get yourself at least a 90gal tank (a 6footer, at least 120gal would be better).

OR

b) Inmediatly purchase and use accordingly Tetra Safe-Start, so your fish don't die, keep them in the 30gal tank until you get the big tank -you can't postpone that for more than a few days. Use Tetra Safe-Start accordingly for the big tank and move them there right away.

OR

c) Give your Oscars away to someone who can take propper care for them. Or return them to the store and get a nice stocking for your 30gal once you cycle it -either fishless (should take two weeks), or use Tetra Safe-Start and ready to go.

Don't be hard on yourself, we all make mistakes. The good thing is that we all end up learning (you, me, all other fishlorians and visitors)

Pepe
Santo Domingo

cichlidlover

no, a 30 gal is ok for one oscar ive done it before but 2 oscars is two many. if you can, buy a bigger tank because the smallest will die. Ive had that happen before. ocars normally are kind of lazy and shy anyway:

Shawnie

guess I got a wacky bunch then!! shy and lazy wouldnt ever describe my two!!

mathas

I could not disagree more strongly, unless you mean as a very temporary holding tank. Just because you've done it doesn't really mean the fish did well... I could probably get a pacu to survive in my 90g, but that doesn't make it a good idea. Surviving is not thriving.

A 30 gallon tank is typically 36"L x 12"W x 16"H, and an adult oscar can reach 12". A 30g would barely give an adult enough room to turn around, let alone live comfortably.

Then you'd have to consider how much waste oscars produce and consider how much of an impact that amount of waste would have on that small of a water volume. To quote a good article on oscar tank setup:

Again, I completely disagree, but that behavior could stem from them being stressed from being in too small of a tank.