smokeypea

Hi, i have a 6 inch Oscar, the last couple of days when i go to the tank with food instead of nearly doing somersalts with happiness he runs and hides aat the side of his filter, he is eating but not as much as ususal, not even the earthworms and crickets that he loves, he has a very varied diet, and i do 2-3 water changes per week, the water testings are fine also. He is healthy and seems active, its just this weird behaviour, also today i had to take out one of his ornaments cos he swims through the arch, and he grazed his side, getting to big to do that now, what else can i put in his tank? i do put in a couple of fake plants cos he loves to uproot them and fling them all over the tank. Any help would be appreciated.

Gunnie

I can't remember the size of your tank, but oscars do pout when they are not happy. If your oscar is not in at least a 55 gal. tank, he may be pouting being his tank is too small. They will make you think they are dying. I had this happen to me where my oscar would lay completely on its side, and I was ready to scoop him up with my net because I thought he was dead. The minute I got the net near him, he took off! It sounds like he is not happy with something, especially if he is not interested in live food.

smokeypea

Gunnie, he is in a 55 gall. he has eaten a couple of small earthworms, some bloodworms and some beefheart today, he used to love nightcrawlers but now when i put one in front of him he acts like he is scared and runs off. They are the same size and from the same place i always get them from. At the moment he is swimming about and playing, acting like everything is ok, maybe i am just worrying too much. Maybe he is bored, but what could i do about that? not sure what to put in his tank that wont harm him.

Gunnie

He might just be bored then. You can drop a ping pong ball in there. Some of them like to bat them across the top of the water.

smokeypea

Tried ping pong balls.... he didnt think much to it,lol, i did put in a couple more fake plants for him to uproot, he seems to like that game,good news though, he did eat some crickets this afternoon, and some other stuff this morning, so maybe he is coming out of his sulk... he always used to come to side of tank when i went near, but he now goes and hids, makes me feel a bad mother lol.

Gunnie

Oscars have quite the personality. They are the biggest babies.

newbie101

sigh...I really want an oscar but I don't have a 55 gallon tank lol

Jim

Mine would mope on the bottom for half a day just from me cleaning the tank! talk about a spoiled fish!

Old Sloppy

Maybe he wants to be left alone for a while, 3 cleanings a week is not giving him privacy.
Oscars have plenty of personality for sure...

jaymz

My Oscar's personality seemed to change overnight last month. He went from stuffing all the food he could into his mouth, and attacking the tank cleaner - to hiding in the corner of the tank all day and not eating much at all. I read that a common problem with oscars is constipation so i looked up some recipes on the internet that i could make. I settled on this:

1 pound of whole shrimp
1 pound of peas
1 pound of broccolli
20 crushed prenatal vitamins
2 tsp Pure spirulina Powder
Gelatin base

he gobbles this stuff down now and seems to be back to his old personality.

Trpimp147

that sounds good can i try it?? i need to get another tank bigger then what i already have like a 265 or somthing i want to put 4 oscars in it and feed them some good eats.

darkwolf29a

I'm going to have to steal this recipe as well. Just cuz I don't want my little guy to have any constipation...that's painful for humans, much less fish.

Old Sloppy

Emma,
Look at a "110 Tall" much better than a old "55".
Good for two Oscars.....
The 110 has the same footprint as a 75 gallon, just taller.
You can hang two "Aquaclear 500's" on the back.

Harry S.