lucansmom

Lucy

Hi Welcome to FishLore

I'm sorry your Oscar is hiding. A couple of things could be bothering him.

It would be helpful of we knew your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
I see the tanks are fairly new. I see you don't know about the Nitrogen Cycle?
When was the last time you changed the water and vacuumed the gravel?
It could be that the ammonia, from fish waste and left over food had built up if the tak wasn't cycled properly.

Glad to hear you're getting a larger tank, the Oscar needs at least the 55. I'm not sure about the compatibility of your Green Terror and your Oscar, especially in a 29 gallon. Is your oscar afraid to come out?

I don't understand your answer to quarantining. To Quarantine fish means not adding anybody to the tank until they've been in a seperate tank for at least 2 weeks to make sure they're not carrying any disease into your tank.

Let's see what others suggest.
Best of luck

gmen4life

well id say test your water then get a bigger tank

Nick Goody

Hi lucansmom, Welcome to Fishlore. Glad to hear your getting a bigger tank. I'd say 99% certain that the Oscar is being picked on by the Green Terror. People think of Oscars as really aggressive fish, which they can be, but Green Terrors are a lot nastier. When fully grown keeping them in a tank together wouldn't be a problem, as though the Terror is meaner, the Oscar will be a lot bigger than it. 55gals really isn't big enough for both of them in the long run, so my advice for now would be to move the Oscar to the 55gal once it's cycled, and once he's noticably bigger than the Terror maybe add him too. You might want to look into getting a 75 gal if you want to keep them both together for the long run though. Good Luck

lucansmom

what do you mean by cycled? i'm really compleataly new to this i still don't know if it's a boy or a girl so how do i know when it's cycled if thats what you mean. ya i have no idea about the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate or nitrogen cycle?
We do at least 1/2 a water change every week and the tank is about 4 months old the terror is the newest addition though. Is there any way to keep the terror appeased like feed him live food or something? We bought feeder guppies just for the fun of it and they didn't even bother with them. Normally they get a mix of fresh fish (salmon, tilapia) and cichlid gold pellets.

lucansmom

here's a pic of the tank,the log is where he is all the time. i thought if we put the bubble in the middle it would divide the tank a bit but it's not workin

Lucy

Many of us didn't know about the nitrogen cycle when we first started, so you're not alone. Since you'll be starting a new, it's very important for you to get an understanding of it.

Here's a basic explanation:
First your ammonia (from fish waste and left over food) will rise.
In a few weeks bacteria will start to develop and you'll see the nitrite levels rise and the ammonia levels start to drop.
After a few more weeks a different kind of bacteria begins to develop and you'll see the nitrate levels rise and the nitrite levels drop.
Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to your fish.
When you having readings of 0 on both ammonia and nitrites with some nitrates showing, your cycle is done.

The link in post #2 explains it more thoroughly.
Usually fish stores will test the water for free. If you can, take the water to get tested. Ask them to write down the readings for ammonia nitrite and nitrates.
Better yet, you really should have your own test kit. The API master kit is highly recommended. The strips can be inaccurate.

I don't know that much about Green Terrors, but from what I understand, it's their nature to be aggressive and territorial.
If your Oscar was out and about before you got the GT, that's most likely whats going on.
Nick gave some good advice. Unfortunatly sometimes we get fish that just don't belong in the size tank or the fish we have.
It doesn't help that fish stores don't tell customers any different.

Edit: Pretty tank

lucansmom

Tomorrow will be a big day for them too. I'm hoping the bigger tank will make a dif but should I put the log back in? I think it's the only think keeping him sane but I want to see him what if I got rid )of the GT would that make me a bad person? I love Inue to much to have him bullied. Heres a pix of Inue and Terror. Poor Inue he looks like he's in jail (Terror is in the right corner)

Lucy

I'd keep the log if it's making him feel safe.
lol No, you're not a bad person if you return the GT to th fish store.
It maks you a good fish mom, doing whats right for th sake of your existing fish.

lucansmom

now i have to convince my hubby that it's the right thing to do! I got the GT because I wanted 2 oscars but the one i brought Inue home with he killed so I thought i needed a... well a fish with "big ones" to survive w/ him now he's getting bullied could I put another oscar in there when I get the bigger tank if I brought the GT back? adn if i could is there a way i can keep him alive if inue dose a turnaround back to his violent self? (i had to take a placo out and he killed the other oscar the SR was the only one that he didn't mess with b4 the GT

Nick Goody

If I were you I'd keep Inue by himself in the 55gal. Oscars are fish that will bond with their owners, and have great personalitys. It won't bother him a bit being kept by himself, in fact he'll be a lot happier than if he has to share with the Terror

lucansmom

thanks for your help guys I'm off to bed!(1:30am here) I'll post pix soon of the new tank! have a good one!~

aquarist48

Hello Lucansmom and Welcome to Fish Lore. Seems everyone has you covered above with great advice. I'll post a link again to the nitrogen cycle:

The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

I'll be looking forward to seeing photos of your new tank! By all means if and when you have questions, don't hesitate to ask! We're all here to help.

I know you are probably on "information overload" so I'll stop here for now
Best of luck and I hope you enjoy the site and the hobby!
Ken

sphinx_87

I read a similar post on another forum where someone had three oscars in a 55gal and they would hide and not come out. She had a log in the tank that one would hide in all the time and not come out. She removed the log from the tank and oscars came out from hiding, problem solved...
If your oscar is being bullied by the green terror then that is another situation. Have you actually witnessed the oscar being bullied??

lucansmom

Here's the NEW TANK!!
Inue is sooo happy now! he's got some company in there the SRCF is in there with a placo and a corry cat but, no one in there is bigger than him! Terror is in a tank with other smaller fish and surprisingly enough he has not bullyed any of them!
here are the specks of the new tank btw!
Nitrite-5ppm, Nitrate-0ppm, Ammonia-0ppm, Ph-7.6 water temp. of 85 degrees
please be prepared for more questions I really appreciate the great advice!
Thanks!!

mommybaby295

Hi, welcome to FL!

I just wanted to say that I plugged your 29 gallon tank dimensions into a calculator, and it is a 32 gallon tank.

Shawnie

awesome on the upgrade!!! congrats!! im sure he loves it as much as you do!
I hope the readings you posted are nitrites 0 and nitrates 5? did you reverse them?
id remove the cory because mr oscar, when feeling better, will eat him!

aquarist48

Hello LucansMom. Congrats on the new tank! Looking good! Beautiful Oscar!
Question: is there a particular reason you have the temperature set at 85 degrees? Unless you're having ICH problems and I don't see that mentioned, I would lower it to 78 degrees.
I'm so glad he has a new home and is out and about. I know you must feel better too.
Keep us posted.
Ken