Oscar stopped eating

HI all,

I've had my Oscar for about a year, he is in a 67 gallon tank by himself. He was around 3-4 inches when I got him, now he is over 8 inches. My issue is that a couple of days ago he started refusing food, the same cichlid pellets I've been feeding him all his life and that he usually gobbles up with relish. Now he will take one in his mouth, spit it out, then swim away uninterested. He is still eating blood worms (I guess some things are hard to say no to). I know that Oscars are prone to "sulking" and that refusing food is one such way that they do this, but I'm getting a bit worried as he has not eaten a single pellet in 5-6 days now. Anything I can do?

 

if he isn't "sick looking " starve him until he eats them. It sounds like he would rather eat the bloodworms. Id also make sure the water prams are good

 

Any signs of illness? White stringy poop? Sometimes spitting out food is a sign of parasites.

But if yours is still eating blood worms, I'd say it's probably being stubborn. Sometimes fish will go on an unexplained hunger strike. I have an arowana that will go for months without eating. Keep offering it it's favorite foods, and remove them if it doesn't eat. You don't want to foul the water.

 

Nah, he looks the same as ever. He's been acting a little more aggressive than usual though, sparring with his reflection and attacking the heater and whatnot. I haven't noticed any poop at all, presumably because there's nothing to poop out. Water params are good, nitrates are always low.

 

I think tomorrow I will go buy some garlic guard and try it, it can't hurt. We'll see if it whets his appetite a bit.

Update: got the garlic guard, soaked the pellets in it... he seemed more interested in them, tasting them more than a few times, but always still spat them out.

I also bought some frozen cichlid cubes, and when I dropped one in, he swallowed it without even blinking. So obviously he's still hungry, he's just being picky all of a sudden. Doesn't make any sense. Could something be wrong with the pellets? Could they have gone bad?

 

Bump

 

I would say you have a fish that is tired of pellets. Try crickets, freeze dried worms, krill, massivore if you can stand the smell.

Or just let it go until it eats pellets again. If offered food a fish will not starve itself to death. Pellets will not go bad if they have been kept dry. And large fish can go a long time without eating.

Keep an eye for signs of disease too. Tasting food and spitting it out is not always a good sign.

 

Ok thanks. He's definitely not sick. He is still wolfing down frozen food. He's just being picky. I might try a different brand of pellets or just stick to the frozen stuff, although I thought that wasn't healthy to feed on a regular basis.