Problem with Oscars

Ive been having a problem with only my oscars in my tank lately. The other fish in the tank include 1 parrotfish, 1 convict chiclid and 1 jack dempsy. My last oscar Felix I had for just about 1 year ended up dying, his gills were puffing out and he was changing from black to grey a lot (he was looking pretty stressed out). I did a half water change to only find him dead in the morning. .... A few months ago I got a new oscar Czar, and now I am seeing him do the same thing! Only this time he is not changing color, but his gills are puffed out and his mouth is open.

None of my other fish have had this problem and they are healthy.. And I just added in an extra bubbler incase he's having trouble breathing for some reason.

Whats going on with my oscars??

 

Your tank is extremely overstocked. That is probably a big part of it. I can guarantee you you'll get the same response from the more experienced members. I hope you can figure things out though. and welcome to Fishlore!

:EDIT: I forgot to go look at your tank info and if the ammonia is high like you said that is definitely another reason. You're definitely gonna either wanna get rid of a lot of the fish or get a way bigger tank.

 

Good morning and Welcome to Fish Lore!

I have moved your thread from General Discussion to Cichlids/American Cichlids/Oscars section of the forum.

According to your Aquarium Profile Information, you are not aware of the Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle <--link underlined in blue, click. This is crucial to fish keeping.

However, I see that you have "high" ammonia listed in your profile too. If you have an ammonia reading other than 0 then your aquarium isn't cycled or either it is experiencing a minI cycle for one reason or another.

I would suggest daily water changes, 50% and add the Prime (listed in your profile too). Keep up with the daily water changes and Prime until you have readings of 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and under 20 nitrates. At this point you have cycled or regained your cycle. The daily water changes and Prime will keep your fish. Once the tank has cycled, life will be much easier on you and better for your fish.

Once you have added the Prime (I use Amquel + and Nova Aqua +), wait 24 hours to test for more accurate results.

Test Kit:
I highly recommend the API (liquid) Master Test Kit. This kit will test for everything mentioned in the Nitrogen Cycle link. Note: paper test strips can be inaccurate and difficult to read.


Best wishes for your tank and fish. I hope you enjoy the forum.

Ken

 

Thanks guys!! Hopefully I can save my oscar now

 

Please keep us posted.

Ask all of the questions that you need to ask and we will help you all that we can.

Ken