chad_alyssa Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 hi i have 3 oscars one tiger and 2 red..i just got the tiger oscar and red , i had the one red for about 3 months then jsut added the other 2 and at first they were all at the top of the trank and it seemed like they needed more air it looked like they were gasping for air so i put a bubble thing in there tanka nd now they seem to be fine..but now the red oscar i had first which is the smallest is being very mean to the other two he will bit at then and him and the tiger oscar will shake there tails the other red oscar wont do nuthing it jsut trys to get away but doesnt fight back or shake its tail..i dont know much about the fish or if this in normaly or not or if they need to be in different tanks or what, so if anyone can give me a little help as to wat i can do for them or y there acting like this that would be very greatful...thanks so much..Alyssa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cale262 Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 (edited) How big of a tank do you have them in? As a general rule Oscars requires a minimum of 50g each (3xO=>150g), with Heavy filtration and frequent water changes (50% once or twice per week) to keep them happy/healthy.... They also may need some space of their own, if your first red O had been used to being the solitary fish in the tank and the others have no space to hide then they may never get along, this stressful situation could lead to very sick fish and/or one of them getting killed. If your tank is big enough there are a few thing you can try... *lower the temp. *remove the fish from the tank, re-arrange the tank and introduce them to a neutral space, then one may not feel his/her space is being invaded. *add dividers to you tank to keep them separated *add some driftwood to break the lines of sight and add hiding spaces If you can't meet these needs then it would be best to return the fish to your LFS, Good luck, B Edited May 20, 2009 by cale262 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad_alyssa Posted May 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 How big of a tank do you have them in? As a general rule Oscars requires a minimum of 50g each (3xO=>150g), with Heavy filtration and frequent water changes (50% once or twice per week) to keep them happy/healthy.... They also may need some space of their own, if your first red O had been used to being the solitary fish in the tank and the others have no space to hide then they may never get along, this stressful situation could lead to very sick fish and/or one of them getting killed. If your tank is big enough there are a few thing you can try...*lower the temp. *remove the fish from the tank, re-arrange the tank and introduce them to a neutral space, then one may not feel his/her space is being invaded. *add dividers to you tank to keep them separated *add some driftwood to break the lines of sight and add hiding spaces If you can't meet these needs then it would be best to return the fish to your LFS, Good luck, B Thanks as of right now there not in a big tank there oin a 45 gallon as im in the middle of building a 240 gallon...andi think thats y there not happy..the new red oscar finnaly had some fish and pellets today so i am very happy about that but imgoing to try wat u sed and get some hiding spots for them..and if that doesnt work then i will get them in differeent tanks till ia hve my big one built..thanks once again for ur help.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Master of Puppets Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Well your tank is horribly over stalked, I kept 2 small oscars in a 55g for a few weeks and the tank was dirty all the time so I got rid of the oscars. I know I'm not the one who should be talking but with oscars buy the tank then the fish not the other way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad_alyssa Posted May 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Well your tank is horribly over stalked, I kept 2 small oscars in a 55g for a few weeks and the tank was dirty all the time so I got rid of the oscars.I know I'm not the one who should be talking but with oscars buy the tank then the fish not the other way around. ya i have to small of a tank i ahve to clean it once a week for sure so that is y im building a biger tank one that can house all my oscars....but they are very sensitive fish thats for sure... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Master of Puppets Posted May 21, 2009 Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 A tank that small with fish like that once a week isn't good enough I do 2 water changes a week on my 75g with less of a bioload than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad_alyssa Posted May 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 A tank that small with fish like that once a week isn't good enough I do 2 water changes a week on my 75g with less of a bioload than that. ok i will try that for the next few weeks till my big tank is build...the one that waz looking abd is now swimming around and fighting back befoire she waznt and i waz worryed but i got some food in her and now she looks much better...thanks for everything.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parachromis1 Posted May 21, 2009 Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 3 oscars is disaterous in any tank, one always gets singled out. Its a bad idea. IMO Id do 3 50% waterchanges on a tank that small if you wanna keep your fish healty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murmade Posted May 21, 2009 Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 I agree, 3 Oscars usually does not work, the weakest will get destroyed by the other 2, it's either 2, or have 5 or more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad_alyssa Posted May 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 Oh i didnt realise they would do that...so if i got a 240 gallon tank and got one more would they be ok then??i checked on them this morning and they were all ready to eat the pellets last night i put my red platys in the tank just to help with a distraction and there is no fish left so im going to go out today and get feeder fish for them the guy sed i would need 50 a week but i think its to mcuh feeder fish cuz there so fatty as to y i bought 2 different kinda of pellets and them seem to like them..is that true about feeder fish them being fatty?? thanks for everything everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted May 21, 2009 Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 i would not feed your oscars feeder fish of any kind unless you have a chance to quarantine the feeders for at least 4 weeks in a tank at your house, or breed the feeders yourself. one advantage to breeding your own feeders is that you can 'gut load' them right from the start by feeding with nutritional food that you would feed the oscars and that way the oscars are getting a better diet via the contents of the feeder's stomachs. as well, breeding your own feeders gives you the opportunity to always have feeder fish on hand. guppies and most small livebearer fish are a good option for feeders. feeder fish, most commonly goldfish, are notorious for having disease and are really not that nutritious for your oscars. as well, feeding live foods like feeder fish will 'train' your oscars to only accept live food and then they will turn up their noses at the pellets, which puts you in a tight spot if you don't have any feeder fish to feed them. it is your choice to feed live foods or not. i would go with cichlid pellets, frozen bloodworms and mysis shrimp, and any other large meaty food meant for cichlids. you could go get those big de-veined shrimp/prawns from the grocery store and take off the tails and husk them (take off the crunchy exoskeleton outside part) and feed those. it's a good idea to rotate between at least three different kinds of food for any fish. you could also see if your oscars would like to nibble on various veggies, such as zucchini or cucumber. I know my juvenile oscar likes cucumber. another option is various worms and bugs. a friend of mine has a large adult oscar and he enjoys the 'super worms' that you can buy in a plastic tub at most Petsmart type places. earthworms are good too, if you can verify they are free of pesticides and contaminants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad_alyssa Posted May 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 i would not feed your oscars feeder fish of any kind unless you have a chance to quarantine the feeders for at least 4 weeks in a tank at your house, or breed the feeders yourself. one advantage to breeding your own feeders is that you can 'gut load' them right from the start by feeding with nutritional food that you would feed the oscars and that way the oscars are getting a better diet via the contents of the feeder's stomachs. as well, breeding your own feeders gives you the opportunity to always have feeder fish on hand. guppies and most small livebearer fish are a good option for feeders.feeder fish, most commonly goldfish, are notorious for having disease and are really not that nutritious for your oscars. as well, feeding live foods like feeder fish will 'train' your oscars to only accept live food and then they will turn up their noses at the pellets, which puts you in a tight spot if you don't have any feeder fish to feed them. it is your choice to feed live foods or not. i would go with cichlid pellets, frozen bloodworms and mysis shrimp, and any other large meaty food meant for cichlids. you could go get those big de-veined shrimp/prawns from the grocery store and take off the tails and husk them (take off the crunchy exoskeleton outside part) and feed those. it's a good idea to rotate between at least three different kinds of food for any fish. you could also see if your oscars would like to nibble on various veggies, such as zucchini or cucumber. I know my juvenile oscar likes cucumber. another option is various worms and bugs. a friend of mine has a large adult oscar and he enjoys the 'super worms' that you can buy in a plastic tub at most Petsmart type places. earthworms are good too, if you can verify they are free of pesticides and contaminants. Thanks ya i had that problem with my first oscar he wouldnt eat anything but fish soi slowly had to get him eatting pellets but now he loves them as do my new ones this morning they all were eatting them none of them will eat any frozzen stuff i bought krill blood worms at petland and theyn wont eat them frozzen or unthawed i dont know if its cuz its somthing new or not..i tryed millworms and that dindt go over good at all well at leaset with the oscars but my turtle waz sure happy...maybe i will try the shrimp form grocery store, i try to give them all kinds of options for food but they sure know wat they like lol is it normaly for them to grab the food and spit it out and do that a few time my first oscar did that with the mill worms and earth worms??? thanks for all the tips it helps alot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaFishMommy Posted May 21, 2009 Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 i think with any new food you would have to offer it at least a few times for the fish to realize that 'hey, this is food, and it tastes good!', lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad_alyssa Posted May 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 i think with any new food you would have to offer it at least a few times for the fish to realize that 'hey, this is food, and it tastes good!', lol. LOL ya true if its new they dont know wat it is till they taste it lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cale262 Posted May 21, 2009 Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 Just want to add another tid-bit about live feeders,...If you are having aggression issues now, live feeders will make your fish more aggressive as nurture their "Prey Drive". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.