we have only had our oscar a few weeks and at first he wouldnt eat. we have got him eatin now although he is very picky with what he eats but in the last couple of days he has started acting strange. He fights with the side of glass tank which we know is normal, he attacks the bog wood, plants, air curtain throwin them about the tank. He has a slight twich n trys to jump out the tank and now we have noticed that he is changing colour pale grey front half of body and a black colour to other half is this normal or is there something wrong.

Sounds like normal oscar behaviour to me accept the jumping out of the tank, leaping out at food can be normal at feeding time but at other times is could be a sign of poor water quality

Just make sure your water is ok. Test the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and post the results

thanks, i've done a 70% water change today, had my water tested by my local family run fish shop which was ok, and bought some off them which was good (i always buy my water off them. he is still twitching and jumping.... please read my new thread as i have more worrying problems. thread is called - oscar twitching and off food. thans

Some local LFS's give poor advice regarding water tests, many times on here people have been told there water is ok when in fact it wasnt good enough for oscars.

Its also a good idea to test your water weekly which is why most of us on here have our own testers (use the liquid bottle types- not the strips as they are unreliable). Can you post the actual test results please so we can confirm that your water quality is good

These guys are really good, i do trust them loads they had their own breeding oscars for years and they have owned the shop for at least 40years, i do test my ph regularly on my own but leave the rest to the shop, my ph always sits at 7 give or take 0.2. The other results i don't have right now as i didn't even look at them i just trusted him, i will however, endevour to go back tomorrow with some water and a pen and paper in hand and i will get back to you with the results.
thanks for your time.

ya sence i got my oscar eight months ago he has drimaticly changed about seven colars and changes colar slighly every day

hi got water results today, here is as follows:- Ph-6.5 - 7, ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate - below 50mg, unfortunatley they had ran out of kh and gh test kits. hope this helps with the dianosis. cheers folks.

Your water looks good, but your Nitrate should be below 40ppm on an Oscar tank... When the Nitrates reach 40 there should be a 30% water change done.

And I hate to tell you but I agree with Del, most fish stores have no idea what the heck they are talking about when it comes to Oscars and their water quality!

i did a 70% water change yesterday, n the nitrates were below 50mg (This afternoon) i understand u saying they need to be below 40 but how can i get them any lower after i have done a 70% change only yesterday afternoon?? any advice would b good on this subject.
Seems as though my LFS aint too bad compared to other ppls doesn't it? they seemed to have been giving decent advice so far would you say so too? perhaps not on the nitrates with them being 40-50mg but everything else was ok yeah? chees for ur time again lol

Your tap water will probably have some nitrates- this is your base line you cant go below. Your tank will always be above this. What you need to do in keeping oscars is keep the nitrates below 40. Nitrates rise after a water change until you do another water change which reduces them so they are at there highest just before a water change.

My advise is to get your own testing kit. Test BEFORE a water change and if your nitrates are above 40 then you are either overfeeding (twice a day what they will eat in 2-3mins for up to a 6inch oscar, once a day above 6inch) or you are not doing enough water changes. So if your nitrates are above 40 before a water change then do larger or more fequent water changes. I do 50% once a week

Your LFS seems ok but you need more accurate levels for nitrates.

Testing your water weekly will give you an early warning sign if things start to go wrong. I wish I had bought a test kit when i first starting keeping oscars. It would of saved me a lot of heartache and money!!!!!

thank you folks, i'll do 50% every week and see how that goes. (with my own test kits)

Post your test results as you make them so we can see how things are going