Hey guys, i recently added a 4 inch red oscar to my tank. He was alone in the store and i felt sad so i took him home. He lives with a 3 inch tiger oscar and a male and female texas cichlid. Nobody bugs him or is vicious to him, if not they even try to perk him up by trying to get him up, but he stays sad after several days. He isnt eating and lays on his side. What can i do?

First of all, I'm not really sure that fish posses such emotions as sadness,or even euphoria. I suspect people will probably disagree with me but I honestly don't think they've evolved that far yet. Oscars, and even small fish like tetras do get very excited when you approach their tank. I've studied them a lot & I put this down to them relating movement with being fed, you get the same in the wild, Fish will congregate where there is a food source, whether natural, or man-made. I remember watching a program about Masheer fishing in India, there was a stretch of water in front of the temple where fishing wasn't allowed, thousands upon thousands of Masheer would congregate here as people would feed them. The same is going on in your tank if you think about it. Sorry, going off topic now, getting carried away.

Now, fish do become stressed, I suspect this may be what your fish is suffering from. the first thing you must do is check your water conditions. If you are the fish okay, then the chances are those with too much wrong. However, it could be a case that there is something wrong with the fish itself. Unfortunately it's very difficult to give you a conclusive answer to why your fish is behaving like this.

Have you got any cover for fish to shelter in? Maybe should just give them a little bit more time. Hopefully he will come around.

i cant add to what the boss has already said........but hope he perks up for you

the same with mine.. now it's swimming. but sulks when i come near though.

joker1535 wrote:

i believe that it is still in the period of adjustment with the new
environment. fish do react with the moving object around, either being
frightened, or being excited when feeding time.

some other concern that should be given consideration is the previou
tank condition. if your fish had been exposed to bad water for a long
time, it will take time for it to recover and heal itself, thus, act
differently.

I tested my water and everything seems to be just fine. Every other fish in my tank is thriving. I do believe oscars are very sensitive, i know some people dont believe this but these fish are extremely smart and because of that it is possible to be sad. I hope he isnt sick. He ate a little bit today so i hope he is just adjusting to the tank and his new friends. Thank you so much guys for your reply. I will keep you aware of the progress.

Welcome to the site Joker, Paul has you covered. He'll be fine in a few days.