Gday everyone,

I have had a 2 and 1/2 inch Tiger Oscar in my tank for about 3 weeks now. He seemed perfectly healthy and active until recently.

For the past couple of days, he has not really been eating much, not active at all... he tends to sit at the top corner of the tank. Occasionally he swims sideways rubbing his body against the gravel floor.

Water is at 75F (24'C), PH is 7.0 and I have also done a 30% water change, including gravel vacumming and filter clean but his behaviour hasnt changed.

Any help on what the problem might be will be much appreciated.

Cheers.

Have a look on your Oscar and make sure there are no white spots. When fish rub themselves up against things it can often be a sign of white spots/ick.

You need to test your water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrates and pH. You say you have clean your gravel and filter, how did you clean your filter and what did you clean? Did you by any chance clean any of it under tap water?

Does he look like he's hanging at the top of the water at all?

Anyway, try and get back to us with some answers

His appearance looks to be fine, he hasnt gotten any thinner, his colour hasnt faded and there doesnt seem to be any sign of white spots on the body.

Yes in fact he does stay at the top of the water majority of the time, in the corner of the tank.

I removed the filters from the tank and sprayed it out under tap water actually and just vacummed the gravel floor to remove any sunken debris. I also made sure to dechlorinate the newly added water.

Thanks in advance:)

Hi I dont know a whole lot about oscars but this website has helped me alot.. I had the same experience a few weeks ago. After having my oscar for 3 weeks my charlie started acting the way yours is stated to be acting he would hang up top and quit eating. I did water changes every week and vaccumed also but sadly to say Charlie died, in a very dramatic way I felt like crying cause I couldnt help him, but my other two are healthy and I think they may be breeding because of their behavior. Good luck and I hope everything turns out well for your fish.

I havent had an oscar for several years, but recently got two. One tiger and one red. They are still babies sizing at about 3 inches. I recall when I first got an oscar about 10 years ago they were active from the start. My two new ones seem very lathargeic and am experiencing the same behaviors as the other posts. The don't seem as aggressive as I remember, as they will not eat pellets. Any advice?

Ha yer I really hope he doesnt give out on me. Just an update, nitrite and ammonia levels are both at 0 while nitrate level is a little above 10 and the pH is neutral.

The colour on his body has actually gotten stronger and at the moment he is hanging around the middle of the tank looking better however earlier today I saw him lying sideways on the floor, twitching his tail and still has not been eating anything.

Unfortunate to inform you all that the oscar sadly passed away this morning. I just couldnt do anything to help him in time..

Ahh well, thanks anyway.

Really sorry to hear about your loss. Unfortunately, in many cases, by the time we see the symptoms, it is too late to do anything for the fish.