Hi, we have a young Oscar 3/4 inches long, we have had him for about 2 months, he shares a tank with other fish and is generally happy, feds well etc. When we did our water change yesterday we trimmed some of the overgrown plants and re-arranged the tank a little. Afterwards Oscar was lying on the bottom of the tank and ignoring us, he fed ok, all the other fish were behaving in their normal manner. He has no signs of disease or parasites. Later on that night and since he has returned to his normal self. Our tank is a Fluvel 200. Is this normal behaviour for an Oscar?

sometimes i wonder if my O is sick... ill see him listing on his side... or floating near the top... at like an angle almost sideways at the surface... i think they just do that... he will do that for a bit... then go back to normal. i think thats just part of being an oscar.

Thanks was worried he might be getting sick, but feel better thinking he was just sulking.

My old Oscar would pout every time I would mess up his mess(re organize the tank)or walk by his tank and not feed or give him attention... He would lay flat on the bottom for hours until I went back and fed him.. lol Funny fish

yes oscars can get quite moody.

I would guess he is just sulking, he should be back to normal soon.

By the way most oscar love pulling up plants, real or plastic so dont be surprised if he uproots your pants

mandydods wrote:
what do you mean by 3/4? 3 to 4 inches long or just 3/4 inch long? 3/4 inch for two months o spell growth rate question.

normal to oscar whenever there is changes inside the tank.

what other fish do have in your tank? what capacity of filtration?

As well as the Oscar there are 2 silver dollars, 3 silver sharks,3 bottom feeders, 1 ghost, 1 dwarf gourami and a red tail shark, the tank is 200 litre capacity, we checked with the lfs who said the tank was ok for that number of fish.

Oscar was quite small when we got him,I would say he is now approx 4 inches long, same length as the silver dollars and 1 of the silver sharks and the ghost. 1 of the bottom feeders is around 6 inches long.

Filtration we have in the tank is the one that came with the tank, plus we have another medium sized filter in there and two air stones. We take water samples to our lfs each month and the water was ok last time we took it.

The fish shop told you a truth and a lie. Your tank will be ok while your fish are small, however it will not be big enough when they get to full size. Oscar get massive, a foot long. Unfortunately your tank is not big enough for 1 oscar. 1 oscar needs at least 55g (about 240 litres). Silver dollars get to 6 inches and silver sharks to about a foot long. Red tailed sharks get to 6-8 inches( i think). Your dwarf gourami will end up as dinner for your oscar. I dont know about the ghost fish.

If you try to keep all these fish in your tank you will end up with poor water quality and your fish will die.

You need to decide if you want to get a bigger tank or smaller fish. To keep 1 oscar you need a 55g tank. To keep the oscar and silver dollars and silver sharks i would look at a tank of 100g (450l)

And the growthrate on Oscars and Silver Dollars in the first year is incredible.
My Oscar is having his first birthday this month and has passed the 10" mark for some time now!
My 6 Silver Dollars have reached 5-6"in less then a year...
But i think it's not the worst thing in the world to upgrade.

Our fish don't grow too big,
Our tank becomes too small.

It's inevitable in this hobby.

Better start looking for a bigger tank.