I bought 3 baby oscars 1x albino and 2x tigers and a common pleco. In my tank I have a light gravel bottom and I did have a little rock formation that my fish could hide in but the pleco and the albino never came out and now all four fish are hiding there except to eat its been a few days. You would think they would be crowded but they don't seem to mind. I took the rock out today because I figured if they got use to people they would be better adjusted to the aquarium. Is this ok or should I try something else. Also they broke my heater so when I replace it do they make a more durable one? Any help is appreciated - Thanks Jon

I am quite surprised that the Oscars are doing this, they small babies? I've never had the Oscars that do this, they've always been absolutely mad for it and always something around and never hiding. Anyway, no, leave the rock in there, you'll only stress them out if they haven't got somewhere to hide if they are scared. Sometimes you just have to give them time to adjust to their new environment, lots of people will tell you this. Always check your water conditions, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. If the water is wrong, fish could sometimes act this way.

How long since you added them to the tank. Sometimes they hide away for a few days when first added. Also if they were added in the last few days, did you cycle the tank so that your ammonia and nitrite were 0. The good thing is they are eating. Only feed them once or twice a day and only what they will eat in 3 to 5 mins

As for the heater i am doubt they have broken it. Large oscars can break heaters but i would of thought yours were too small. When doing water changes make sure you turn the heater off if the heater is exposed to air. Exposing a heater to air will cause it to fail (i know this the hard way as i forget to turn a heater off once). Dont forget to turn it back on when the tank is refilled. You can buy heater guards to stop fish breaking heaters, so you might as well get one now as you will want one sooner or later

Yea, they are babies about 2-3" max, I 25% of the water and thats when I noticed the broken heater so your probably right. There is one other question I have I went on vacation and got my brother to take care of them I feed them rosey reds every other day and other then that it is cichlid gold pellots. He only fed them the fish though. Before I left the black one was very dark with bright red and there was a brownish one with white on its belly and orangeish markings but now they ae both the same exact colors not very bright at all more of a dull brown with very little color, could this be their diet? - or do they change colors as they grow?

Diet can bring out their colours and make them brighter. Oscars also change colour they grow from small to about 3 or 4 inches. However i havent heard of them losing colours but i am only going from my own experience. Usually when small they have the base black colour and the other lighter base colour. As they grow they then develop other markings like the tigers marks

The losing colour and them hiding away might be linked. How long since you added them to your tank and is the tank cycled

Personally i dont feed other fish to my oscars but if you are going to feed them dont feed them very often and make sure they are quarantined before you give them to your oscars. Check out the diet section on the site for what you can feed to oscars and try to vary the diet

I cycle the water 25-30% once a month.

When you say cycle, I assume you mean change the water. When your fish get slightly bigger, you'll have to keep an eye on your water parameters, changing the water once a month will not be enough in most cases. Obviously the larger aquarium you are using will govern how quickly some elements start building up in your water

Right now they are so small and its a 55 gallon tank.

When i asked if the tank was cycled i meant have you run it with some fish in it until your filter had all the good bacteria in it. If you have only just set it up and put the fish in the tank is probably not cycled. To check if it is test for ammonia and nitrite. If both are zero then the tank is cycled. If they have any readings then 25% every day is needed. Once the tank is cycled i suggest you test for nitrate once a month, if it goes above 50 increase either the amount of water you change or do it more often. I change 50% every week with my oscars