Leonidas died about a week ago, I tried with the meds and all and it didn't work. The tank just got a spike in the nitrite reading and I'm changing water everyday. I bought two juvenile Oscars, a little bigger than the baby Oscar I had.

One of them is tad bigger than the other one and when I bought them they were dark with yellow blotches and very cool looking. They were both from the same tank at the store. They appeared to be getting bullied by a third Oscar at the store so I took them two.

These Oscars are doing great so far, no sign of illness. Yesterday morning they both came rushing over to the glass. Just before I put my hand over the tank to drop two Cichlid Gold pellets in, the one Oscar flies at my face and I drop the food all on the ground. I rush to get a net and laugh and put him in the net and back in the tank. He was fine and still very hungry. Can they get hurt doing this? He didn't do it since, I think he remembers lol

The one that jumped swims with the other one but I kinda see him as Alpha in the tank. They both rarely seperate. One thing I did notice is he lost his color and instead of being black with yellow blotches he is a tan with orange blotches..the other one appears to be darker. Why is this? I bought them when they both looked identical. Is this a way of communication with them?

Congrats on your new babies... Post pics!!!! LOL

Now to answer your question, it is never good for a fish to jump out of the tank. And hitting the floor is never a good thing.. Either of these things could cause problems. This may be the cause of his color change. They often change color due to stress. I would just keep an eye on him.

I hope this helps!

Jumping out of the tank and hitting the floor is not good. Hitting the floor could injure or kill your fish, and if it happens when you are not there your fish will die. This is why you need cover glass or a wooden lid for you tank or both. I have both, the lid stops them 'escaping' and the cover glass massively reduces evapouration

He appears to be ok and snapping the hell out of the air bubbles at the top from the airstone. They both appear ok, I took another water reading before doing a water change today. The Nitrites were at 50ppm, once I did the water change and an hour went by I noticed the one Oscar turn darker like the other one is now.

I do have a plastic heavy lid for my 75 gallon with the light bar on top of that. It was only when I opened the cover did he jump out crazed for food. I drop the pellets in the back where the openings are to avoid this issue again.

Thanks for the help! I will post pics

Nickisue wrote:

i believe your water level is too high that you do not have buffer clearance against
jumping. what made is the floor? concrete? carpeted? hitting the floor could be fatal
but in some occasion, fish can recover very fast. it it is still eating and active,
you don't need to be worried. just keep pristine water and varied feedings...

changing color is normal: either due to growing up where vibrant color means healthy
fish, dull color means stress, poor water condition, or not getting the right nutrients.

you may scroll this thread for more info and ideas
www.oscarfishlover.com/oscar-fish-advice...oscar-transformation

what do people do to protect the O's from jumping when you're doing maintenance on the tank? when I'm doing a water change the O's come up to the top and beg for food; they aren't scared by the syphon. Although they don't currently jump - I'm worried that they may start. What do people do to prevent the O's from jumping when the tank lid is off while you're doing maintenance on the tank? or perhaps I'm just freaking out about something that doesn't happen.

Here is another video