i have an oscar that is a little over a yr old, about 8-10 inches long, for the past two days, he has had his mouth open, isnt swimming or moving around like usual, and wont eat pellets, usually he is freaking out when we open the tank to feed him, i asked the local pet store and they said to clean the water, so we took almost all the water out and filled the tank back up, he is still acting the same. i got online and saw that it may be his jaw is out of place, we took him out of the tank and he shut his jaw automatically, we looked in his throat with a flashlight and didnt see a rock or anything stuck in there, we anyone know what else it could be?

first think i though of was jaw lock but this stuff isnt my department just sayin, but i assure you other people on the forum will help you our. Good luck

Do you have any tank mates?

Is his mouth open ALL the time? Or is it like heavy breathing?

Do you have a water test kit? (The liquid type)

We will try our best to help you both through this...

Matt E. fish lover wrote:


...and what, pray tell, exactly is 'your' department then?



Anyways, fishysmyfriend, please give all the tank info you can:

tank size

type of fish and how many

water test readings (if done)

water change schedule (amount/frequency)

filtration

temperature

one more question.... what is he doing with his gills.... are they moving in and out at a more rapid pace than normal? trying to see if he's gasping/breathing heavy.

johnnyphoenix wrote:



johnny i knew youd say that from now on im gona make all my comments johnny proof

still the most curious about the temp...

Matt E. fish lover wrote:


Give it a rest Matt...

fishysmyfriend wrote:

any recent sudden change in the tank? like cleaning or changing all filters, etc???
or power outage or disconnected filter?