I just bought 2 baby Tiger Oscars from Petsmart. I did a lot or research on them and I've had many breeds of tropical fish and Cichlids for 18 years, most of them living a very long time. I'm aware of nitrates/ammonia/Ph/temp/oxygen/disease prevention-treatments etc. But I've never seen a fish do this before I've never owned Tiger Oscars. I observed the ones I bought for over 20 minutes at the store and they seemed to be very healthy and lively. I brought them right home, floated them, and then they sank right to the bottom. They're just sitting there, only their heads and eyes are moving. They're not panting or writhing. They both are looking very dull and grey, as opposed to the jet black and orange they were at the store.

The tank is a 75g bowfront, fake plants, a few plastic caves (not new)
No Tankmates. No meds, except for Prime a few weeks ago. I've been cycling it with 2 borrowed neon tetras for a month an a half now (6 weeks).

I vial tested and strip tested the water
pH is 7.0
Nitrates is 0
Ammonia is a little under 0.05 (I'm not going to say 0.0 because it's not)
Oxygen is a little excessive, I have a bubble strip on half the tank.

I've been using this tank and accessories for years none of the equipment is new (except for the water) I even used the sponge from the filter from my last set of fish (who were killed off by my favourite angel fish, whom I gave away).


I'd really like to know whats wrong or what I'm doing wrong because they were very nice looking fish.

First of all, your tank, if you have an ammonia reading and no Nitrate reading is NOT cycled... In a cycled tank your Ammonia and Nitrite would be 0. And you would have a Nitrate reading of some kind...

Secondly Oscars sulk. They pout because they have been netted and moved..

But PLEASE check your water with the vials again.. And make sure your doing it EXACTLY as the directions say!

Oh ok thanks I didn't know they sulk. Do you know how long it lasts?

I do the tests like the directions say, I've had the same kit for 5 years. I've tested it once a week through the cycling and it seemed normal. I had planned to get Jack Dempseys so I conditioned the tank for their specs, but when I saw the Oscars I went home and read up on them (they have similar but not totally the same specs). Three days later (today) I bought 2. I even had Petsmart test the water and they said it looked great. Also at this particular petsmart they don't sell animals to just anyone who walks in, they're pretty serious about fish health and ownership.

Heres a picture of what they're doing...

Thanks again... yeah they're swimming around like normal fish now. Way to give me a heart attack silly fishes.

Hi...it's one of the joys of Oscars..they are very smart fish and they have lots of attitude and individual personalities. Sulking is very common and different individuals will sulk more than others. Have fun, they look like sweeties....shaz

Linkachu wrote:

and later on, you will be having a hard time to avoid over feeding him/her
when he/she started wiggling the tails when begging for foods...

btw, welcome on board!