Hey guys just joined and introduced myself in the new member section. I recenly re-homed a 12" tiger oscar to my 125 and it seems he has something wrong with him. It looks to me like something is coming from his rectum or his tubes are enlarged and down 24/7. FYI I am saying his but I'm not sure if it's a male or female . . . The tank he was in was 55 gallon with a larger pleco I now have with him in my 125 too. The water was the greenest I've ever seen, if the fish were 2" away from the glass you couldn't even tell anything was in the tank.

Since I added him to my tank a week ago I really have only seen him eat very small amounts only a handful of times and when he does it's usually chomped up and spit out of his gills. I cycle what I feed my fish so they get a variety of cichlid gold, cichlid staple, cichlid color sticks, regular cichlid sticks, frozen shrimp, and feeder goldfish once a week (all my knife will eat at the moment). He doesn't appear bloated but I haven't seen him poop either.

Has anyone heard of something like this? My first idea is to add some salt but I've never done this and don't know what kind or how much to use, remember he's in a 125 so it would be a large amount. Background on the tank it's been setup for over a year so it's well cycled and I'm using x2 magnum 350s with bio wheels. 30-40% water changes weekly and micron filters changed out every 2 weeks. All my water paramaters are great so water quality in my tank is not the issue but that doesn't rule that out as he has only been with me for 1 week but was in real bad water when I got him. Since he's been in my tank I have not noticed much of a change in him, so he's not getting better or worse. The first day he was shy but has come around since. I have a lot of fish in the tank but nothing that is picking on him, he is the dominate out of the two oscars in the tank. He is housed with another 12" oscar, 6" clown knife, 6" jack dempsey, 10" florida gar, x3 6" bala's, 16" tiger shovelnose cat, and x2 plecos (6" and 12").

I don't want to hear anyone comment on my tank size and fish in the tank. They all get along great and have plenty of room to move around and all are peaceful together. I know I am close to the limits or over them from what some may say, I am a firm beliver in the 1" per gallon and I am below that. That said I still know with all the food and waste going into the tank large spikes can occur if I were to go too long without a water change which is why I do the frequent water changes. Ammonia & Nitrite's always 0 and Nitrate is 10-20 depending on the last water change.

I would like to try to post a picture but I am not sure how to do that. Can anyone help with that too?

Thanks!

Sorry for the large post . . . just wanted to get all the details I could out there.

OK figued the images out . . . this is the tank and all I have on my computer at the moment I will upload some closer phots tonight. The oscar in question is the one the left in both pics.

I would say give him a bit.. Oscars often sulk, and I am sure the difference in water quality is a BIG change for him.

Do you know what he was being fed before you got him? The nice thing is, Adult Oscars can go weeks without food and really not suffer much...

You could try salt, but at this point I am not sure I would. Just give him a bit of time yet!

99mstng wrote:


I hate to tell you but we believe VERY differently around here, and we have seen some HORRIBLE effects from overcrowding. So you are likely to get comments regarding this weather you want to hear them or not! We only want what is best for the fish!

But your water readings look good, so I will leave it at that!

He was being feed cichlid sticks. I have been waiting it out and since it's been a week now thats why I figured I'd look further into . . . I'll get some pics of what I'm referring to up later tonight.

As for overcrowding, fish are happy, water is great, I'm happy. I have never had any problems. It all comes down to water quality which you can control and how well your fish get along which you can't control.

Hard to see but here are some pics . . . it's like a littl whit nub that sticks out and has been there for a week. Should I be concerned? Anyone seen this before?

I don't know what others will say, but mine gets that when I feed her too much ...

like nicki said you dont want to hear it but you MUST!
you are incredibly overstocked and you have to face the facts if you want your fish to stay alive.

by the sounds of your thread you dont want to get a bigger tank or make changes. but if you dont, your fish are going to suffer, alot.

You dont want to hear it but i am going to say it you are way overstocked!

As for the 1in per gallon rule, try this, 12 1 inch neons quite clearly dont need as much room as a 12inch oscar, so that rule clearly doesnt work. The 1 inch per gallon rule is a good guide when keeping small community fish but it doesnt apply to large fish like oscars

If you keep all those fish in your tank you will end up with sick and/or dead fish

As for your problem oscar, he may just be sulking in his new tank, give him another week or so and he should soon start eating.