I have 2 Oscars they are just 2yrs old and about 7 in. long. We have them in a 55 gal tank which is balanced aside from some algae which we are trying to clear up (we have placed 2 orders for a large pleco and the pet keeps forgetting to call us when they come in). Yesterday and today 1 Oscar is just laying on the bottom of the tank and not moving much at all. The only thingI can think of is food related. A couple of weeks ago we ran out of food and no one told me. We live in the country and the closest pet store is 30 min. away and it was 10pm. So I discovered your site and read that they could eat shrimp so I went to the grocery store and bought peeled/cooked frozen baby shrimp which they loved. So we kept feeding it to them. Is that what is doing this?

Please help me before he dies.

firstly can you give a water reading, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates(the actual numbers). as for the shrimp i doubt it is related to the problems you are having. is the fish gasping at all? is he the only one affected? are there any other tankmates? the answer tho these questions can help in diagnosing what could be wrong with oscar.

seven inches seems a little small for a 2 year old oscar so there might be another problem with the fish.

They are not quite 2 years old. My husband reminded me they are 1 yr old. nitrates are 250ppm,nitrites are 0ppm, water very hard, alkalinity is 50ppm, and ph is 7ppm. We are going to do a 1/3 water change. he isn't gasping but he won't move either; he just lays there and Lenny won't leave his side. He is a tiger oscar andhe black scales are more pea color now. It is just the two tiger oscars "Lenny" and "Squiggy". We are trying to get a large pleco. Lenny and Squiggy don't like tank mates;even as babies they killed off a Chinese Shark and Parrot Fish. We don't know if they are male or female; I just refer to them as such.

I am very attached to them and I don't know what to to to help him.

to start with a 55 gallon tank is just barely big enough for one oscar . secondly whatever you do do not add a pleco into your tank its already overatocked as it is. your nitrates are way off the scale. they should always be no higher than 40 ppm or preferably lower before your weekly water change. now to help with solving your problems, the first thing you should do is a 50% water change asap then continue doing 30% water changes every second day until your nitrates read about 20 ppm. while that is happening you should consider getting a bigger tank for your oscars. to confortably house 2 mature oscars you should have minimum tank of 100 gallons along with the appropriate filtration.
your fish sound like they may be stunted in there growth. a normal size for a one year old oscar should be somewhere between 8-10 inches. i have 2 oscars that are about one and a half years old and they are between the eleven and twelve inch mark.

all this may sound a little overwhelming but just take one step at a time and your tank will be in good shape soon.

i think your nitrate problem could be the reason your oscar is listless and stressed at the moment.

i hope this helps and keep us posted on your oscar

Should I add some Stress Coat w/ the 50% water change? I have to be honest, I didn't realize they grew to be so big. We started w/ a 30 gal tank for our 3 boys (3,4,5)and the community fish didn't cut it so I naively picked up the Oscars, Chinese Shark and Parrot fish. When they got too big for the 30 gal. the pet store told me the 55 gal would be plenty. As you know tanks aren't cheap and this one, including the new double filtration system cost me just shy of $500. We can't afford another tank for at lest 3-4 months but I will watch Craig's List to see if I can pick one up used. Thank you for all your help. We were shocked at the Nitrate level, we have well water and a very expensive water treatment/softener system installed so this is the last thing we suspected.

Should I change what I am feeding them?

Will Squiggy bounce back from this?

sorry to hear about all your plroblems.

if you cant afford a bigger tank i would strongley recomend re-homeing all but one of your oscars. i have a 55g tank with 2 oscars and a pleco and have come to realise my tank is only big enough for one oscar so im re homeing all but 1:(. follow necromancers advise and things should start to look up:)

craigs list is a good place to look for tanks another is kijiji.com. now adding stresscoat to your water will help a bit but dont expect miracles from it(still i would it at all water changes). the important thing is to lower your nitrate levels and this is done by doing water changes. as for your feeding i would maybe cut back on the amount you feed as this will help in lowering the nitrates as well.

an oscar can reach between 14-16 in captivity so you should plan accordingly. the most common mistake made is the size of the tank people try to house them in. i know i did it myself and learnt the hard way(by upgrading 2 times so far and looking to upgrade once more).

if you still have your chinese shark and parrot fish you should be looking for a larger tank(125 gallon) for all your fish.

let us know how things progress for you

Squiggy had more of his color back today but he is still lethargic but has come up off the bottom a few times; he won't eat. His breathing is shallow and once in a while he takes a deep breath. Something new appeared today; he has a whiteish film on his fins. We tested the water and the nitrates are down to 100ppm. Do you think we should do another water change tonight or tomorrow?

do a daily water changes of 25% until nitrates are below 40. Leave it a week and then do a water change. Leave it another week and if your nitrates are above 40 then you need to do a bigger or more water changes per week

A word about feeding - only feed once a day and only what they will eat in 2 or 3 mins, no more no how much they beg

That's one thing I have been doing right; we feed them once a day at 7pm and only for the period you indicated. We will follow your advise.

On their food, is it okay to buy the shrimp at the grocery store? Is there anything else that I can get in the fresh seafood dept that you would recommend?

muscles are good,sqiud too. I use a mix of anything I eat myself from salmon to mixed frozen sea foods, prawns.along with pellets beatles,worms,maggots,crickets,grasshopper,mealworms,frozen bloodworm.(I dont eat these))).you could also use crayfish if you can find. the list gose on and on really. the best idea is a good mix but a good brand pellet will do if thats all you have.

Squiggy passed away last night. Lenny seems very lonely and I don't know what to do.