Hey everyone,
I just bought about a 3" Tiger oscar that im keeping temporarly in a 10Gallon tank with a pleco, and a rena XP2 75gallon tank filter (overkill) Then once its to big I have a 55 gallon that its going into probably with another pleco or an arowana. anyway now you know my setup, i tested nitrate, nitrite, hardness, chlorine, alkalinity, and ph all are in the safe range.(confirmed the test strips are still good)

OK so my problem is my new oscar that i got yesterday just sits at the bottom leaning a little bit to one side and refuses to move. when i leave for a few hours and come back sometime i see him swimming but as soon as i enter the room he would lay back down and ive been in the room for hours know and he hasnt moved an inch, i haven't tryed feeding him because he doesnt look like hes in the eating mood.

welcome to oscarfishlover

Okay, the first thing I'm going to tell you is to forget idea of getting any more fish when you get your 55 gallon tank setup. A 55 gallon tank is big enough for one Oscar. arrowana are indeed magnificent fish. However, they can reach 36 inches so require a somewhat bigger tank than 55 gallons.

How long have you had fish in your 10 gallon tank? If you've only just put fish in, your readings are going to be a little strange. I would also urge you to get your 55 gallon tank setup ASAP as Oscars grow very quickly. 10 gallons is only big enough for several small community fish.

Baby Oscars will sometimes act little strange when we first bring them home. I will imagine that your Oscar is probably quite nervous. Just give him time, I'm sure he'll come round. Okay, really need to know how long will your tank is being set up with fish in

Welcome to the site! and as for what OFL said you really need that 55 set up quickly and safely and that filter you have is just perfect for it too.

When you have it in your new 55 tank make sure you add Enzyme Stress+ because that will help the fish become less likely to stay in one area and move around more a bit quicker than normally. As for the side sitting that it does it will come around and be normal and moving more than you will know when you enter the room too.Plus you can start training it on pellets and flakes or sticks but start off with the smallest bite food for it and flakes then gradually move into a bit bigger pellets and flakes with the sticks too.

All in all just start working on that 55 tank and write back!

Welcome again!

I have had Oscars for 5 to 6 years and they are like my children. The only time one of my laid on the bottom, i was giving them live bait and one of the bait had a bacteria and made my younger Oscar sick. I had to go to the Per store and get some antibodies to make her well. So now i only give them flakes they love them. I tried to give them pellets and they never liked them. I have one which i call big baby she is almost 14 inches long and she only eats at night she may pick at a flake sometimes but she is a night fish. Little baby is totally different she eats all of the time. I have trained them to let me hold them and everyone who comes to my house i amazed to see this. I stated this when they were small. Small baby also likes white cheddar pop corn, but big baby doesn't like it. I also give them bananas sometime but it is a minimum. I mostly give them flakes. Little baby is almost 10 inches long they are beautiful. I change their water almost weekly because it tends to smell. I also have plastic golf ball in the water for them to play with and greenery even though they plays with that also. I hope this help you.

OFL wrote:


I said in my original post i bought it yesterday... my tank has been running for 3-4 months. 55 Gallon is the medium tank then comes the 120 in 9months, the 55 ill have next week.

even a 120g tank is not big enough for a arowana, 120g will cope with 2 oscars or a Oscar and large-ish plec but beware, some plecs will even out grow a 120g tank. what seems like a large tank will soon start to look small once you have a very large fish in it. This will affect you water conditions and health of the fish. you should seek advice on your choice of fish and the necessary tank to house these fish,once you have made up your mind.

uselessmidget wrote:

I said in my original post i bought it yesterday... my tank has been running for 3-4 months. 55 Gallon is the medium tank then comes the 120 in 9months, the 55 ill have next week.[/quote]

from reading your post you are getting a 55 next week and 9 months later you will be getitng your 120. well to start with in 9 months your oscar will probably be around the 8-10 inch mark so any tankmates with him in the 55 will be too many. also you should look at getting another xp2 for your 55 to ensure you have enough filtration on it until you do get the 120. as a general rule of thumb you should have filtration for about twice your tank size when dealing with oscars.

as for arrowanas the minimum footprint for an aro tank should be 6x2. this means about 180 us gallons for one. any other fish in with it would mean an even larger tank.

your new oscar is probably just getting used to his new home and should come around in a day or so.(for the record you actually said you just bought your oscar never said you got him yesterday)

btw welcome to the site

Thanks for everyones help and 1st sentence 2nd paragraph in origonal post I state I bought it yesterday

Edit: So today when i got home he was swimming around saw me slowed down and watched as i dumped 8 pellets in and after a minute approached and ate one then layed back down on his belly and is still there watching me type. Never had a fish with this much personality!

EDIT:EDIT: OH SHIZNIT!!!! I THINK THERES CHANGES IN HIS COLORATION!!! look at his mid section on top it looks like its getting lighter is this ich!?

pic wont upload!

so go here:
img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sicklc7.jpg

the picture is blurred, can not visualized the discolorization

I have community fish in my 10 gallon, pearl gouromi, snakeskin gourome, black tetra, red tetra, gold gouromi and i only have 7 even in my 10 gallon. I have had them for 4 years and they are just fine.

how big are those fishes after 4 years? I know that
gourome species are sturdy fish and easy to raise. I am
just wondering how fast they grow as compared to oscars.