My albino oscar is breathing hard and gasping, hardly swimmng or moving his gills. The water is fine, two other oscars in the tank, acting just fine. Could he have swollowed something and be constipated? Now he won't eat.

well theres a few things we need to know before we can be of much help

we need to know the water parameters, the size of your tank, what filtration your using, tank mates and how many

55 gallon tank, two other oscars, all the same size, about 5 -6 inches. The others are hungry as always,albino takes a bite, then spits it out.?? He keeps opening his mouth as if to YAWN or gasp, but not hanging around aat the top. ?And have plenty of good filtering and air stone.

has this tank been cycled? he may be having a reaction to ammonia or nitrates in the tank (this is why we ask for readings) just because the other two are acting ok doesn't really mean the water is good this one oscar maybe more sensative to it

this link maybe be able to help you also

www.oscarfishlover.com/index.php/Breathi...ish-are-gasping.html

The tank has been doing well for aabout 5 months, no changes, no new fish,and had the water tested yesterday, it is fine. Could he have swollowed something and have it stuck inside, and not be able to pass it??

did you do the tests yourself or did you have them done at a lfs?

took water sample to fish store.

problem with doin that is that there idea of good water and what actually is good water can very greatly.. i would suggest getting a quality liquid water testing kit so you can perform the tests yourself.. for now i would do atleast a 25% water change and see if this helps

before we can help you we need to know what the readings are for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. Have you tested the water today?

Unfortunately your tank is nowhere big enough for three Oscars. I think you said they were between five and 6 inches at the moment, by the time they reach 10 inches, you're going to have problems keeping your water in good condition. What kind of filtration have you got?

There are various reasons why fish may start breathing heavily. The most common is oxygen depletion in the water. Toxins can also cause fish to breathe heavily. And of course the official breathe heavily if its ill. Heavy breathing is often a sign of stress which will be caused by all of the above.

The fact that your fish is not eating is not a particularly good sign.

Because your other fish seem okay, it is more than likely an isolated problem with the one fish. If indeed there was an oxygen depletion, all the fish would be showing signs of a problem I would suspect.

All you can do at the moment is monitored the situation. Carry out a water change if necessary. At times like this, keep the water in as good a condition as possible. I would also ask you not to feed your fish until you're absolutely positive that water is okay. That means ammonia zero, nitrite zero, and nitrate no higher than 40. Your pH will probably range between six and eight.

it has always amazed me that people dont have there own water test kits and use lfs i dont get it!!!

I have the water tested at a fish store, and do atlast a 25% water change every week.

thanks for all the info. Guess I'll wait til he floats up and disect him. My last oscar lived in a 55 gal tank for years, when he died he was about 13 inches long, and I have had him stuffed.