Hello everyone!
I am new to the OFL community and I'm in need of advise.
I have a 2.5" juvenile albino tiger oscar who hasn't been eating all week.
My levels are great and I have just finished treating for ich on thursday. He has been eating live feeders (rosy reds and guppies)
for about a month now and all of a sudden hes decided to make them friends.
This has happened since Sunday and now I'm worried.
I've tried baby pellets, krill and bloodworms, but he seems to be eating his plants instead?? He's alone in a 30 gal for now. My last tank change (30%) was yesterday with a full gravel vac. Ph is 7.2 Ammonia is 0 and my nitrates are good too. There is also no sign of any ich or other issues in my tank at all.
I know he won't starve but I'm wondering if there may be an underlying issue I've missed.
I have been reading in your forums and I must say there is an awful lot of information to help anyone having issues. I can not tell you how amazing it is to have this kind of help out there!!
Thank you in advance for all of your help guys!

Sorry, forgot to mention....
He is still active and occasionally does lay on the bottom of his tank almost pouting.
And he does have a mate... his pleco. The feeders are home grown and hes still emptying his bowels normally.
This is why I am scratching my head! Everything seems to be normal.
Thanks again for all of your help

After using medication it isn't unusual for fish to stop feeding. what med did you use?
one of the problems with small tanks is the water is very hard to keep stable. this could upset your fish but i personally think its down to the meds. If your fish was feeding well before stopping, a wk isn't a long time.is the fish mouthing the food? Try to maintain the water quality and i would do frequent 20% changes rather than one off big changes. Have you done a full water test for.

ammonia
Nitrite
nitrate

i see your ammonia is 0 but the rest are important to. if you can test and post the full test something may show up. getting the outflow from your filter to disrupt the surface is a good idea also a air stone may help.don't worry to much an oscar can go for a while once it has eaten another fish, but most members don't recommend feeders for the very reason you just can't tell if they are infected. you doing the right thing by raising them yourself though.

Welcome to our community

When you describe him as "pouting" , do you mean opening and closing his mouth?

Okay, what test kits are you using? Have you tested for nitrire? Could you also give us the results for nitrate and pH?

We don't normally recommend feeding a staple diet of just live fish, yourself some good quality pellets, Hikari make various varieties including very small pellets that are suitable for young Oscars.

What is the temperature of the wWhat

You know that you are going to need to upgrade your tank at some stage, preferably sooner than later, you Oscar will not stay small for that long & a 30 gallon tank is not big enough.

There are various reasons why you'll Oscar may have stopped eating, until they get a little bit more information after you, we can't address some of those reasons just at the moment. However, it could well be that he has just become a little bit fussy. Like I said, get your self some pellets and see if he will stopped eating there is. But, if he is constantly opening and closing his mouth and lazing around, there could be an underlining problem somewhere.

Thanks for the help guys....
Brat(lol) isn't opening or closing his mouth... hes not gasping at all.
I treated the tank with super ick liquid made by API.
When I said pouting, I meant that Brat looks sad and almost bored to death.
His behavior hasn't changed much in the last few days. I have heard of Os fasting on occasion. My mother had them from the time I was a child until a few years ago when horrible horrace died at the ripe old age of 23! lol
So I'm just looking for more info on why he maybe just laying around and making friends with his food. He does spit out the pellets after mouthing the for a short while as well. I'm inheriting my mother's 120 gal tank where Brat will be moved when hes a little bigger, no worries there lol!

like ofl i thought you ment heavy breathing, i still think the meds and a mix of being well fed. when was the last feeder he ate?

If he hasn't started showing any interest in the pellets in a few days time, I would be inclined to try and get a selection of food, maybe two or 3 to begin with and see what happens when you introduce these. I would probably get some medium-sized kril, maybe some lancefish, and you could also try cockles, Oscar's love them.Basically, go to your fish store and see what they have in their freezer cabinet. Sometimes fish just take a complete dislike to one type of food and it doesn't matter how many times you try and feed it to them, they just will not eat it. I don't think Oscars feel hunger like mammals do, if they did, they would eat anything you put in the tank.

I've tried Krill, Blood worms, hikari small pellets, Cichlid sticks, Tubifex worm cubes, guppies and rosy reds. My mother told me to try giving Brat a pea without the skin because he may be constipated. And yes I am only giving him one and letting him be for about 20 mins and then I take it out so not to contaminate his tank too!
What do you think of trying frozen fillets shaved into tiny pieces from the grocery store??
Mom mentioned that too lol!
I do try to give him a selection of food to choose from.... just seems like hes become a SPOILED BRAT! lmao!! ( kinda fitting huh?)
He's been picking at the Tubifex cube..... but barely
He's only fed 3X a day and only what he can eat in 20 mins (now)

His last feeder that he ate was on sunday... He did have a little trouble because this one was a little big but he did clear it in about 3-5 mins and nothing came out of his gills either.
He still has 2 small guppies in there with him too... one is maybe 1/4" long.. the other is 1/2". As I said above I do think Brat is indeed living up to his name! He's become a spoiled little brat!
He did attack the fake anemones in his tank today but still no aggression towards the feeders.... That's why I'm puzzled guys he doesn't even chase them.... he cuddles them! lol

His last feeder that he ate was on sunday... He did have a little trouble because this one was a little big but he did clear it in about 3-5 mins and nothing came out of his gills either.
He still has 2 small guppies in there with him too... one is maybe 1/4" long.. the other is 1/2". As I said above I do think Brat is indeed living up to his name! He's become a spoiled little brat!
He did attack the fake anemones in his tank today but still no aggression towards the feeders.... That's why I'm puzzled guys he doesn't even chase them.... he cuddles them! lol

I've tried Krill, Blood worms, hikari small pellets, Cichlid sticks, Tubifex worm cubes, guppies and rosy reds. My mother told me to try giving Brat a pea without the skin because he may be constipated. And yes I am only giving him one and letting him be for about 20 mins and then I take it out so not to contaminate his tank too!
What do you think of trying frozen fillets shaved into tiny pieces from the grocery store??
Mom mentioned that too lol!
I do try to give him a selection of food to choose from.... just seems like hes become a SPOILED BRAT! lmao!! ( kinda fitting huh?)
He's been picking at the Tubifex cube..... but barely
He's only fed 3X a day and only what he can eat in 20 mins (now)

what is your water temp???
when did you start medicate him/her for ICK????
what medicine? there are some med that will make them refuse
foods for several days..you need to make a large water change after
medication..... if you do not see any indication of problem like
gasping or breathing rapidly, you don't have to worry much....