I have an oscar that has not eaten in 3-4 days. A few days ago he didn't look well at all, he was laying around,
fins were down, was not responding when I walked up to the tank or opened the lid. I know he is not eat and shows no interest. As of yesterday/today he still looks good and is swimming around more but still no interest in food or
response to me. Question ~ I would say he has eaten atleast 2 clown loaches in the past week before he started feeling this way. And, he always eats them head first and leaves the tail. Could it be the loaches razors hurt him or are inbedded inside his intestine or somewheres. If so
do you think they (the hooks from the loach) will eventually disolves, digest and the fish will feel better "if" you think this could be the issue at hand. I'm so worried about this fish. I don't know what to do for him. Thank you for any insight.

I wouldn't have thought that the clown Loach has damaged the inside of the Oscar but I wouldn't like to bet my life on it. If the problems did start straight after him eating the clown Loach then this could possibly be the reason for him not to eating but like I said, I would be surprised if that was a problem.

You need to be checking your water as poor water conditions are often the reason why fish become ill or die. Please check for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Please get back to us with the results and then we can carry on and try and help you

Hi! Thanks for the response. I forgot to add that all my
water readings are fine. Nitrites, ammonia perfect. PH
high end of 6.6 to about 7. Like I said the fish itself looks good, his fins are extended and fanned nicely. No spots or external injury. Eyes look good too! The nitrate test is not in my kit is that sold separately and.. can that be that off if the nitrites & ammonia test is perfect ?

Ammonia and nitrite need to be 0. Nitrate needs to be ideally below 20 but below 40 is acceptable. Your filter will keep the ammonia and nitrite to zero. You keep the nitrates down by doing water changes and gravel clean so you can have perfect ammonia and nitrite and yet have high nitrate

While you are waiting to get a nitrate test kit do a 50% water change as often as you can just in case your nitrates are too high. Also only feed what they will eat in 3 mins when he starts eating

I think it is possible that eating the loaches might have caused a problem. Is his mouth stuck open? When he opens his mouth try to look inside to see if anything is stuck in there.

If there are anymore clown loaches that are of an edible size remove them

I'm forgetting to tell you things, lol. Currently I have quite a few fish in a 30 gal because I know within the month I'm moving upto a 150. Because of the # of fish I know I need to and have been doing frequent water changes about 3-4 times/week and rinsing out the filter due to clogging. Since I'm a firm believer of water aeration and filtration I have that covered. Although,
I'm nervous about going to a 150. I sure hope it works out well.

Anyways, I went out & purchased the nitrate test yesterday and the reading was @ 40 that was after doing a water change the day before. This morning I did a water change and checked all levels after a while & they are again all perfect and the nitrate is @ 5.0 (not too bad I thought).

Regarding the oscar ~ hes still not eating or showing interest. Still looks good, color good. Swims around sometimes and mainly other times he just idles in the same place. I'm just afraid if he does not eat for such a long time he will start showing effects.

I also treat my tank with pimafex/melafix as a precaution
for my fishes health ??

I'll keep you posted. And, atleast since hes not eating
the loaches are having a good time. Actually, the others ones I have left are bigger.

Thanks again!

If your nitrates were 40 after water changes then they were a little high but they are ok now. Test weekly to keep an eye on the levels. What have you been feeding your oscar.

Have you tried him on something different like prawns, maggots, worms, krill or lance fish. Oscars have been known to get bored if they are fed the same thing all the time. Thats why a varied diet is a good idea

Well, well could it be this oscar of mine has been playing me. I came home tonight and fed the fish. Everyone ate but him again. I put a pellet in the water he swam up for it and wouldn't take it. So, I went to the fish store and against my better judgement I bought some goldfish (feeders) and the minute I put the feeders in the tank my problem child went banannas and gobbled one up and he's trying for his second. I don't like to feed my fish feeder fish because they can bring disease into your tank.
Mealy worms and stuff like that I couldn't stomach even looking at.

So, after all this do you actually think it was all boredom with food or a combination of a bellyache and
boredom ? I usually alternate thier foods with flakes, krill and pellets. Why should he be board ?

Thanks everyone! I'll let you know if his progress remains. All I can say is I'm awfully happy right now.
Its amazing how attached we can get to our fine finned
friends, lol.

oscars are know to get bored with their food try and feed them as many different things as possible so they dont have the chance to be choosy.
mine eat bllodworms,earthworms,pellets,veggies(peas,lettace,corn) $ guppies on a weekly basis once you get them in to a routine of diverse food they literally will eat anything you put in there.is sumtimes wish mine will stop begging for food as i feel guilty when they beg and i dont feed them,but off course need to watch out for overfeeding as this bring problems of their own