new years day i transfered my year old oscar from a 30 gal to a 55 gal...i followed the advice of local aquarium and fish dealers..i transfered close to 25 gals of the old water to the new tank.water temp stay perfect and i kept all tank and room bright lights off.i am even using both the new and old pumps to try and keep the bio right in the new tank..the actual transfer of the fish was difficult to say the least.. finally scooping the jumping and banged up fish out with a bucket.. once in new tank it swam slowly and would not eat or come near the glass. then thursday night it started swimming around more and visiting me near the glass,it allowed me to feed it 1 piece of food. since thursday its just sits on the bottom of the tank and will not eat.. it seems to have turned slightly darker.i am concerned for my fish..any help would be greatly apreciated:

whenever there is any change in a fishes behaviourthe first thing you must do is water test. That is ammonia, nitrite, nitrates and pH. in many cases fish become ill because of water conditions. This is the first thing you have to rule out before we can go any further. Remember that ammonia and nitrite must be zero and no higher. Nitrate isn't so crucial but isn't really recommended above 40 ppm. Ph is also quite important, Oscars are okay between six and eight.

also, is the fish breathing heavily at all?

ph is good and he is not breathing heavy

okay, when you say good, what is the pH exactly? this could play a big part . Hopefully your tank is okay since you use filters of the old tank. If you haven't got any test kits at the moment, I would suggest you do 25% water change until you can get some test kits.

could be just that the fish is still stressed. However, I've never experienced Oscars saying stressed for too long, food normally gets the better of them

have to leave for work will get back on tonight thanx....smoke

i should of said amonia was good i tested that. i will not be able to pick up a nitrogen kit until monday( today its early ) check this out too. thursday when he finaly came to the glass when i did and i was able to feed him a little food was actually about 0230 friday am.because of the size of this tank i had to rearange my den to include mounts on the walls..thats when he went into this slow,barely moving around, dark noneating mode.he just sits on the bottom. the 2, 3-inch mexican cat fish are back to normal and fine.i dumped 5 comets in the tank friday. all are gone but 1. i dont know what fish ate them.thank you for your help

I assume you mean ammonia was zero?

Else just thinking if your water parameters are in fact good, and the Oscar started behaving like that just after you did your rearrangements, he might just be sulking. I remember when I put our birdcage in a different place last year, the Oscar went off food and sulked for a week. Plus yours was caught and moved to the new quarters, so certainly quite some stress for him.

Still doesn't mean it would not be a good idea to test your water for what Penn said to make sure ammonia and nitrites are really zero.

was not able to get the kit today do to work.will pick it up tues and test the water late tues night early wensday due to my shift work. my little buddy is still the same.isnt eating and just sitting at the bottom of his new domain. i have gotten him to come close to the glass twice.then he slowly swims back to the corner of his tank. the one lone comet swims and plays around right in front of him with no reaction from my oscar. i really miss my fish man. he's just as enjoyable to me as my 2 labradors. i really appreciate the help and advice i get from you all. i wish i would of known of this site when i first got my oscar.

I think your oscar may be sulking, he has been thro a lot. It doesnt usually much longer than a week. Try to tempt him with his favourite food. Try worms, maggots or prawns

Do you quarantee the live fish you feed to him, 2 weeks is best. Also avoid goldfish as they have the wrong type of fats in them that oscars cant process

i got the kit today and tested after work this am...heres my results with the test kit strip. nitrate 20/safe according to chart
nitrite was between 0 and .5 safe according to chart
hardness (gh) 75...soft
alkalinity 180...in ideal range according to chart
PH just turning on the 7.2 color from the 6.8 color
again according to my test results with this kit my tank seems to be fairly healthy. my oscar came to life a little tuesday morning almost came to the glass then backed off. still no feeding though.about the only worms i'll get up here in upstate new york this time of year would be nightcrawlers.he's never had them so i guess my next question would be are they safe for him as far as trying something new to entice him to eat.

The strip test kits can be a little unreliable especially when you have had them a while. The bottle testers are better, they are more expensive but you get a lot if tests.

Your nitrite should be zero, if it isnt zero then your tank isnt cycled fully. This may explain your oscars behaviour. I would do daily water changes of at least 20% until nitrite is zero

Nightcrawlers are what we in the uk calls worms. Oscars love them, mine go mad for them. Make sure you take them from a place where pesticides are not used. I get mine from my garden which i know are safe as i dont used pesticides. I just pop mine in the tank but some people cut the head and tail off and squeeze the mud out(this is a messy job)

Alternatively you should be able to buy them from fishing tackle shops if you have any nearby

hey fellow oscar dudes. just wanted to let you know my buddy seems to be coming around. he's swimming laps in the new digs and even visiting his worried pappy at the glass. but still no luck with the eating .. i dropped a fresh clean live nitecrawler in his tank and thought he started munching on it but it seems he just wanted to throw it around a little. he didnt eat it. so i'm still keeping a close eye on him. i will pick up the new test bottle you suggest next time i get to town thanx for all of your assistance you guys and this site are awesome.