Hi OFL,

I adopted two oscar's the day after boxing day, all was fine for a couple of weeks then the tiger striped one started to sit at the bottom of the tank and gasp and was off his food. We did a 50% water change and all was well again. Now a couple of weeks on, the other oscar is displaying the same behaviour. just sitting at the bottom af the tank gasping and laying towards one side, he has not eaten for 3 days now. We did a 50% water change last night, beside having a short swim around he is doing the same thing, but tigger is fine. I have not been able to get a water test kit yet, but the aquatic shop did a nitrate test for me and said it was fine. That was about a week ago. I can't think of any thing that would of stressed him or make him sulk. Please help.

Hope these come out, should be 2 photos here.

Nope, here's the sick one.

What size tank are they in,that looks a little small.Get a water test kit and post you're water paramiters,we may be able to help a little more.Oh and welcome to ofl.com.

welcome to ofl.com yup oscars tend to sulk if they r un happy about sumthing but without water test kit u wont be able to tell so its an absolute need to hv a test kit.

pls post the amonia,nitrate,nitrite,ph

You should check the oxygen levels in the water

Hi all, oxygen levels should be fine, loads of circulation and disburbance on the surface. Plus Tigger the oscar in my profile photo is in tip top form, jumping for food etc. I did catch Oscar (The problem one) having a swim this morning, but when i went near him to try and give him some food, he went to the bottom again. He must be in a mood with me...

I know test results are very important. A test kit is top of my list on pay day.

Thanks.

timskie wrote:


I second that. We really need a little more info before we can even take a guess at what's wrong.

Tank size ?
Ammonia ?
Nitrite ?
Nitrate ?
PH ?
Filtration ?
How often are you doing water changes ?

That tank does look a little small. I hope
your oscar recovers soon.

Hi All, God knows how you think that tank is small from a crappy photo of one corner..

It is 50" or almost 5ft long x 15" or 1 1/2ft wide x 18" or 2ft tall. Which is about 49 imp gallons.

I took the tank and fish on from a friend, they have been in this tank of years, as i am the third owner.

Tigger is estimated to be 7 years old and
Oscar is estimated to be 3 years.
(kids picked the names).

Oscar (the sick one) is starting to perk up now. He has got a massive poo hanging from his bum, i think that was his problem.
Thanks for the replies and i will get a test kit next week...

glad to hear yr O is recovering.

nice pics mate

Hi all, we were all to late, Oscar died last night.