Hi i just got an oscar two days ago and i think he is lonely. He is in a 55 gallon tank alone. It seems like he is pretty healthy. But when ever i go into the room with the fish tank in it he lays down on the rock and hides like he is "playing dead" then wehn i leave the room for a while i can stick my head in the room and he is active. Is this bacause he needs a friend? I have fed him some pellets and he just lays there until i walk away then will eat them after a while. The pet shop i got him from said i could fit two in there so i was thinking about adding another one to see if that takes care of the problem. Is this a good idea or not?

if I had one pound for every time a fish shop gave out erroneous information, I reckon I would be pretty wealthy by now. 55 gallons is not big enough for two Oscars .baby Oscars are often quite shy when he first put them in the tank, they have to get used to their new environment and can be spooked by movement outside the tank. I'm sure he'll come around in time so just be patient.

sounds like this is a new tank, did u cycle it beforehand? u may have dropped the fish into the tank too early. this is a very common mistake for people when they fist get a tank

ive always been hesitant to buy baby oscars because they are very shy and in my opinion dont look healthy, even though more then likely they are. now im not sure how big ur o is or if your tank has been cycled properly. how long has the tank been running? get back to us and we'll be able to help ya out.

as for the lonely part. oscars are very easily immused and u wouldnt be able to squeeze another one in there for long

This is very common. When putting a baby oscar into a new tank it takes them a while to get used to their new surroundings

Oscars dont get lonely. In fact adding a new oscar to an existing tank with a large oscar in it can be really difficult, sometimes it is impossible