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Me too! Oscar is sulking and moody. As always. I can never figure out what’s up with her. Dempsey is like a whole new fish though. It’s weird. JS

Not at all the outcome I predicted, but I’ve never seen this JD as active as she’s been since moving tanks! She’s swimming all over and weaving through the plants etc. Not hiding at all. It’s a smaller tank but she definitely seems happier! Oscar still pouting and hiding as always. Darn it. JS

Update: I set up an extra tank I had and removed the Jack Dempsey and two of the Tetras for the time being. JD is actually being really active now; she was the one I figured would be stressed by the move! Oscar hasn’t been any different, but it’s only been an hour. And my chasing the fish...

Charlie, Again, thanks for the conversation. I’ve been racking my brain here and I just don’t see any evidence of a problem between these fish. They seem completely compatible and seem (to me) to be happily coexisting. I have never ONCE seen either one chase the other or lunge (they both have...

Charlie, Do you think I should try taking the JD out for a while? If I do, how much time might be reasonable to decide whether it’s made a difference? JS

Charlie, Thanks for the ideas. I should have mentioned- yes to both. I have 6 Buenos Aires tetras in there as dither fish, and 8 pothos cuttings (4 in each of the HOBs).

Hey All, I’ve posted a few times over the past 3 months so you may be familiar with my situation, which unfortunately has not improved. Here’s the short story: I bought a used 60gal setup 3 months ago and it came with 5 big fish. It was overstocked so I got rid of two fish and kept these...

Yeah, I’m kindof a freak about that. Nitrates yesterday were about 20ppm. PH always 8, no ammo or nitrite. I keep the KH around 5-6 and GH around 8 (I control this by mixing RO water with my harder well water). Temp 80°F.

Hi Folks, Still struggling with my adult Oscar. Lethargic and laying on her side most of the time. She does eat daily but in general, basically NO activity. I’m wondering if oxygenation may be an issue. Here’s my setup: 90gal tank Just added an FX6 filter Emperor 400 HOB Two large sponge...

Thank you. Yes, I do feed frozen krill sometimes and she takes those. I do have some Monster Medley (dried shrimp and mealworms) but I can hold off on that for now. She doesn’t love it anyway. She did poop overnight, not a lot but some. Which is great. Fish still seems depressed and...

Constipated?!?!? Guys, please help. I have posted many questions about this poor Oscar these past two months and now I think she’s simply constipated. She eats sparingly, but does eat every day (a little). Yesterday we had an awesome day and she seemed happy and normal and ate THREE times...

It was pretty little... if I recall correctly it was 1Tbsp/5 gallons. (I may have that wrong; it was weeks ago). I researched the dosage on several different aquarium sites and there was a lot of variation; this dosage was on the lower end (another one I saw a few times was 1tsp/1 gallon). I...

Hello, Thanks for comments. No, I don’t top off the tank. When I do water changes (last three changes anyway) I’m using half reverse osmosis water and half tap. I have seen the hardness come down somewhat, which I believe is good. The substrate: yes, I did that- took a handful out, dried...

Hi Charlie, thank you for your attention. Ok- RO water: I’ve used it as half the water of my last three 50% water changes. The tank PH has not changed (it’s still 8) but the water hardness has gone down somewhat, which was a goal. I plan to keep doing it this way. I have not seen a behavioral...

Hello again, I have an adult (we believe female) Oscar, 12” long. We got her when we adopted a used 60gal tank and its inhabitants 2 months ago. It was soon apparent that we needed a bigger tank, so 3 weeks ago we bought a brand new 90gal. Current fish: -12” Oscar -10” Jack Dempsey -8” common...

Wow, thanks! That was super informative. Ok, maybe I don’t need to worry about PH so much. Ok. I think I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and hope these fish eventually aren’t so darn stressed out. I plan to continue WCs with a 50/50 mix of well water and RO water to manage the hardness. I...

I appreciate all that info. Yes, I’ve read up on this extensively. That’s why I am trying so hard to reduce my PH. I can’t seem to make any gains here (I listed all my attempts in my last message.). Any PH ideas? Thanks.

I’m on a well, so our water is not treated by a water company. Also, I tested some bottled distilled water with my API kit, and it STILL shows .25ppm ammonia, so I think the sunny yellow color shown on the test booklet is inaccurate. Concerning PH: this is an area of concern for me. It...

Yes, I’ve been researching and I’ve found MANY instances of this same comment about “zero” not really being the sunny yellow color shown on the test kit booklet. I tested some distilled bottled water last night, and got the same result- a pale yellow/green. I’m going to assume I’m fine and no...

Hi Again, My tap water is PH 8. I’ve been mixing it with Reverse Osmosis water (PH 7.5) into my tank. Now my tank reads PH 8.2! (Digital meter, calibrated recently). My substrate is Spectrastone natural river gravel. Has anyone used this? It clearly has various types of stone... is it the...

Hi Folks, I’m using the API master test kit (expires next summer). No matter what, I ALWAYS read .25ppm ammonia. Even directly after water change. So today, I tested my tap water. Same reading. So I tested some water straight out of my Reverse Osmosis unit. Same reading! Has anyone else...

Thank so much. Yes, I’ve arrived at the same conclusion and have definitely read that these fish do that! (It’s so creepy though- she looks dead!) I guess I’m more worried about how MUCH she’s laying down or hiding. On another person’s recommendation I took the plastic plants out of the tank...

Hi again. 2 1/2 weeks in new tank. Yes, I do have a powerhead and two sponge filters for surface agitation (in addition to 2 HOB filters).

Thanks for your reply. Any ideas why this Oscar is SO stressed, two months now?! How long does it take to acclimate?

Hi all, I’m not new to aquariums but I’m having issues I can’t seem to solve. I bought a used 60gal tank two months ago with a few large fish. Immediately I discovered the tank was too small for the fish I had, so I rehomed two fish and bought a brand new 90gal tank about 3 weeks ago. In the...