Oscars yawning????

[feinhorn]

Does anyone know what it mean when oscars make a yawning motion? They open their mouths as wide as they can go, then a few min later they do it again. My nitrites are high because my tank is in its last stage of cycling. Any ideas? The nitrites are taking a long time to drop!!

 

[Barney]

nitrites are known to burn fish gills... maybe thats why, but i may be wrong.

 

[littlelouie]

Hey feinhorn

I am going through the nitrogen cycle with fish at the moment & if this was happening in my tank I would do a 20% water change. I know it may interfere with the cycle but it is all about the fish right? The cycle in my opinion will continue so you really should reduce the nitrite levels by this 20%wc

MHO
Louise

 

[BIANCA]

I see my fish yawn all the time and my water is perfect. I think its normal...unless your fish are doing it quite a bit i wouldnt worry.

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

how high are your nitrites? they may be too high, but i doubt that is why your oscar is yawning...mine do it all the time, and their water is fine....wahhhhhhhh, his water now.....is fine

 

[bartspedden]

I'm no fish biologist, but I have kept Oscars for the last 14 years and have a possible different idea. These fish are completely territorial! I have always thought that they were just trying to make themselves larger. I've noticed that my one oscar "yawns" around the left side of the tank. I think he's just saying, "This is my turf!". I've also noticed that when an oscar is marking out their territory they lift all their fins and make themselve's as big as possible; this is when you really get to see just how cool looking these fish really are. just an idea

 

[Allivymar]

While your high nitrates may be affecting the fish, don't be surprised if they continue to yawn long after your water parameters are ok. Fish do yawn.

Why? Not sure, although I think bart has something there with his aggression theory. Siamese Fighting fish are known to yawn: "When Siamese Fighting Fish are on their own, they hardly ever yawn. But if you put another Siamese Fighting Fish in the same tank, they will yawn 300 times more often. And once they are actually fighting, their yawning rate doubles again." (quote taken from "Latest Great Moments In Science" by Dr. Karl). I know my angels yawn, and I've seen it more often now that I've gone from 1 to 3 angels in the tank.

There's a really in-depth study on yawns here: http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cach...s/THESIS.pdf+siamese+fish+yawn&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 . Its kinda scientific, but the section on fish and yawning (about 1/8 down the page) is neat.

 

[i3k]

My white tip catfish sharks also do the yawning motion...they have all been doing it ever since I got them but only about two to three times a day, well at least its how many times I my self see them do this. My water condition is perfect at the moment...I guess some fish just do this for one reason or another.