Tiger Oscar Stressed?

[FishCrazy760]

So yesterday went to petsmart picked out a beautiful tiger oscar nice black orange-ish red color got home and notice his upper half of body what used to be black is now a brownish grayish color Is this due to stress? Anyone know what maybe the cause?

 

[Malawi Freak]

Fish do that a lot when they are moved around. Some of my brightest blue cichlids have turned nearly white after moving them around.

 

[andy24]

Give him a day or two and he will be his old self.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

How big is this tank?

Is it cycled?

What is your exact ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? Are you testing with a liquid kit or test strips?

Did you change any filter media?

How did you acclimate him?

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

bruins has raised some great questions that u will need to answer if you can.

but actually, i see this a lot in my oscars, they go a pale-ish green when i surprise them awake or do a pwc, or when thye start having an arguement. when i feed them or they are just chilling they go the most awesome dark brown/black and their reds really shine.

in other words, oscars look like they are dying all the time. in their games and boredome they do some WIERD stuff (e.g swim sideways or reverse into eachother or lay very still). in their moods they change colour all the time. they are just big smart wet pets and thats why i love mine :L xx

 

[5x5]

As long as your water parameters (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrite and PH) are all within good measurements, I would attribute it to stress and it should go away. Oscars can quickly undergo color changes due to water quality or general stress, so what you are describing doesn't completely surprise me.

Keep us updated.

 

[FishCrazy760]

My parameters were right on hes in a 75 cycled tank with 2 aquaclear 70s today when I got up it looks if hes gaining his color back going back to normal thank you fishgod

 

[steez]

My parameters were right on

Can you be more specific? High nitrates are definitely a possibility with oscars messy habits.



Also, what are you feeding him? This is very important because a quality food is key to a beautiful fish.
Any tankmates? They may stress him.

My tiger changed colors almost daily, sometimes being a bit faded and others being very dark black.


EDIT: OH.....sometimes I don't really absorb all the info. You just got him home, yes he is stressed. He is adjusting to his new home.

You can disregard my top questions. But remember that food is important with an oscar. Do not feed him live food, it will make him more aggressive if you decide to have tank mates and also they are just empty food with no good nutrients. I would recommend NLS food (new life spectrum). It will really bring his colors out.

 

[FishCrazy760]

I feed him Hikari chiclid gold medium pellets, she gobbles them right up, is that a good source for him.

 

[steez]

Yeah they are fine. A lot of people use Hikari. Pellet diets are the best for them.

 

[FishCrazy760]

Yeah they are fine. A lot of people use Hikari. Pellet diets are the best for them.

Is there any other good quality pellets? What other foods is good for there diets?

 

[steez]

NLS pellets are the best IMO (New life spectrum)


Yeah you can give them beefheart and other meaty foods. Just don't do any feeder fish unless you raise them yourself. Even if you raise them yourself they are still not really 'good' food for him.