Will oscar get hurt

[Dooboedoo12]

He keeps attacking his reflection. He opens his mouth and swims fast at the tank wall for a second than stops for 30 than attacks it. Is he going to get hurt doing this?

 

[ezy33]

He'll wear his teeth down. If you have a plexiglass tank he will leave small scratches where he attacks the glass.

 

[Dooboedoo12]

How do I stop it?

 

[CichlidLady0312]

Maybe a fake plant or some type of decor in front of the attack site?

 

[Dooboedoo12]

He attacks the entire front of the tank. He sees his reflection and he goes wild at it

 

[Aquaenthused]

Place a plant there, or get him some dither fish to distract him?

 

[Aquaenthused]

Also he'll do more damage to your tank than himself really, lol the picture is of my footlong oscar, Gino about to attack pottery. He might get a callous on his lip or disalign his jaw

 

[Dooboedoo12]

I'm putting together a new 90 gallon tank now. I will def have to add some pottery for him to attack

 

[CichlidLady0312]

Maybe he needs some tank friends to keep his mind off of being bored?!

 

[ezy33]

You could try a background to block the light coming from the back.

 

[Aquaenthused]

Just make sure there's no sharp edges, large rounded river rocks (too big for them to pick up, they absolutely will throw rocks when they get bigger), moss balls and soft fake plants are great when it comes to oscar aggression, lol. Also giving them friends to distract them is always fun to watch...

 

[Khuligirl93]

The reflection is caused by the tank light being on. If you don't have live plants, just turn it off.

 

[Freakgecko91]

Maybe he needs some tank friends to keep his mind off of being bored?!

This is terrible advice, to be blunt. Adding fish to a highly territorial individuals space is not going to curb aggression, just fuel lip locking and bullying.

If you don't have a background, I would recommend adding one, particularly a black one, as it cuts down on the reflections.

 

[ezy33]

Maybe moving the light to the front of the tank will help, if you can.

 

[Andy Sager]

If you don't have a reflective glass or mirror directly on the tank, he's not responding to HIS reflection. He sees out just like you see looking in. You only see a reflection when you look at glass from an angle. Try to change what's in front of the tank that's attracting the fish's attention. The pottery in post #7 looks to have a shine to it so that fish might be seeing a reflection.
I have to agree with Freak, adding more fish is a bad idea to this situation for sure.

 

[Usmarksman91]

This is terrible advice, to be blunt. Adding fish to a highly territorial individuals space is not going to curb aggression, just fuel lip locking and bullying.

If you don't have a background, I would recommend adding one, particularly a black one, as it cuts down on the reflections.

Actually adding fish has been known to cut down aggression. Depends on the fish.

 

[CichlidLady0312]

Actually adding fish has been known to cut down aggression. Depends on the fish.

Agreed!!!

 

[CichlidLady0312]

This is terrible advice, to be blunt. Adding fish to a highly territorial individuals space is not going to curb aggression, just fuel lip locking and bullying.

If you don't have a background, I would recommend adding one, particularly a black one, as it cuts down on the reflections.

How is that terrible advise? If you were in a tank by yourself all day wouldnt you be bored? Im sure adding the right fish with the Oscar will maybe calm him down.

 

[Dooboedoo12]

I'll give the background a go and see if it cuts down on the reflections. I can't add more fish yet bc it's only a 30 gallon tank and I don't want the ammonia to spike more.

 

[CichlidLady0312]

I'll give the background a go and see if it cuts down on the reflections. I can't add more fish yet bc it's only a 30 gallon tank and I don't want the ammonia to spike more.

Are you planning on a bigger tank for him in the future?