Oscars are hiding????

[r6mason]

I bought 2 about 4" Oscars on sunday and they are always hiding. Every time the light in the tank is on they swim down to the bottom of the tank and huddle in the corner and when I turn the lights off they seem to start swimming around. Does anyone know why this is? Are they still just scared of their new home or what. Thanks for your replies in advance.


Mason

 

[DeFeKt]

Are they still just scared of their new home or what

i'd say so, mine i've had for 6months now, and they hide down the bottom on they're side when they're stressed, and go a very light green
only happens during a wc

 

[r6mason]

okay that is good to hear. They always turn like a pale color and stay on the bottom on their sides but always togather. Do you think they will come around and start to get use to their new home?? I hope so I picked them out because they were the most colorful and now you dont hardly see it unless the lights are off so whats the point.

 

[DeFeKt]

ur the person who was asking about feeding them to ey?
just a couple of questions...
how many fish u got?
whats ur water like?temp/ph etc
it's strange that they're still hiding after a few days...
I introduced a new blood red albino and it took him 10 minutes to get his colour back and 'chillout' with the other oscars..
he's still very catious because the others are 3 times the size of him, but he hasn't gone pale since i first released him..

 

[Jason_S]

oscars can take a bit longer than other cichlids to get used to their new home. this is perfectly normal. it can take even a couple weeks for them to get completely comfortable in their new tank. It would be nice to know the params of the tank though just to be sure there is nothing else wrong...ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, ph etc.

 

[r6mason]

I have 2 of them. They are about 3 1/2 to 4".

The temp is about 78*
The ammonia is 0.25 to 0.0
PH is about 7.4
I do not know about nitrites and Nitrates. I do not have the test for them yet. Going tomorrow to get them. They are still not eating the cichlid floating pellets I have BUT they are eating the rosy red minnows.

I did a partial water change earlier today just to keep the bactieria levles down if there are any because I do not have the test to check and I want to be safe rather than sorry.
They only lose their color if someone walks up to the tank. if the light is off they act just fine and swim around and as far as I can tell have all their color. but if I walk up to the tank in the dark with a light turned on in a different room to look at their behavior they lose some of their color and swim to the bottom???

 

[Guest]

Soon you will wish they were shy, they will be attacking your hand every time you put it near the tank.

 

[r6mason]

hey hey tony. how have you been?

 

[DeFeKt]

it can take even a couple weeks for them to get completely comfortable in their new tank

I must have really adventurous and bold oscars?
as far as the pellets r concerned keep trying with them..
took me 2 weeks to ween mine off live food onto pellets/roo diet.

 

[r6mason]

Thank you all very much for your replies. I will just keep a close eye on them. I just wanted to make sure that they were not in grave danger.

 

[megos1]

haha, i went through the same problems with my oscar...dont worry at all, they will be very "oscar like" very soon

 

[Blazeherd2306]

How big is the tank? I know that two oscars need a minimum of a 75 gal, but should be put in a 100 gal. One oscar should have a bare minimum of 55 gal. My parrot cichlid took 2 weeks to get used to my 55 gal and at one point I thought he was going to die. Now, every time I come near the tank, he's always begging for food.

HTH

 

[r6mason]

I have them in a 125 gallon tank. They are doing much better now. not losing their color anymore. one of them will damn near eat a rosy red minnow out of my hand now so all in all they are doing great. Still wont touch the floating pellets. I am getting tired of cleaning my filter strainer in the tank. But they are coming around. I think they are going to do great. niether one will leave each others side never more that a fins legenth away.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Have you tried feeding them frozen bloodworms and tubifix worms? They will also eat earthworms.

 

[Mudfrog]

As long as you are feeding them Rosey's they are not going to eat pellets. I had mine eating pellets for about 4 months straight, made the mistake of giving him Rosey's two days in a row and it took 4 days of him starving himself before he would even look at a pellet again.

 

[oscarbreeder]

I would stay away from feeder fish altogether. If you really want to feed live food try earthworms or crickets. They are much better for the oscars.

 

[DeFeKt]

earthworms are good, cockroaches, moths, beetles, all things they eat in the wild anyway..
part of our weekend agenda is my 2 oldest kids running around catching bugs and looking for worms to feed to oscar the grouch and tigger.

 

[r6mason]

I have run out of rosy minnows and will buy no more. I put some pellets in the tank today and they ate a few. They are starting to go for my pleco so I geuss I will have to put him in a different tank until they are eating regularly. But as far as the hiding thing they are at the glass every time you walk into the room begging for food. Thanks for all your replies.


Thanks
Mason

 

[oscarbreeder]

Glad your oscars have come around. Now the fun starts so sit back and enjoy.

 

[DeFeKt]

Interesting Story:
My new blood red albino thinks he's a barramundi...
He doesn't swim with the oscars anymore, he sits up the top with the barramundi, facing down on a 45 deg angle, watching the bottom like the barras do...As if he's about to pounce on an unsuspecting victim.
He's healthy, Just now he's developed this personality "disorder"..
it's actually kind of cute..
bit like when i got my first oscar, he went in with some discus
poor lil guy turned into a wuss.he's alright now though...(using the term "alright" loosely) now he's demanding and agro... hence "oscar the grouch!!"
I think Oscars have the best personality of all the fish by far..