Tiger Oscar - On Last Legs!

[tropical-fish]

hi all, it looks like my little tiger oscar is on the way out. he's resting on his side in the front corner of the tank and breathing very slowly. i've had him for just over a month and he's about 3 inches.

it's a 70 gal tank that was setup 6 months ago. the water readings are amo-0, nitrite-0, nitrate-10. i do a 30% water change each saturday. the other fish (angels, gourami, plec) in the tank are ok.

he was fine yesterday and last night i fed him some small meal worms as a treat. i was careful to only feed the white ones that have just shed their hard skin.

i get the feeling he is badly constipated now. any other ideas on what this could be and is there anything that can be done for him?

thanks for your help

 

[davePM]

It's really hard to tell with oscars, one of mine will lay on the bottom and appear dead for hours, another one floats on his side. There is no "normal" behaviour" with an Oscar, so it can be hard to tell sometimes. Just watch him carefully. I tend to only feed cichlids pellets as you know there won't be anything nasty in them. They do get feeder fish very occasionally.

One thing I would say though is that your tank is too small IMO for what you have in it, I would also be careful about anything you put it with an Oscar, he my only be 3 inches now but he will grow FAST, and try to eat anything an anyone!

 

[tropical-fish]

davepm, thanks for your reply. maybe he is just faking it! he showed no interest at feeding time this morning, that's strange for him. his breathing look a bit better now so hopefully he'll be ok.

yeah, think i'll stick to the pellets for the time being and i'll be moving out some of the other stock once he gets a bit bigger.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

my oscar done this yesterday but is fine today. basically it pooped out an entire pellet or two and was fine, but that was a biiiig and painful poop. which also explains why ur tiger wont eat the food?
the gourami and angels are dead meat in there with an oscar though, unless you are VERY lucky...

 

[tropical-fish]

thanks MBF. with a bit of luck he'll be fine after a big dump.

oscar is still very small, the 2x angels are bigger and the gourami is just a bit smaller than him for now. i'll be moving them out in a couple of months and it'll just be oscar and the plec in the 70 gal.

 

[davePM]

In a couple of months that Oscar could easily be 6 to 8 inches! Also it never harms to do a 50% pwc at any signs of trouble .

 

[tropical-fish]

i think if he pulls through this (which he should do) then i'm going to start him on the master cleanse

anyone had any success feeding peas to your oscar?

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

how big is it? mine like tetra colour disc flakes, even though they were for the zebras!

 

[tropical-fish]

he's only a wee lad! 3 inches. the good news is that he's looking much better today. swimming around and took some crushed up flakes.

i was feeding flakes and pellets but wanted to give him a bit more variety in his diet and started feeding live bloodworms and mealworms from time to time. i think the mealworm skin is hard for him to digest.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

ha mine are smaller. 1.75 +2.5in
how does it take to the boodworm?

 

[tropical-fish]

he loves it! live bloodworm is a huge hit with nearly all my fish. i try to feed it once a week if i can.

the only problem is it smells rotten. so i only buy a small bit (a tea spoon full) that can be finished in 1 session. it's not something i'd want to keep around the house.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

how is he now? x

 

[tropical-fish]

he's back in action again swimming all over the place and feeding as normal. i have to admit that when i started this thread i wasn't expecting a happy ending.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

im glad! do we get a pic? haa x

 

[tropical-fish]

not the best of photos... but here he is Oscar 'The Shark Slayer'.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

awww! INCREDIBLE colour - and very healthy looking. congrats