Help My Red Tiger Oscar Hasn't Eaten In 5 Days

[inluvwithlucifer]

I introduced Lucifer (our red tiger oscar) to our ready tank on December 24th (great Christmas present) and he was happily eating the feeders (23 in 3 days) we had for him. In the past month he has eaten shrimp feeder fish and Nutrafin Max sinking complete food tabletsand was avery interactive and platful fish. But in the past week he's been very dosile and not eating anything which in turn he isn't pooping. We have him in a 20gallon tank and do partial water changes weekly. His tank is clean. He has no spotts on him, but he does sit in the bottom alot as well as hover around by the heater alot (tank is at 80F) I am lost for what to do with him. If anyone can help me please do thanks in advance.


This is a picture of him taken about 2 days ago

 

[emma12321]

Hi welcome to the forum,

What are your water stats, ammonia, nitrAte, nitrIte and pH, a 20 gallon tank is no place for an oscar, how big is he, how long has the tank been set up? This might help http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=47035

Emma

 

[inluvwithlucifer]

Hi welcome to the forum,

What are your water stats, ammonia, nitrAte, nitrIte and pH, a 20 gallon tank is no place for an oscar, how big is he, how long has the tank been set up? This might help http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=47035

Emma

Water is good no worries on that part. Lucifer is about 4 inches long and the tank has be up and running for about 6 months is HAD tetras in it until we put him in it

 

[Spyderdf]

You really should do research first on your fish.


Oscars belong in nothing smaller than a 55, and that is being the bare minimum.


that being said their are many things that can cause an oscar to loose interest in food.

the first and prolly the main reason is stress, being introdueced into a new home may have stressed him out a bit, and he prolly feels very out of place.

What is the tank decor, you should try and give him something to take cover behind . my number one suggestion tho is to take him back, he does not belong in a 20 gal no matter what the size!

 

[Tolak]

Where did you get the feeder fish from? Ifs feeders are known to carry diseases due to the cramped conditions they are kept in, and their probable short life span being used as live food. Feeder fish are no where near as nutritious as a good cichlid pellet, along with occasional beefheart. Stick to the pellets you are using, and get some frozen beefheart.

You should try to include some vegetables, or veggie pellets in your oscar's diet. Sounds like it could be a bit of constipation, I would start with 1 teaspoon of epsom salt per 10 gallons of water, increasing by a teaspoon per 10 gallons of water daily for a few days to bring it up to 3 teaspoons per 10 gallons of water. If you don't plan on getting a larger tank in the near future, you may as well trade in a well fish.

Try that first, if it doesn't seem to do the trick it may well be an intestinal parasite, which wouldn't surprise me with a fish as messy as an oscar being kept in an undersize tank being fed feeder fish. I have treated a number of fish, including an oscar for this, but it's a long post. Keep us updated, if the epsom salt doesn't work, I'll post the treatment that works for me when intestinal parasites are suspected.

 

[aardvarkfromspace]

The feeders probably had something wrong with them... feeding feeders is dangerous.. not something I've ever done or ever will do... could be some sort of bacterial infection.

 

[inluvwithlucifer]

ok so we tested our water again last night and the ph was really low so we added some buffer up
to stablize the ph. I hope that it works. not sure if we should add the epsom salts where we added the
buffer up. Anyone know if it will hurt him? As for the tank we know it's too small but a new will be on the way if he makes it through this cuz it breaks my heart to see him lying on the bottom and occasionally swimming around

You really should do research first on your fish.


Oscars belong in nothing smaller than a 55, and that is being the bare minimum.


that being said their are many things that can cause an oscar to loose interest in food.

the first and prolly the main reason is stress, being introdueced into a new home may have stressed him out a bit, and he prolly feels very out of place.

What is the tank decor, you should try and give him something to take cover behind . my number one suggestion tho is to take him back, he does not belong in a 20 gal no matter what the size!

We gave him a clay pot as a "cave" to hide in about 1 week ago and that is what started all of this I think he hasn't been the same since then so we took the clay pot out. Plus we have a bit bigger tank then we thought. It waas sold to us as a 20gal but in real actuallity it's a 33gal. I know it's still too small but a biiger one is in the near future. Thank for your help

 

[Tolak]

How low was the pH? Addind chemicals to try to adjust pH is iffy at best, deadly at worst, unless you are starting with ro water. My pH is 7.8, which is considered high for most new world cichlids, oscar is fine, angels all spawn in this water.

I used epsom salt on my oscar when he was 2" and was showing the same symptoms. Ended up having to medicate with metronidazole for parasites. He is now a fat 5" oscar, who eats everything.

I've used epsom salt and metro on a variety of fish. Epsom salt is a cheap natural remedy for constipation and bloat that any aquarist keeping cichlids should have on hand.

 

[inluvwithlucifer]

So itf i add the epsom salts it won't react to the buffer up i used last night?

 

[Tolak]

Won't react at all. I pull out a cup of tank water, put epsom in the cup with the water & mix. Pour it in the tank.

 

[inluvwithlucifer]

thanks I will try that

 

[Genesis]

hows he doing now?

 

[inluvwithlucifer]

After two days of treating the tank with epsom salts and one treatment of buffer up Lucifer is FINE.........Thank God. He is eating out of my fingers swimming around being and Oscar not laying on his side anymore.......
THANK YOU GUYS SOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR THE HELP ........YOU SAVED LUCIFER's LIFE

 

[leechurch]

I introduced Lucifer (our red tiger oscar) to our ready tank on December 24th (great Christmas present) and he was happily eating the feeders (23 in 3 days) we had for him. In the past month he has eaten shrimp feeder fish and Nutrafin Max sinking complete food tabletsand was avery interactive and platful fish. But in the past week he's been very dosile and not eating anything which in turn he isn't pooping. We have him in a 20gallon tank and do partial water changes weekly. His tank is clean. He has no spotts on him, but he does sit in the bottom alot as well as hover around by the heater alot (tank is at 80F) I am lost for what to do with him. If anyone can help me please do thanks in advance.


This is a picture of him taken about 2 days ago

hi i have kept oscars for a long time if i can help please ask