Oscar buries itself in sand

[brandoncw]

Every time I attempt to change my water and clean the debris from the the tank one of the Oscars always buries itself deep (all the way to the bottom glass, about 3 inches) in the sand. I let it stay there for a while the second time it did it and it didn't come up after ten mins so I dug it up, is this behavior normal? Will the fish suffocate under the sand that deep? If it's not good what should I do to prevent it, put them in a plastic tub during maintenance maybe?

 

[Tyler_Fishman]

Never heard of this before actually. If you know the cause, and this fish is able to get itself out safe then I wouldn't worry, yes I would move him to a quarantine set up whilst you are doing maitinece if it's behavior makes you feel anxious.

 

[brandoncw]

I have scanned the internet very diligently and have not read anything about Oscars burying themselves. That is what doesn't make sense. Maybe it's cause this particular fish is more stress prone than the other more dominant confident Oscar? So maybe it takes hiding from "danger" to a whole new level, even so id expect there to be some cases of it happening somewhere on Google.

 

[brandoncw]

Never heard of this before actually. If you know the cause, and this fish is able to get itself out safe then I wouldn't worry, yes I would move him to a quarantine set up whilst you are doing maitinece if it's behavior makes you feel anxious.

 

[DutchMuch]

very interesting. I myself also have never heard of Oscars burying themselves, or half burying themselves. Will like to see the outcome of this.

 

[brandoncw]

very interesting. I myself also have never heard of Oscars burying themselves, or half burying themselves. Will like to see the outcome of this.

I am going to assume this behavior isn't healthy for the fish, after every time it buries itself it damages it's mucous coat and has many small scratches on its sides

 

[DutchMuch]

Can you siphon the sand out of the tank and go bare tank for a while to examine?

 

[Toney]

Pictures