# new oscar not eating



## Emzz (Mar 11, 2008)

hi

just got an oscar on wednesday night
he would just lay at the bottom for almost the whole night, but i heard from others that he might be in a "sulk" from the move.
he swims around now, but whenever i turn on the light(even in the day) he will just sink to the bottom and lay there on his side. people say that hes still just being a drama queen but i dnno.

hes still not eating yet, and i was wondering if that's normal. what should i do to get him to eat?


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## BlackShark11k (Feb 16, 2007)

Are your water parameters within the recommended range? What's the tank size?

Try feeding a variety of foods under dim lighting. He may just have a strong personality or something could be wrong.

Art


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## Emzz (Mar 11, 2008)

the water parameters are on point. he has a nice filter as well as an airstone, which he seems to like sticking his face in sometimes.

pH- 7.0-7.2
temp- 76-77
the water is soft, but not overly soft
ammo-0
No2-0
no3-i keep it in the 5-15 range

hes in a 20 gallon for a temporary home, and hes little. 3-4 inches. im going to start building him a 75 gallon plywood tank on tuesday which will be his temporary home till when i move and build him a bigger tank. im moving after the summer. the 20 gallon is bigger than the little cube that he was in with a buddy who he liked to beat up at the LFS.
he has a plant pot in there that is the perfect size for him. the rest of the tank is pretty bare because of the size. 
when he swims, which is whenever the room is dim or dark, in the day without my room light on or someone isnt standing over his tank, he swims fine. Never freaks out, and checks things out. when im in there to go to sleep he swims around and watches me.

*** tried feeding him cichlid pellets(on the container is a pic of an oscar), and FDd bloodworms.
sometimes he goes up to the pellets and stares but then doesnt eat.


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## BlackShark11k (Feb 16, 2007)

If he doesn't eat in the next day or too, try live bloodworms, oscars absolutely loooove these. Hopefully he won't be able to resist...

If your not already, step back after putting food in the tank. Don't give him too much food if he's not eating or it will pollute the tank.

Good Luck,
Art


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## rED O (Mar 1, 2008)

no reson to freak out,when oscars are trasnferd to a new tank they sulk. hes doing normal oscar behavor. and for all cichlids i have had and oscars being the pickyist eaters dont worry your oscar will eat when hes hungry, he wont strave him self


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## Emzz (Mar 11, 2008)

okay, thanks


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## remarkosmoc (Oct 19, 2005)

rED O said:


> no reson to freak out,when oscars are trasnferd to a new tank they sulk. hes doing normal oscar behavor. and for all cichlids i have had and oscars being the pickyist eaters dont worry your oscar will eat when hes hungry, he wont strave him self


Completely agree! Oscars pout


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## Emzz (Mar 11, 2008)

he eats now. i swear hes nocturnal or something. he comes out and is active at night when the room is dark and he does all the oscar-like things.... bites the heater, filter sometimes, he eats now, and hes just very cute overall.
i got him a 55 gallon tank for 15$ on craigslist yesterday, so im cleaning it out now and cleaning off a humungo piece of driftwood(LOT of work) that only fits in my tank in 1 certain position. IDK what hes gonna think about all the space, being a small lil guy n all. i think he should be happy. hopefully he wont be pissy for a week or two. lol, who m i kidding.

BTW i named him Ze after a character in the movie "City of God". When I got him he was beating up another fish pretty bad, even though hes a lil one. If youve seen the movie, you get it.
thanks guys.


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## mark102 (Apr 13, 2008)

When i first got my oscar he did the same thing, every time i turned on the light he would sulk at the bottom for hours. So i went out and got a timer from petsmart and set it for about 12 hours per day, soon after he got used to the light coming on ,by a routine basses he will eventually know when it's coming on,and my oscar now go's crazy thinking its time to be fed.


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