# Oscar seems sick help quick



## yearmax (Aug 11, 2010)

Hey folks.. My oscar has been laying some what on hisside almost leaning a bit at the bottom of my tank. He dosnt really do anything else.. What is wrong with him ?

Had my water tested today by the LFS and it all checks out fine. Notsure what to do if anything. He seems to breathing ok.. not real fast or anything. He started actin this way yesterday. Only thing I did different was add some feeder fish


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## adam79 (Jun 27, 2007)

Did they give you the test results? It's not nessesary to feed your oscar feeders. You run the risk of introducing disease. Oscars are lazy fish and will often lay around on the bottom. They seem to become even less active when the temperature is low. Check the temp of your tank. I've found 80 is a good temp for O's.


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## yearmax (Aug 11, 2010)

The test results all are good on the water. THe guy said that they would not changeanything in the water. I have been going to this place for a while so I think the guys would tell me the truth.

As for the temp I try to keep it at about 80. I just check it and it is at 80. So is it safe to ay he is alright? He is swiming around now a bit but does still sit on the bottom


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## yearmax (Aug 11, 2010)

I cant have him die the wife would kill me


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## FishOnLand (Jul 10, 2010)

Mine sits at the bottom sometimes and even a bit on his side... they have lazy spells.

To be sure: 
1.Check for normal alertness, do his eyes move to watch you as you are near the tank and is his gill movement excessively rapid or slow?

2. Does it have any visible white spots, growths, scratches, or anything that is not usually present on his skin or gills?

3. Has he been eating? Make sure he isn't getting excited at feeding time, but just simply grabbing the food with his mouth and then spitting it back out.

4. Is his abdomen distended or swollen or does it have whitish-clear, stringy poop?

5. Have you cleaned the tank, or adjusted decorations, changed anything in the tank? Sometimes they sulk when you do this and sit on the bottom as described... very normal behavior.

Feeders aren't very nutritionally rich, and since they are fish too... they can pass diseases onto your Oscar. It's best to stick to a quality pellet food 95% of the time and every so often (a few times a week) give him a treat. These can include krill, bugs, freeze dried stuff... the list goes on... just not store-bought feeders.

:fish:


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## FishOnLand (Jul 10, 2010)

Mine really does spend a lot of time on the bottom too though. But he is always happy and alert when I come to the tank due to the hope of getting fed. I ran into a bad case of bloat a few weeks ago with mine that piggy-backed in on a bad lip injury. (from his gardening activities)

I noticed him being more sluggish and not eating, but I thought it was due to his lip-tear and thought he was just stressed. Luckily, I got medicine the day his abdomen puffed out and a week with a full treatment cycle later, he was cured and back to normal. It just seems that there are always little tell-tale signs when something is really wrong with them.

Good luck with your Oscar yearmax, and I hope that my rambling is in some way useful to you.


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## Goontar (Jun 13, 2009)

Sounds like an O panic attack. My Oscar does the same thing when i mess with the tank, add a fish or what ever, the littlest thing can set them off. Don't sweat it Oscars are drama queens.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Good advice here folks. :thumb:

*yearmax*, any chance you can offer up some history on this guy? The more information you share with us the more we can help.

ie;
Tank size
Tank mates
How long it's been set up
How old/big is the oscar
What you normally feed
And anything else you can think of.

Help us help you...


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## yearmax (Aug 11, 2010)

TheFishGuy said:


> Good advice here folks. :thumb:
> 
> *yearmax*, any chance you can offer up some history on this guy? The more information you share with us the more we can help.
> 
> ...


Tank is 125 gallons

Tank mates are listed in signature.

Tank has been setup for about a month maybe a little more.

My oscar has been with us for about 6 - 7 months and he was maybe a few weeks old when I got him maybe even a month. small guy. He is about 6 inches i think.

Normally he gets pellet food now getting cichlid sticks by tetra. No visable signs of being hurt and he does eat some. Not as excited as he normally is about the food. Does not look bloated or anything like that. He just seems to sit at the bottom. He does swim around at times. I did not notice if his eyes follow me or not.

As for any changes there is nothing out of the normal cleaning which is a water change weekly and clean the gravel. This all seems to start yesterday after the feeders. he did eat 1 or 2 before hand.

I hope he was just really full and being lazy and nothing more.


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## yearmax (Aug 11, 2010)

Here is my baby. Pic was taken yesterday


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## FishOnLand (Jul 10, 2010)

I hope so too. Keep you eyes peeled and good luck. Mine is about 6 inches and it was only fairly recently that he began sit on the bottom.


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## yearmax (Aug 11, 2010)

Ok so I got home yesterday from work and my O seemed to be swiming around and when I fed them he seem to go for some food and was eating. I will keep you guys post after the weekend. Lets see how he does.

Thanks for all the advise and suggestions guys. Not sure what I would do without you guys...


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## FishOnLand (Jul 10, 2010)

:thumb:


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## marie25 (Nov 19, 2010)

What a great pic. You put together the Oscar and cichlids? I think it's not good for them since they are predators. There are times that they will fight and it's not good for them. According to Houston Doctors


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