View Full Version : Keeping a solo Oscar. Will he be happy?
Lynsey
07-29-2003, 12:16 AM
I have an Oscar that is about 1.5 years old. For the first year of his life he was roomies with a Blood Parrot. About 6 months ago, he turned on my BP so I had to get rid of him. Now I just have my Oscar with a pleco and some silver dollars. My question is: Will my Oscar be happy in the tank with out a friend? Is he going to be lonely? Or is he totally happy that he doesn't have to deal with anyone else?
Also, my Oscar often (for seemingly no reason) attacks the front of the tank and rubs his belly in the gravel and freaks out a bit (spraying gravel everywhere). Is that normal? It makes me think he is not happy?
Mystroe_TheMyst
07-29-2003, 3:06 AM
Well when I had my Gold Severum...He was all alone in his tank so I got rid of him..Reluctantly. He seemed a bit bored and his tankmates would just suffer from his wrath so after the loss of many fish he was all by himself. he was like this for many months until I realised that he was bored.
Your choice...I don't think they are really happy when there on their own
:p Hey, my Oscar was attacking the front of the tank and pushing against it aggressively with mouth wide open. For that 5 minutes i was wondering what the hell was happening.
The room was dark with only the aquarium lights on. Could it be the oscar saw his own reflection?
Oscars are territorial fish without the ability to reason. The short answer is no. They don't get lonely, and the oscar was probably swimming up and down because he saw you moving around and may be a bit up for some food. Mine did that when he was hungry. Or it could very well have seen something that displeased it. As for the fish rubbing against gravel, that sounds like flashing. How often does it do that. Could be gill flukes.
Lynsey
07-29-2003, 10:22 AM
He only rubs against the gravel when he attacks the glass. He usually attacks the bottom part of the glass therfore when he thrashes at the glass he kicks up all the gravel. He only does this on one corner of the tank. Maybe he can see his reflection? He always attacks the same part of the tank. He never attacks when I am close to the tank. And he is also very pleasant to his tankmates (silver dollars and pleco) with the occasional short lived chase. I am just worried that if I introduced another Oscar: 1) they would fight all the time, and 2) if they got it on they would gang up on my pleco (which I absolutely love).
DarthV
07-29-2003, 10:26 AM
The flashing is probably more of a display of aggression if it only does it after attacking the glass (probably reflection!). If you are planning on getting an oscar, make sure you have the right amount of space (at least 90gal!) and hopefully they can get along.
MASSMAN2
07-29-2003, 11:25 AM
THe Oscar should be fine by itself. It probably prefers to see you come to the tank than to have another fish in the tank.
scott
07-29-2003, 11:58 AM
anthropomorphic (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=anthropomorphic)
Optix is right. You are reading human characteristics into your fish. The fish could be attacking it's reflection and the thrashing in the gravel could be a show for that same reflection. There are many possibilities but fish do not comprehend loneliness. Their brains don't work that way.
I would not add another oscar as the one you currently have has staked out the whole tank as it's territory and will more likely than not be aggressive towards a conspecific. On the other hand it might work. If your oscar already harassed a BP to tank withdrawl I would lean towards the first hypothesis however
Lynsey
07-29-2003, 8:44 PM
Thanks. He is very spoiled as is, so he is probably fine. I guess he will just have to live with being the king of the tank.
ChilDawg
07-29-2003, 9:08 PM
You'd have to move the O out for a bit and let any new acquisitions gain an upper hand, but it will be fine alone, as stated before!
GEV83
07-30-2003, 12:38 PM
Dint you put a Firemouth with your Oscar before???
Lynsey
07-30-2003, 8:40 PM
Yeah, I had a firemouth when I first set up the tank about a year and a half ago. It was fighting with my BP too much. I had my BP for longer and had transfered it into this tank, so I didn't want to get rid of him at the time (which I eventually had to do a year later ).:(
PeteSC
08-01-2003, 7:45 PM
My experiences.....
If the Oscar is in a sufficient sized tank for it's growth and health.....and in a room with activity....YOU are it's tankmates!
Try to place the tank in a room with a lot of activity, or where it can see into another room. It will be happy as heck....and you will be the tankmate!:)
How big is your tank, anyway?
Mine also fights the reflections in the tank side......as well as pictures of fish you hold up to the aquarium!
An excellent point Pete! Oscars are very interactive fish.
Lynsey
08-03-2003, 5:17 PM
My tank is 5 feet long by 18" wide by 16" tall (75 gallon long). I special ordered the tank because it fit perfectly into a nook in my house in the living room. Also, I figured that my Oscar would appreciate the extra foot in length, rather than having it be a little taller. I also thought that having it be longer and not taller is better for my floor since it is on the second story. He seems to only attack the glass at night, so it must be that he can see his reflection. At least he can have fun chasing the silver dollars once in a while. He never even gets close to them though.........they are too fast and he is too lazy. :)
PeteSC
08-04-2003, 5:27 PM
I figured out the 'reflection' problem with mine after I noticed an increase in attacking the glass after I cleaned the algae from the sides....and if I turned off the room lights at night when the tank light was on. Instant oscar frontal assault! I solved the night time thing by leaving a small 15 watt light on in the living room. My oscar tank is in the living room a couple of feet from the tv. sometimes the oscar likes to watch tv!