I have a six inch oscar that apparently likes to sleep on his side near the surface. The problem is he is spooking himself at night and hitting the power filter outlets, scraping his skin. The first time this happened he took a good chunk out of his head. Fortunately, the wound healed to almost invisibility in about a week. Tonight I heard a loud splash and found him in his weird sleeping position near the surface with another gash near his gill. Its almost like he is a kid having a nightmare and then falling right back to sleep.
The water conditions in the 75g tank are good; no measurable ammonia or nitrites, water temp 76F, 25% water changes and tank maintenence weekly. I bought two Emperor 400's to keep the water clean since oscars are messy eaters. They also keep the surface water moving nicely so oxygenation should be good. The tank is fairly bare; it is unplanted since oscars are unkind to plants. I have a large artificial driftwood ornament for him to hide under if he wanted to hide.
The oscar appears happy and hungry during the day. I would estimate he has grown almost two inches since I got him about two months ago. I feed him Omega One small cichlid pellets, JumboMin food sticks since he has gotten bigger, and Tetra Jumbo Shrimp as a treat. He isn't being overfed. He is the only fish in the tank. I did my homework and spent about a month researching oscars before I got him.
I thought I read something on a site about oscars sleeping near the surface as being somewhat normal, but I am not sure. Is this spooking just a case of a new adolescent fish going through a stage? I am just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.
The water conditions in the 75g tank are good; no measurable ammonia or nitrites, water temp 76F, 25% water changes and tank maintenence weekly. I bought two Emperor 400's to keep the water clean since oscars are messy eaters. They also keep the surface water moving nicely so oxygenation should be good. The tank is fairly bare; it is unplanted since oscars are unkind to plants. I have a large artificial driftwood ornament for him to hide under if he wanted to hide.
The oscar appears happy and hungry during the day. I would estimate he has grown almost two inches since I got him about two months ago. I feed him Omega One small cichlid pellets, JumboMin food sticks since he has gotten bigger, and Tetra Jumbo Shrimp as a treat. He isn't being overfed. He is the only fish in the tank. I did my homework and spent about a month researching oscars before I got him.
I thought I read something on a site about oscars sleeping near the surface as being somewhat normal, but I am not sure. Is this spooking just a case of a new adolescent fish going through a stage? I am just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.
