Oscar trouble

[Shocker]

My oscar's been acting really strange lately. It stopped eating and it swims up to the glass and pushed really hard on it. It also flares out its gills before biting on the glass. I also noticed that it twitches every now and then, so I thought that the temperature of the water was too high, but it's always at 75F. The PH is at 7.0 which is OK for oscars.... does anybody know how I can help my oscar?

[vfrex]

75 seems a bit low. My cichlids did not respond well in the mid to low 70's. 1st, see what you can do about bringing the temp up between 78 and 80.

How big is the oscar?

[O-man21]

and how big is the tank?
it may just be flaring at it's reflection on the glass.

[Shocker]

My oscar's almost 12 inches long and it's in a 55 gallon.

[Tightdog1]

i would say keep the temp in the upper 70s like 75-79.

[Shocker]

It also moves around stones all of the time so I thought it was at the age of maturity where it wants to mate. I'm not sure of the gender, but by the behaviour of creating craters I'm guessing it's a female.

[kevinn2003]

my temp is at 80 and my oscars always flare there gills at the glass and bite it, there just looking at ther reflection

[Shocker]

Thanks for your help. I was just a little worried seeing as he had never done that before.:D

[aquatic finatic]

:) hi, i know this is my first reply but i am an experienced fish keeper and i have just stumbled on this website.

it appears that your oscar is "sulking", this can be narrowed down quite easily,

Because he/she is on their own,- lonely- i mean how would you like a single life? maybe like you say the oscar feels like it,s time to breed? in this case i would first of all buy a clear sheet of glass
i have bought these successfully from a local glazier-and cheap,
give a local glazier a phone call with your tank dimensions width and depth and he will cut you a piece which can be slotted into the tank and held in place with rubber suckers, so now your oscar has only half of his alloted space hes used to hes not going to be happy- let the tank and his temperament settle for a couple of days 3-4 then you can think about introducing a mate, where i live i dont know about you but there is an abundance of large oscars available choose one of similar size and colour pattern.
Take him home and put him in the tank first of all nothing much will happen but there will be a couple of stand offs from either side of the glass........ i would leave this in place for about 7-10 days and then remove it... yes i will guarantee there will be fireworks at first but they will settle down trust me.

make sure whilst you are doing this transition that filtration is taken care of (on both sides of the divider) and good quality food is offered.

which leads me on to feeding, if you are happy with leaving him on his own then i would suggest you offer earthworms.
put simply oscars adore earthworms-they love them.
if you have a garden or a relative/friend has a garden get in there! arm yourself with a pitch fork (garden fork) and a bucket and dig away!!!! pick your worms out....... and leave them out of the soil/mud for 24 hours this allows them to purge their contents after the 24 hours add the worms and your oscar will have a feast and he will appreciate your efforts in a big way.

I feed my oscars Mainly earthworms and prawns as a treat, on the evening i feed a few pellets they always come to the front glass when im around and show off-moving gravel and pieces of bogwood about i have successfully bred one pair many times (this pair formed with a situation like yours i used the divider and it paid off) they are kept in a tank 48"x24"x24" and breed prolifically. so much so that i have to cull half of the fry to obtain healthy specimens.

i hope my comments help you and please let me know how you get on! and finally if u havent allready add a ping pong ball and he/she will play for hours.

good luck

JE

[Newfoundhope]

I agree a tankmate would probably help out the situation, but not in the tank you have your oscar in now. A 12" oscar is almost full grown and really needs a good 70-80 gallons of his own. I suggest investing in a larger tank, and pairing him with another large oscar, and a fully grown jack dempsey. A good tank for oscars is the oceanic 140 gallon, or if you don't want to pay as much, Petsmart sells a 150 gallon that is 24" deep, which is perfect for keeping large cichlids. Raising the temp would also be a good idea, but i don't think it related to your problem, though the oscar would benefit from a warmer climate.:D