Hello, I have an Oscar cichlid that I have had for about 3 years now. You would think I would know a lot about him but unfort I do not. He lives in a 75 gallon aquarium, he gets 10 % water changes every week, and he seems happy. Lately though he doesn't eat, he's been given Hikari Cichlid Gold pellets, frozen krill, beefheart and frozen minnows. He just won't eat anymore. Im a little concerned, anything I should be checking?

I also wanted to know what is the correct lighting for an Oscar. I think my light may be too bright for him if he's used to murky rivers.

Thanks

Nate

Check your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates in the tank. An oscar is a very messy fish and I think you need to up the amount of water changed each week to at least 30 to 50%

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Ditto. Definitely need more water changes. 25% weekly minimum, more if needed to keep the nitrate concentration under 20ppm before a water change.

I would improve diet as well. In my experience New Life Spectrum is by far the best food out right now. This is especially important with oscars since they are so prone to HLLe, which in oscars is caused by low quality food and water.

Lighting should not be an issue. As long as you can see and enjoy him it is fine.

How large is the oscar?
Is there anything else in the tank?

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Biologist-Professional Aquarium Care-Published Author (Aquarium Fish International Magazine)

Stocking has NOTHING to do with tank volume, it is all about water changes.

thank you for your responses, I will up his water changes. The Oscar is about 10.5 inches, I got him when he was just barely visible ha ha. He doesn't live with any other tank mates at this moment, his substrate is black sand and he has two pieces of drift wood that form a cave in one end. (he doesn't go there either but stays near the Fluval filter on the other end.) He is getting an Aqua Top CF 400 UV filter next week. I will check on the nitrate levels. He seems lethargic lately. Not so much as laying on his side on the bottom, but more just sitting on one side of the tank. Is he bored perhaps? a few tank mates or maybe some flora fauna?

Why the UV? There may be other, better uses for that money.

Improving the water quality should help a lot, but boredom is a possibility. I have heard of some people giving their oscars ping pong balls to play with. I have seen others use fishing line to have a ping pong ball suspended in the middle of the water column for them to play with. One person even had a string hang in the water that was attached to a bell. The oscar learned that if he pulled the string and rung the bell he woudl get fed. Some just like to have some medium sized rocks to push around.

Do you have an air pump? I consider them to be an essential in any tank, but many fish do like to play in them.

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Biologist-Professional Aquarium Care-Published Author (Aquarium Fish International Magazine)

Stocking has NOTHING to do with tank volume, it is all about water changes.

the CF 400 UV was only 87 dollars, so felt like a good deal compared to other canister filters out there, the UV just happened to come with it. I will try the ping pong ball suggestion. I have had an airstone in there before but the tank gets so foamy on the surface. He does seem to respond to the bubbles though

If the top was foamy then you just needed some water changes.

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Biologist-Professional Aquarium Care-Published Author (Aquarium Fish International Magazine)

Stocking has NOTHING to do with tank volume, it is all about water changes.

That I think is the main problem, with little water changes in an oscar tank your going to have ammonia and nitrite build up which is causing the foaming. Large water changes once a week will probably change his outlook.

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
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It is not the ammonia and nitrite that cause foam, or build up with insufficient water changes. All sorts of bad things build up when insufficient water changes are done, some of which cause the foam. Ammonia and nitrite will not build up in a balanced, cycled tank.

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Biologist-Professional Aquarium Care-Published Author (Aquarium Fish International Magazine)

Stocking has NOTHING to do with tank volume, it is all about water changes.

If the tank isn't getting enough water changes yes the ammonia and things will build up. I have seen it happen in many tanks that aren't being taken care of properly. And very small water changes for a tank even in a well established tank with a very messy fish it can and will happen.

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

thank you for these replies. The foam i'm talking about is the disturbance from the massive amount of bubbles. I put it in and start it, within 5 minutes there is so much foam at the top from all the bubbles it just makes it impossible to feed him. Maybe get an airstone that is less serious about bubble making or perhaps attach it horizontally?

It really isn't the air, it is stuff that is already in the water that is causing the problem.

No, a cycled tank will never have detectable ammonia or nitrite unless you throw off the balance by either cleaning the filter too well and remove too much of the bacteria or you add too many fish too fast or overfeed. Simply not doing water changes will not cause detectable ammonia or nitrite on its own.

__________________
Biologist-Professional Aquarium Care-Published Author (Aquarium Fish International Magazine)

Stocking has NOTHING to do with tank volume, it is all about water changes.

thanks again for the replies, the CF 400 canister filter arrived and its doing great, love this thing! I do have some questions about it but I will ask that in the Filtration section, thank you again guys and gals.

I personally do %30-40 water changes weekly for my oscars, depending on their size you may want to consider feeding live or frozen fresh foods to their diet to supplement what they are already receiving. As for the bubbles I have 2 14" airstones powered by a Tetra Whisper 30-60, and I don't have any issues with excessive bubbles or foaming so i would say that when you do the waterchanges as suggested then you may see a decrease in the amount of foam you see.

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75g planted 2x Golden Oscars, 1x Pictus cat, 1x Common Pleco
55g 1 juvi albino oscar, 3 Pictus cats, 1x Common Pleco, 1 GBR
25g Planted Juvi L144 Plecos, Mollies, guppies, and RCS

I've never kept oscars - they are too big for me, but my uncle had them for years. I'd guess, like others have, that it's dirty water. My Satanoperca, from much the same natural habitat as an oscar, get very lethargic if I change less than 30% of their 120 gallon tank weekly. I can literally tell when I did my last water change by their activity levels, and five minutes after the hose is out of the tank, they are back to normal and very active again.
I love having one tank with larger fish, but you are on their timelines - larger South American fish are not very adaptable and it's up to their keepers to stay on schedule - not always easy but really evident when you miss. I expect that as my Satanoperca grow, I'll probably have to change water every five days or so.

There is nothing in live foods that is required by fish that is not provided by a high quality pellet (except the pellet is more complete and balanced, has no risk of introducing parasites, and doesn't increase aggression).

__________________
Biologist-Professional Aquarium Care-Published Author (Aquarium Fish International Magazine)

Stocking has NOTHING to do with tank volume, it is all about water changes.