My Oscar stopped eating

[Andrew Mck]

Hi I am after some advice on my tiger O. Its young and only about 4" . Over the last week I have noticed the black section of his body and head region has turned a greeny colour and changes back to black every now and then but most of the time looks green. He appears healthy and swims around the tank but have noticed that he is not eating and has difficaulties eating crickets and roaches (sounds grose but he luvs them). He trys to take them into his mouth and spits it back out again shaking his head and looks as if he has difficaulties in eating. He then sulks at the bottom of the tank. I have put him into another tank to keep and eye on him and have tried feeding him on Cichlids pellets / Cichlids flake food and blood worms but he still not eating as if he has a problem with his mouth. Before this started he was a real pig and would try and eat all the food before the other fish could get some particularly blood worms. I have had him in another tank for 2 days now and he swims around like normal stays at the top section of the tank and looks out at us all the time and looks healthy. Although he doesnt appear to look sick I am worried with his lack of interest in eating. Any suggestions would be Gr8.

[eternity302]

I woudn't worry too much. An oscar will always eventually eat everything. Try changing the water daily to make sure he's got pristine quality of water.. I'm actually changing my oscars water as we speak. LOL!
Anyways, Try cut up prawns? I had a few oscars and none ever denied prawns. But I wouldn't worry too much, or maybe you can soak it in some garlic guard to make it want to eat a little more.

[spit.fire]

put salt in the tank as if he has something wrong with his mouth it will help him heal

[Andrew Mck]

put salt in the tank as if he has something wrong with his mouth it will help him heal

Thnx, What type of salt?? Is there a special sea salt or is table salt ok?

[eternity302]

Aquarium Salt!
Go any pet store.. it's cheap, might cost you a few dollars

and you might want to post your water parameters
tank size
and what else is in the tank with the oscar

[Andrew Mck]

6ft - About 340ltr
2 Oscars (Tigar & White/Orange)
5 Angels
2 Sailfin Moggies
3 Suckers
_______________________________
Quarintine Tank
Aqua One Aqua Start 500 - 60lt..

[charles]

340L tank might be a bit small for 2 x oscar and 3 suckers (I assume they are common plecos). check your water parameter. Though I would not use insect as food. Pellets are better and oscar is not a very picky eater.

[eternity302]

I'm guess you have like a 75 gallon tank?
How much water change?
Like charles said, your water parameters must be off the chart for having 2 of em in your tank!
Check your nitrate~

[Andrew Mck]

Thnx Charles and Eternity302 for yor feedback. I have only had my tank for 6 - 12 months now and only just started with my O's (75gal). The larger fish in my tank are my Angel fish. My O's are only a few months old (One O is about 4" and the other about 2"). All the Suckers are the common Plecos and are small about 2" long. I have just checked the internet and will have to depart with 3 of them as they get bigger. At the moment all fish are fairly small in size. My tank water the ph is 7 or a bit under which I try to maintain at that level. I have a 5 layer Aleas brand cannister filter and the water quality is good. I do regular water changes of about 20% every 3-4 weeks. I do not have a tester to check the water nitrate and will get a kit next week.

The Oscar thats not eating I have placed into a smaller 60lt tank by himself till I can sort his problem out. I gave him bits of a prawn and he tried to eat and spat it out and looked like it was coughing and shaking its head. He then left the bit of prawn. It looks like his problem has to do with inside his mouth (cant see anything). Thnx again for your advice.

[Fish Whisper]

Thnx Charles and Eternity302 for yor feedback. I have only had my tank for 6 - 12 months now and only just started with my O's (75gal). The larger fish in my tank are my Angel fish. My O's are only a few months old (One O is about 4" and the other about 2"). All the Suckers are the common Plecos and are small about 2" long. I have just checked the internet and will have to depart with 3 of them as they get bigger. At the moment all fish are fairly small in size. My tank water the ph is 7 or a bit under which I try to maintain at that level. I have a 5 layer Aleas brand cannister filter and the water quality is good. I do regular water changes of about 20% every 3-4 weeks. I do not have a tester to check the water nitrate and will get a kit next week.

The Oscar thats not eating I have placed into a smaller 60lt tank by himself till I can sort his problem out. I gave him bits of a prawn and he tried to eat and spat it out and looked like it was coughing and shaking its head. He then left the bit of prawn. It looks like his problem has to do with inside his mouth (cant see anything). Thnx again for your advice.

Hope things get Better,

I'd definitely would bring in the water sample to a LFS ASAP (they do it for FREE), and in the mean time do water changes daily, Until you know what's wrong in the water Parameters (Ammonia, nitrite, Nitrate, hardness, pH).

It may not be a measurable water parameter and could be bacteria or some disease.

If you suspect your Bio-filters got shocked, you can try using a Product called Stability, suppose to speed up Nitrifying bacteria growth.

I'd advice you to act sooner than next week, I lost 2 beautiful Ozzy's due to not taking fast enough.