Hello!

We recently got 2 small tiger oscars.
(Don't worry... they aren't in my goldfish tank... and... I won't feed them goldfish- just bloodworms, etc).
Both were very lathargic and one just died. I'm worried about the other one.

Do you have any referrals for a website that could help give advice for Oscars?

I'd appreciate any recommendations or referrals you could give.
Thanks!


PS. In both tanks, the water is testing VERY HARD, 300ppm. We are using Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water Conditioner, as recommended by an employee from the pet store. It doesn't seem to help at all! Any suggestions?

Thanks again!

We can try and help you.

How many gallons is the tank and how long have you had them? How big are they and what are you feeding exactly.

A lot of problems with oscars comes down to feeding the wrong diet and this makes them susceptible to hexamita which is a gut disorder through lack of certain types of food.

It shows itself by pitting around the head area.

Can you get a pic of the sick fish and see if therees anything visibly wrong with them such as dull skin or emaciated looking.

20 gallon tank

We've tried frozen bloodworms, frozen beefheart, and Cichlid Pellet food.
The Oscar we have left doesn't have much of an appetite. Last night and tonight, though, he's been eating maybe up to 10 bloodworms or so... which is a lot for him.

He hides all the time, so it will be hard to get a picture, but I'll try. He doesn't look sick or dull skinned to me... he's very bright and beautiful.

We've had the Oscars about a week. One of them died a few days ago. The live one is about 1 inch long.

Thanks for being willing to help! I'll try to put up a pic asap.

The water params are:
Nitrate (NO+3) ppm (mg/L)- Freshwater= 20
Nitrite (NO-2)ppm (mg/L) - Freshwater= 0.5
Total Hardness (GH) ppm - Freshwater= 300
Total Alkalinity (KH) ppm- Freshwater=180
pH- Freshwater= 7.8

Youre showing nitrite which means the tank is cycling or if already cycled the filter isnt coping or not enough water changes.
10 gallons is way too small for two even small oscars. They are messier than goldies and would need at least a 30 to start with and eventually at full grown two would need a minimum of 150 gallons.

Try to hold back on the bloodworm and get him to feed more on the pellet.

How much filtration do you have and how much in the way of waterchanges and frequency?

Ok, we're planning on getting a much bigger tank soon.

We've been changing the water about 25 percent per week.

The filtration unit is Top Fin 20 Powerfilter.

Oscars prefer a temp range of 71.5 - 82 F.Males grow to around 13 1/2 inchs Females 13 1/2 . pH range of between 6.8 - 7.5.

These guys will eat anything that will fit in their mouths.If you have two males expect them to fight till the dominant male has been determined.They normally lock mouths together and push each other around rather than a total fight.They eat all kinds of food bloodworms,daphnia and tubifex are good for these fish as they require a relatively high protein diet.They will also eat Lance Fish,whole mussels and whole cockles which are an excellant food source for these fish.

I've heard that a 70 gallon tank is what is recomended for one oscar.

The recommendation is a minimum of 55 gals for one oscar, and at least 75 gal for a pair. There is site for cichlids, cichlid-forum.com - give it a try. Good luck.