My fish has gone crazy!

[Trudy]

Hi, I have a Tiger Oscar named Trudy, he's about 20 months old and has always done weird things(like Oscars do) but suddenly yesterday he started being really weird. He swims as hard as he can in circles then shoots off to another side of the tank and does something else then swims in circles again. He does all this really fast and sloshes water everywhere if he's near the surface. He kept this up for hours yesterday and woke me up two days in a row now with his new craziness! It's like he's on speed or something, he just keeps going and going. Normally he's pretty relaxed and just does the occasional weird thing like attacking his reflection in the bottom of the tank(he cleared all the gravel away so half the bottom is just exposed glass) But now he's thrashing everywhere like a madman then he stops when he gets tired then goes at it again a while later. Any explaination for this? Is this just a new game for him or is it mating season or something? Thanks for your help.

 

[freddyttt]

question...

tank size,

any other fish in the tank??

 

[Trudy]

50 gallon tank. No other fish in there.

 

[xXMrBonesXx]

maybe 20 months of watching you has finally rubbed off on him? just kidding

 

[Trudy]

Right now he's tired himself out from being weird. But basically he does hard 180 degree turns like a dog chasing its tail. Its really weird, I hope theres nothing wrong with him and its just a strange new game he plays.

MrBones...thats entirely possible. Maybe I've driven him to insanity.

 

[abstract]

are there any visible signs of external infection or abrasion...it may be that something is bothering him near his tail or on the back half of his body...is he rubbing against anything?

i dont know much about oscars but have seen these general indications before in other fish

 

[Trudy]

I can't see anything wrong with him on the back half of his body. Although now that you mention it I did notice the middle of his left fin has a strange bump in the middle of it which I was meaning to come on here and ask about. Its the same colour as his fin(clear) but I can see blood vessels running to it unlike the rest of his fins. I'm not sure what this could be or if it could have anything to do with his strange behaviour.

 

[abstract]

this is mostly to bump your post...i am not sure what the lump is but now that you bring that up, i notice that one of my black phantom tetra has a lump JUST as you described right before/on his back fin...it has not always been there and must be fairly recent as i usually glance weekly at each fishes health...

hopefully someone else can shed some light on this situation? maybe posting in tropical chit chat or the emergency forum (worst case scenario) would help boost the response rate...let's see how this goes til tomorrow though...

 

[sevs]

Just a suggestion, maybe he is out growing the tank. You may want to purchase a larger tank. A 75g or larger would be more appropriate and Trudy would greatly appreciate it.