My Oscars Are All Gathering In One Corner! Why?

[crc2k]

Hey All. I setup my tank about 8 months ago, and no major problems. For the past few days, my Oscars have been all gathering in one corner of my tank. Sometimes up to (3) at a time! Why would they do this? All my other fish are just swimming as usual. I have attached a picture. Let me know what you guys think! Sometimes it looks like all 3 of them are leaning on the gravel.


Thanks
Chris

 

[Miss Wiggle]

how big's the tank and what are your water stats? resting on the ground can be a sign of a bacterial illness. Oscar's need a hell of a lot of space so if the tank's not big enough this could be causing them to get upset and ill.

 

[crc2k]

how big's the tank and what are your water stats? resting on the ground can be a sign of a bacterial illness. Oscar's need a hell of a lot of space so if the tank's not big enough this could be causing them to get upset and ill.

Its a 72-Gallon Tank. My Ammonia is alittle high and my PH is low. So im trying to get my PH higher, which will hopefully reduce the amonia.

How can I tell if its bacterial?

Thanks for the help
Chris

 

[Miss Wiggle]

OK a 75g tank is the minimum size for 1 oscar... let alone 3+ and some other fish. Not that surprising if your amonia readings are high as they're very very high waste fish, they're probably producing much more than your filter can cope with. What filter have you got on the tank.

My guess is they're stressed cos there's far too many of them in the tank and the filter's not coping, the combination of the two is making them ill. Your gonna need to re-home some of them.

 

[crc2k]

OK a 75g tank is the minimum size for 1 oscar... let alone 3+ and some other fish. Not that surprising if your amonia readings are high as they're very very high waste fish, they're probably producing much more than your filter can cope with. What filter have you got on the tank.

My guess is they're stressed cos there's far too many of them in the tank and the filter's not coping, the combination of the two is making them ill. Your gonna need to re-home some of them.

I actually just got a new filter about 3 weeks ago. I got a Rena Xp4 which is rated @ 450GPH and is for a tank up to 265Gallons. I also just did a water change just to be safe. Do you think I should defantly re-home some of them?

Thanks again
Chris

 

[Miss Wiggle]

did you cycle or clone the filter before putting it onto the tank? if it's not a mature filter then it won't have sufficient bacteria in it to cope with a full bioload (i.e. a fully stocked tank) which is why your getting readings for ammonia. Your fish could have ammonia poisoning.

Yes you really need to re-home so of the oscar's unless you plan on getting a very big tank very soon. What's you exact stocking? I can maybe then make suggestions for what you should be keeping.

 

[crc2k]

did you cycle or clone the filter before putting it onto the tank? if it's not a mature filter then it won't have sufficient bacteria in it to cope with a full bioload (i.e. a fully stocked tank) which is why your getting readings for ammonia. Your fish could have ammonia poisoning.

Yes you really need to re-home so of the oscar's unless you plan on getting a very big tank very soon. What's you exact stocking? I can maybe then make suggestions for what you should be keeping.

I purcahsed The CYCLE Liquid, and poured that into the filter when i was assembling it. My amonia has been dropping down alittle each day. Im not really good w/ the fish types/names. Is there a website that shows a picture of the fish w/ the type next to it? Then I can make a list! Thanks for the help!

Chris

 

[Miss Wiggle]

OK firstly, your filter's not mature which is why your struggling with amonia, this could well be making your fish poorly, I would keep up regularly (like every other day) 10% water changes to keep it down while the filter matures. Also if you know anyone who lives near you who can give you some filter media from an existing tank this would speed the whole thing up. There's a list of TFF members willing to donate media at the top of the beginners section, have a look if anyone lives near you.

Erm not really just 1 website. I'd advise taking a load of pics of your fish, posting them and asking us to ID them for you, sure between us we'll know what you have.

But regardless of all that, you still haven't room in that tank for more than 1 Oscar so I would start making enquiries asap about re-homing the rest of them.

 

[crc2k]

OK firstly, your filter's not mature which is why your struggling with amonia, this could well be making your fish poorly, I would keep up regularly (like every other day) 10% water changes to keep it down while the filter matures. Also if you know anyone who lives near you who can give you some filter media from an existing tank this would speed the whole thing up. There's a list of TFF members willing to donate media at the top of the beginners section, have a look if anyone lives near you.

Erm not really just 1 website. I'd advise taking a load of pics of your fish, posting them and asking us to ID them for you, sure between us we'll know what you have.

But regardless of all that, you still haven't room in that tank for more than 1 Oscar so I would start making enquiries asap about re-homing the rest of them.

Thanks. I will get the pics posted ASAP. I still have my old Eheim filter which I used for about 8 months. I did not clean it out yet, but it has been sitting for about 2 weeks. Can I still used the media from that even though its been sitting? If so, what should I pull out of it?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

nope, the bacteria will start to die off after about 12 hrs if it's not in water or with anything to live off. Your old media is now just mucky sponges etc

There's lots of helpful topicas about cycling in the beginner forum, I'd have a read through some if you can.