Oscar Help Needed & Asap

[Spishkey]

you still havent done a water change? may i ask how often do you perform water changes??
flake food is no good for oscars, they gulp down too much air trying to catch the flakes, pellets are a good basic diet but they also need fresh veg and some proteins in their mate (mussels, shrimps/prawns, fish etc it aint cheap feeding oscars trust me, mine eat more than my kids!)

 

[LauraFrog]

Buying tankbusters and planning to rehome them when they get too large is NOT a good strategy. As you've found with the pet stores it can be quite difficult finding somebody who will take them, and a lot of the fish you have are quite sensitive and will not cope well with being shifted around once they are comfortable and established. You really need to start thinking about the welfare of your fish.

It seems from your sig that you have six mollies in a 30 litre (7 gallon) tank... this goes past insane, mollies need at least 15 gallons and this tank is as vastly overstocked as your main one. PLEASE move them, you WILL lose them. They could go in your other tank, once you remove all the fish from that tank that can't live in it:

The acaras will outgrow your tank, and they will certainly outgrow being in a group of 3 unless you've managed the considerable feat of luck of having them all of one sex. I strongly recommend you rehome them, as they will not get on with the krib, and they will eat everything in your tank if you want community fish in it. (If you keep them, there are not many other fish you will be able to have.)

The oscar, as everybody else has said, NEEDS TO GO. It is FAR too big for your tank, even as a juvenile you're having aggression issues with it and it's absolutely NOT suitable to keep with those fish.

The eels are predatory, they will outgrow your tank, and eat just about anything you try to keep them with, they've got to go.

The clown loach, plec and bala sharks are inoffensive temperament wise but they are far too large for your tank and will be miserable if you try to keep them in it long term.

The black ghost knife, in addition to being far too large for your tank, is an extremely sensitive fish as you've probably found out by losing two of them. Your tank is almost certainly not cycled because it will not be able to cope with this sort of fish load, and you need to find another home for the BGKF ASAP, or it will die as well.



The krib, corys and danios are ideal inhabitants for that tank. If you've only got one danio, you should get some more once you have rehomed all of the tankbusters above and cycled the tank. They like being kept in schools and are pretty and playful fish when there is a group of them. In addition to these fish, you could keep livebearers (platys, mollies or swordtails, but not guppies with a krib), some of the larger tetras (not small ones like neons with a krib) a bristlenose plec (other plecs get too large), harlequin rasboras and rainbowfish. If you rehomed the krib as well, you could keep just about any small freshwater fish.

 

[JohnRossDele]

Buying tankbusters and planning to rehome them when they get too large is NOT a good strategy. As you've found with the pet stores it can be quite difficult finding somebody who will take them, and a lot of the fish you have are quite sensitive and will not cope well with being shifted around once they are comfortable and established. You really need to start thinking about the welfare of your fish.

It seems from your sig that you have six mollies in a 30 litre (7 gallon) tank... this goes past insane, mollies need at least 15 gallons and this tank is as vastly overstocked as your main one. PLEASE move them, you WILL lose them. They could go in your other tank, once you remove all the fish from that tank that can't live in it:

The acaras will outgrow your tank, and they will certainly outgrow being in a group of 3 unless you've managed the considerable feat of luck of having them all of one sex. I strongly recommend you rehome them, as they will not get on with the krib, and they will eat everything in your tank if you want community fish in it. (If you keep them, there are not many other fish you will be able to have.)

The oscar, as everybody else has said, NEEDS TO GO. It is FAR too big for your tank, even as a juvenile you're having aggression issues with it and it's absolutely NOT suitable to keep with those fish.

The eels are predatory, they will outgrow your tank, and eat just about anything you try to keep them with, they've got to go.

The clown loach, plec and bala sharks are inoffensive temperament wise but they are far too large for your tank and will be miserable if you try to keep them in it long term.

The black ghost knife, in addition to being far too large for your tank, is an extremely sensitive fish as you've probably found out by losing two of them. Your tank is almost certainly not cycled because it will not be able to cope with this sort of fish load, and you need to find another home for the BGKF ASAP, or it will die as wel


The krib, corys and danios are ideal inhabitants for that tank. If you've only got one danio, you should get some more once you have rehomed all of the tankbusters above and cycled the tank. They like being kept in schools and are pretty and playful fish when there is a group of them. In addition to these fish, you could keep livebearers (platys, mollies or swordtails, but not guppies with a krib), some of the larger tetras (not small ones like neons with a krib) a bristlenose plec (other plecs get too large), harlequin rasboras and rainbowfish. If you rehomed the krib as well, you could keep just about any small freshwater fish.

Heres the fish in size that i have, rehoming isnt such an issue for the other fish apart from the plec & oscar!

3 Blue Acaras, about 5''
Male Krib, fully grown
Oscar, juvi, about 4''
2 Bala Sharks, juvi's, about 3.5''
Zebra Danio, fully grown
6 Cory Cats, 1 is almost fully grown 5 others are medium size
1 Clown Loach, about 4.5''
1 Pleco, about 7''
1Half Barred Eel, juvi, 3''
1 Peacock Eel, juvi, 4.5''
1 Black Ghost Knife, baby juvi, about 2''

mollys have been added yesterday since i felt kinda sorry for them and also they were too small for the tank as i know ( i should have thought sooner) and they were in not so good conditions so they weren't breeding

the fry tank has got a molly in it who just give birth at the early hours of this morning so im taking her out and putting her in the 240 Rio

the oscar has got really slender, why?? was it the bag, that caused this r was it cause he got stressed, he also swims at an acute angle and wont eat as much as normal juvi oscars!!

 

[deb53cl]

................... And you still keep adding unsuitable fish to an overstocked tank with many many problems? Good god man what is up with you. Has none of

the advice from these good people sunk into that little brain of yours???

 

[Spishkey]

its not normal i get angry with people but you do really take the biscuit mate.
after everything the good people have advised, you've gone against this and added even more fish??? totally unsuitable ones at that?

you will have problems with more than just the oscar and pleco. the bala sharks for instance will very quickly outgrow the tank, the clown loach needs to be in a group but you cannot add anymore to that already overstocked tank so he really needs to go to! the danio needs to be in a group too.

the oscar is slender most likely due to insufficient diet (your feeding him flakes which is no good, please see my previous post about feeding oscars) and stress. he is in a tank with unsuitable tankmates.


never would i normally find myself saying this, but i hope your fish die quickly and as pain free as possible, because if you carry on like this, they will die, no doubt about it. sorry but it has to be said. you come for advice and totally ignore it, actually you did the opposite. you dont care about your fish, you are just using them as a disposible show piece. your cramming as much into the tank as you can without a thought for their welfare or care.

*shakes head in utter disgust and walks away*

 

[LauraFrog]

*facepalm*
I said, the mollies are suitable community fish and would be much happier in the larger tank ONCE YOU REMOVE all the other fish from the tank that cannot live in it. If rehoming isn't an issue, then why haven't you done it yet? All you are doing is increasing their suffering and decreasing the chance that any of them are going to survive.

The oscar is getting thin because it's dying. It's dying because of the stress of being in that tank, which is overcrowded and full of boisterous fish that are scaring the lights out of it. Wasting is a common symptom of acute stress, and being in a bag would CERTAINLY not have helped. TBH it sounds like you're going to lose him.
I cannot imagine that a relatively new tank with such an outrageous number of fish in it could possibly be cycled, so all you are doing is slowly poisoning your fish with their own waste. For heaven's sake, what does it take to convince you to rehome those fish before they all die? It's taking all my self control to avoid seconding Spish, in considerably more offensive terms, and I don't usually flame people either.

 

[indigoj]

You are unbelievable.

You are completely ignoring the excellent advice everyone is giving. This advice is not because we don't like you or because we have nothing better to do, it is because we care about fish and would like people to take the best possible care of them.

Repeatedly you have ignored the bits of advice you don't seem to like and have not answered simple questions like how often do you do water changes?

If you don't think the advice is correct do some research - look up stunting, look up suitable tank sizes for each of your fish and diets.

You ask why is my oscar thin - you know why, he is being fed an unsuitable diet and housed in a totally unsuitable tank.

 

[JohnRossDele]

I have to really stress the word SOZ coz im doing my best i can but none of u really reilize whats going on

i asked my LFS would they be able to take the oscar back, they say no, i askj another one they say no!!

i ring every 2 days to each of the LFS's and no is all i get

i kick my self every day when i look at the poor oscar and kick my self & curse coz i caused it all

but ive seen way overcrowded tanks than mine!! my LFS that i would commonly go to there tank is animal cruelty!!

they cramed 7-8 botias
bull sharks 3
pangasius 4
and like 15 other fish

when i bought my tank in sept i thought that i could put a little less fish in my tank than the show tank they had!!

so i bought 1/2 of the fish in one day no wonder i thought i wasnt safe it was the lfs that influinced me to do so!!

how do u think i feel know with all u people shouting bad comments about how i should keep my fish and it was me who got myself into this mess

PS my oscar is back to hes usually self again and just ate a molly, what in the heck am i going to do now!!

i do use ur info u all give me so dont shout in my face that i dont when i do, i just havent really got the time yet to do a water change

 

[minxfishy]

OK, if you cant get an LFS anywhere around you to take the Oscar (and the other fish which are unsuitable as stressed in other posts) then advertise them FREE on here in the classified section, on aquarist classifieds (google it), on other fish forums/sites, local papers etc, someone will happily come and take them and give them the size home and adequate care that they need.

In the meantime, test kit, water changes and proper feeding regime will help until you can rehome them.

 

[JohnRossDele]

OK, if you cant get an LFS anywhere around you to take the Oscar (and the other fish which are unsuitable as stressed in other posts) then advertise them FREE on here in the classified section, on aquarist classifieds (google it), on other fish forums/sites, local papers etc, someone will happily come and take them and give them the size home and adequate care that they need.

In the meantime, test kit, water changes and proper feeding regime will help until you can rehome them.

how do u sell them on this site?

 

[england]

Do you have any local aquariums to you as in public?
Take the oscar to the shop you first got him and leave it in there in a bag and walk out!!!

Fish shop's can get away with tank cramming as it's usually quick only week's as apposed to forever

 

[indigoj]

If you haven't got time YET to do a water change (how long has it been since you did one?) then you really don't have time to keep fish - water changes are a vital, regular part of this hobby.

I'm not being awful, just honest. We do 20-40% changes fortnightly on 5 tanks (usually 2 one week, 3 the next), it takes 2 of us about 1 hour. You HAVE to make time. If you do 20% weekly it will take you about 20 min a week for 1 tank your size.

I do understand how easy it is to get into a mess listening to LFS and it can be hard to rehome fish but it isn't impossible. If the LFS will not take the Oscar would they take the smaller fish so they don't suffer? Will they let you put up a 'free to good home' add?

As above - classified section here and on many other fish forums.

[

how do u sell them on this site?

have a look in classifieds section near bottom of forum list

 

[JohnRossDele]

If you haven't got time YET to do a water change (how long has it been since you did one?) then you really don't have time to keep fish - water changes are a vital, regular part of this hobby.

I'm not being awful, just honest. We do 20-40% changes fortnightly on 5 tanks (usually 2 one week, 3 the next), it takes 2 of us about 1 hour. You HAVE to make time. If you do 20% weekly it will take you about 20 min a week for 1 tank your size.

I do understand how easy it is to get into a mess listening to LFS and it can be hard to rehome fish but it isn't impossible. If the LFS will not take the Oscar would they take the smaller fish so they don't suffer? Will they let you put up a 'free to good home' add?

As above - classified section here and on many other fish forums.

i do a water change every 2 weeks - 1 month 30-40%

 

[minxfishy]

With that size tank and the stocking you currently have, plus the filtration you have, you need to be doing a minimum of 40% weekly, better 2 x 40% weekly.

Please rehome the fish one way or another. Last time Im gonna answer any of these posts, slamming my head against a brick wall is starting to hurt!

 

[ihavefish!]

Seriously, I'm a newbie to this site and I'm just going to say what I think. Stop wasting your time on this guy. Either A. he is totally screwing with all of you just for fun. or B. he is absolutely not listening to all the advice and instructions you are trying to give and you can't help him or his fish anyways.

Anyone who doesn't have a few minutes to do a water change when their fish are sick or cannot figure out how to rehome his fish or find suitable accomodations for them obviously is not someone who is going ever have healthy, happy fish and my heart goes out to the little fellows.

I'm not being cruel, I'm just an impartial ear and think you all should spend your time helping people who really need it. If I were an administrator or moderator, I'd close this thread.