Sulking/ Moapy Oscar

[Blow]

I have had an oscar in a 55 gallon tank for a month and hes about 3 inches hes really mellow and never picks on my other fish and never gets picked on, but he just hides in the back corner behind a plant all day and has done it the entire time hes been in this tank and i was wondering how i could make him happier?

 

[Gatorbait]

What other fish do you have in there?

They could be picking on him at night or they may be too active that it makes him feel uncomfortable.

 

[Blow]

Well hes the biggest fish in there but i have a 2 inch firemouth a 3 inch polypterus and a 1 and a half in green terror and an Albino "ruby" oscar they call it thats about 2 inches smaller than the black oscar thats sulking

 

[Gatorbait]

What are your water parameters?

When you feed, does he come out to eat?

Is this just a growout tank for you until they get lager and you rehome them?

 

[cheesy feet]

Give us your water specs,there must be something rong with them.If the fish have been in there a month they should be fine.Also IMO for all those adult fish you would need atleast a 120 gal tank.

 

[Blow]

yeah this is just a tank for now cause i have all my big fish in a 75 gallon until they go to a 150 gallon and once they get the 150 gallon my fish in the 55 will go to the 75 gallon my nitrates are 6 but thats all i could get tested so far cause i don't have alot of chemicals left but my smaller albino oscar is totally normal and active while the black oscar just kinda hides

 

[Gatorbait]

yeah this is just a tank for now cause i have all my big fish in a 75 gallon until they go to a 150 gallon and once they get the 150 gallon my fish in the 55 will go to the 75 gallon my nitrates are 6 but thats all i could get tested so far cause i don't have alot of chemicals left but my smaller albino oscar is totally normal and active while the black oscar just kinda hides

Try to get your ammonia and nitrites checked asap and let us know what it is. I would do a wc right now just in case.

It will affect different fish in different ways and some later than others, that may be the case why your albino is fine. Or this may not be the problem at all so we'll have to rule it out first.

You didn't answer my question above...Does he come out to eat? If so, is he slow and scared about it? Watch how the others act towards him while eating and directly afterwards. See if you can see if he's bullied during eating and what it is that makes him go back into hiding. That may be key here.

 

[Blow]

yeah he comes out to eat and he is kinda scared about it but i had one of my green terrors longer than i've had him and the green terror is always out begging. And nothing at all picks on him cause hes atleast 2 inches bigger than the other aggresive fish and they all just kinda move out of his way really fast

 

[Gatorbait]

OK, going on my experiences with the more aggressive cichlids and piranhas, I would say that it sounds like he's being bullied.

Oscars are very outgoing fish and I've never known them to hide after the first couple days of rehoming them unless they were sick or being bullied. The fact that he does want to come out and eat indicates to me that he's not sick (Not 100% because sick fish will want to eat in some instances but going by percentages since I'm here and you're there and I can't visually see it myself to tell you)

Unles someone else can jump in here and give a different experience I'm going to say it definitely sounds like he's being bullied. try to keep an eye on him or any fish that come up to him. They don't have to actually be physical to intimidate and scare him. An approach and stop/stare and a bluff run but staying away is the same thing as an all out attack to a tiny oscar and more than enough to keep him in the corners.