My 4 year old Oscar

[desertsss]

So some of you may have read my post about a huge scare I had a couple of weeks ago regarding the temp of my house. It was in the 100's and no a/c. The scare was my Oscar almost dying. I was concerned about my torts, but completely spaced the fact that the aquarium temp was rising as well. Well, she pulled through and began eating again, amazingly.
So this morning I come out of the bedroom, I went to go turn on all the pets lights. I went to go turn on the fish tank light and nearly stepped on my 9 inch fish. She managed to jump up and knock the glass off to the side, and jump out of the tank. At first I just freaked out and started crying. I had no idea what to do, but then I saw she was still breathing. She was still very moist so I have no idea how long she was on the ground.
I immediately got her back in the tank. She was upside down for a few minutes, so I straightened her up. Her breathing now is very labored. She is however, moving around a little bit more. I don't know if she will be able to recover from this one though. I swear this fish has 9 lives.
Here is a pic of her in her younger years.

This poor gal has had a rough month. I really hope she pulls through.

 

[Isa]

It looks like she is recovering. You are both in my thoughts
Keep us updated please.

 

[richalisoviejo]

Is that a tiger Oscar?

I’ve had red and tiger Oscars in the past, mine were known to jump out on occasion. They are pretty hardy fish. One thing I learned was never feed them live food, quite a few people do and they develop internal parasites mostly from goldfish. The parasites cause a disease called hole in the head.

Good luck with him, perhaps you could remove the glass lid and replace it with a screen. Put something heavy on it so he can’t jump out, will also help keep the tank a little cooler.

 

[laurun3]

I'll keep my fingers crossed Good luck!

 

[desertsss]

Is that a tiger Oscar?

I’ve had red and tiger Oscars in the past, mine were known to jump out on occasion. They are pretty hardy fish. One thing I learned was never feed them live food, quite a few people do and they develop internal parasites mostly from goldfish. The parasites cause a disease called hole in the head.

Good luck with him, perhaps you could remove the glass lid and replace it with a screen. Put something heavy on it so he can’t jump out, will also help keep the tank a little cooler.

Yah rich. Tiger Oscar. I have had a few fish jump out of the tank in my day. Pretty much owned aquariums since I was a youngster. Such a sad sight though. Usually it happens when you are right there, but not today. I came out and she was just lying on the dining room floor. Ooohhhhhhh the words that came flying out of my mouth. I thought she was dead, no movements, eyes all rolled back in a wierd way. Then I saw her take one little breath, I screamed and scared the heck out of my husband. lol
I think my fish actually has health issues going on right now, but darned if I know. I have heard and seen the hole-in-the-head. I hardly ever feed her live fish just because you can never trust the pet stores.
She gets brine shrimp and blood worms with some occasional wierd veggie mix. Aside from this Oscar though, the longest living fish I ever had was an african cichlid that lasted over 5.5 years. That one just passed away a few months ago right after our move. If you could ever imagine a schizophrenic fish, that was my cichlid. LMAO
Well, I have been monitoring my Oscar for the last hour and a half and she seems to be almost back to normal. This fish is hardcore!!!!
Still keeping my fingers crossed though.

 

[terryo]

We have had so many fish here too, but the Oscar's are my favorite of all. I think they have so much personality. Mine would push all the decorations to one side and every time I tried to put them back the next day they would all be on the other side again. I did not know about the hole in the head thing. We always fed her goldfish and dried shrimp. She really never got sick, but when she got too big we had to give her away to my friend who had a 150 gal. tank. We just had no room for anything that big.

 

[Yvonne G]

Years ago when I had a couple tiger oscars, they both developed hole-in-the-head. It wasn't a pretty sight. And the holes drained...yucky! This was so long ago that no one knew why the disease or how to treat it. Aside from not being aesthetically pleasing, it didn't cause them any problems.

Yvonne

 

[richalisoviejo]

Same here. Growing up my brother and I always had aquariums. My brother always liked the aggressive cichlids. I remember once he bought a small red devil. That only lasted a day, the red devil went after all his other fish so he put him in a small ten gallon. You know that red devil lived to be 15 years old.

 

[Isa]

With all you guys talking about the Oscar's personality and all. My fiance and I went to the petstore today (I needed calcium for Hermy but they do not even have the brand I want I will have to order it). We saw the oscars, they are beautiful! One day I want one . One of them had a lot of holes in his head, so I saw what ''hole in the head'' is. Is an acquarium of 125Gallons big enough for the fish, I heard they were getting really big.

 

[Yvonne G]

I bought two tiger oscars when they were the size of a quarter. When they grew big, I had to separate them because one bullied the other, causing him to be blind. They were each in their own 50 gallon aquarium...all alone with no other fish. They did just fine in one that size, so I would have to assume that 125 gallons would be plenty big. Oscar is a great fish. They get quite tame, and aside from jumping out of the tank, they will eat right out of your hand. Many a time I had bloody fingers because of enthusiastic Oscars.

Yvonne

 

[Isa]

I bought two tiger oscars when they were the size of a quarter. When they grew big, I had to separate them because one bullied the other, causing him to be blind. They were each in their own 50 gallon aquarium...all alone with no other fish. They did just fine in one that size, so I would have to assume that 125 gallons would be plenty big. Oscar is a great fish. They get quite tame, and aside from jumping out of the tank, they will eat right out of your hand. Many a time I had bloody fingers because of enthusiastic Oscars.

Yvonne

Thanks Yvonne,
I can't wait to have one

 

[terryo]

Well, now I'm sitting here having memories. My son would hold up a wigglie goldfish, and Ruby Tuesday...our oscar would jump up and grab it from his hand. They would always hold the goldfish a little higher to see how high he would jump. They are really a fun fish.

 

[desertsss]

I love the Oscars, have had them for over 8 years. My big girl still isn't eating since yesterday. Don't know what to do. She takes in her food but then spits it right out and swims backwards. I am hoping it will just take her a couple of days to get back to normal, but I am still not sure.

 

[Stazz]

Aw desertsss I really hope your Oscar is going to be okay - will pray for it! I'm sure she is just in shock - give her some time but keep an eye on her

 

[desertsss]

Will do Stazz. She is acting normal except for two things. She won't actually eat her food, and she is constantly running into the side of the tank. Before, we would walk in and she would swim towards us and stop, now she swims towards us and hits the glass. I think she could have killed some brain cells....don't even know if that can happen to a fish. I hope she gets better, I have no idea though.

 

[Isa]

Will do Stazz. She is acting normal except for two things. She won't actually eat her food, and she is constantly running into the side of the tank. Before, we would walk in and she would swim towards us and stop, now she swims towards us and hits the glass. I think she could have killed some brain cells....don't even know if that can happen to a fish. I hope she gets better, I have no idea though.

I really hope she is going to be ok. As Stace said, maybe she is just in shock.

 

[desertsss]

Well she still isn't eating. She sems to be ok though. I have no idea, any fish experts here?

 

[Stazz]

Don't worry desertss, I've been reading up on it on google (BOY I looove google!), and they say just give her time, its definitely from the shock. Do you feed her different types of foods? Maybe change up the foods, the hunger sensation will take over I'm sure, and then she'll eat. I read this on a post I found on the net :

"Try to get a bottle of "Stress Coat". It should be in a white, blue and yellow bottle, and should be available at any pet store or large chain store. It's a water conditioner for fish, but it also works to promote tissue regeneration and healing. "

I hope that helps!

 

[richalisoviejo]

I’ve used stress coat many times in my aquariums, works wonders. Well worth giving it a try. Have you checked the nitrates and nitrites in the water?

 

[desertsss]

I have tested all levels since we moved. Everything is normal. I do just think she is stressed out. She is still motivated to look at us for food, but when we give it to her, she spits it right out. Might have to change up some things, just hoping she gets better. What I am worried about is that she dried out her mouth, and something wierd happened there. Because she is still wanting to eat, but as soon as she tries she spits it right out. I don't know. Huge stress...