Big mystery need some people to help me figure out this one.

Hi guys, recently I have notice some strange behavior from my Oscar. Well I haven't seen it but I noticed it the next day. When I go to bed or somewhere in the night while my fish is sleeping something spooks him, and sometimes so badly that he swims into stuff hurting himself and yesterday when I woke up he got a nasty gash on his head from swimming into either the heater or the canister filter inlet or outlet. During the day he is fine and does not display any jumpy behavior, it has gotten so bad that I removed my drift wood out of the tank in fear that he might just hurt himself more than he already has. Has any of you experienced this? And maybe know what is causing this?

[Edit] While eating breakfast this morning it happened it looked like he gets a single twitch almost like when you get shocked by some static, then he goes absolutely nuts and flies around the tank hitting the glass sliders and the tank sides. This is now the 2nd time this has happened and the injuries are getting worse each and everyday.... I have checked my nitrates, ph and ammonia and they are as perfect as can be.

I need some serious help here I dont want to wake up one morning and find him crippled to the point that I need to put him down...

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Have you checked his gills etc very thoroughly for something that
might be in there? Almost sounds like something is biting him causing him pain
and he then wants to flee.
Also try and put some water on the floor. Stand barefoot in it and put your hand in the tank to
see if there might be some electric short somewhere.

 

have you checked that there is no electric leaks.

 

Second thought: find a safer way to test for electric leak.

 

I have checked him over as thoroughly as I could without taking him out of the tank, and I cant see any type of parasites or anything else out of the ordinary he also does not act or eat any differently than he used to. I wonder if it is possible for a fish to have epileptic fits?

Thanks tried it nothing happens so I am guessing that is not it....

 

Lol...Dont you like Larch or something??

If you just take ur shoes off and put your hand in it show be fine. It will just feel like a 9v battery when its on your tounge, just in your arm....but accidents do happen

 

might be a loud noise at night, doors banging or car head lights etc
Spend a few nights with him alone awake in the dark.

 

When he went berserk this morning there was no lights, no noise or any vibrations that would have spooked him.

 

By any chance are you logged on TASA when this happens? Maybe your Avatar is scaring him? Only kidding

 

LOL ,, check when the heater switches on and off.

 

hi buddy, ok, i'm no expert on oscars or any fish for that matter lol, but i do think the problem is environment.. especially considering that you've checked all the other options..

i've checked out your pics and your tank seems a bit bare.

their are no tall plants or ornaments for him to swim around or anything that he feels he can hide behind, there's also no background on the glass either, its very possible that he's really just feeling nervous and vulnerable, as if he's got nowhere to hide, this can happen to fish when they get to a certain age.

do you perhaps know what there habitat is like in the wild? are there normally caves or tall grass-like plants? anything like that?

you may also consider getting some dither fish in there to make him feel a bit safer, i know its not what you want for your setup, but it may make a difference.

simple (cheap) experiment, cover back and two sides of tanks with thick black plastic for a few days, see if there's any change in behavior. if there is, you know you need to add some hiding places to the tank.

best of luck boet!

+1

lol

 

yeah, there might be a crack in the heater, those scars look like burn marks

 

Will check that maybe its the noise, but then again it has never bothered him in the past

Plants and Oscars dont go together he destroyed all of them a week ago. And not much you can do for creating a hiding space for a 15cm long fish.

That is not burn marks that is what a big wound on an Oscar looks like when it just happened.

 

how about trying tall fake plants?

try that test with the black plastic...?

 

I would say fake plants would be a good idea.
Just my 2c

 

Anyone were I can get plastic plants that wont cost me an arm and a leg, month is pretty tight so I seriously dont have bucket loads of cash to spend on them...

 

yep.. thats the catch! the stuff is flippin expensive!

 

He just had another funny "attack" it looks like he has some sort of "epileptic sea-sure" he goes wild for no reason and then just stops dead in his tracks and then as if nothing has happened he goes back to normal again.

Also all of a sudden he is not looking too good....hanging around the surface seriously out of options I really doubt after seeing this 2nd "attack" that it has something to do with the tank not having enough ornaments, plants or hiding spots. And not much I can do for him water parameters is fine did a water change.

 

Check NH3, maybe some external pollutant like furniture cleaner, could also be parasites. Usually when discus show this kind of behaviour it is to late in most cases, luckily oscars are more robust.

 

Try a night light, maybe he's more relaxed then.