Oscar problems

[dhomosapien]

Hi all,

I have bought two oscars at different times from different shops.
Both times, they did not survive long. Healthy for a few weeks, then they would fall sick and die within a few days. Not sure what is the cause.

Are there any water parameters that I should look out for? At the moment, I do not have any tests kits, and have no experience in altering pH, hardness, or salinity.

I feed them with live mollies, small frogs, and frozen boodworm.

Tank is cycled. I have a marbled goby and a small snakehead going strong inside the tank.

Thanks for any advice.

[stormhawk]

Since the other fish are fine, I believe your water parameters are acceptable for the Oscars. Before they died, did they show any symptoms of disease?

[dhomosapien]

No external signs. They would just stop eating, then lie close to the bottom with their fins folded down.

[stormhawk]

It is likely that they might have picked up a disease from the mollies. I never had much problems with feeding just frogs to my fish in the past but always an issue with feeder fish.

[dhomosapien]

Thanks! Hmm a frog only diet then

[stormhawk]

You can try small crickets or newly molted mealworms to see if your Oscars will take them, or train them to take floating or sinking pellets. If you are still using the frozen bloodworm, make sure they are fully thawed before you feed them to the fish. The cubes should still look fresh. If the worms have turned a little brownish, don't feed them to the fish or you risk feeding your fish spoiled worms, which can also lead to death.

[alfredliow316]

Maybe they were sick with Internal Bacteria/Parasites?

[bryan]

It could still be water problems, snakeheads and marbled goby are bulletproof.It usually takes more than crappy water to kill them. Not ideal to use them as a guage.

On the feeding part, try switching to frozen seafood like prawns or fish or train them to take cichlid pellets. I personally don't trust live feeders.