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Registered: Nov 2003

posted 11-19-2003 07:03 PM         

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Hello. My oscar Wally is a nine-ten inch fish. Ive had him since November of 2001 and I bought him as a one inch baby. Wally has never done this before, he's usually quite a docile fish, only getting crazy when feeding him. Just recently he has begun opening his mouth really wide and trying to swim at me. This only happens to me. He does it to noone else. Also, and he's never done this before either, is he has dug a hole in his tank until the glass bottom is showing through. Can anyone shed some light on whats wrong with my fish? Nothing has changed with his tank in a LONG time... so I dont think its environment related.

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From:Surrey, B.C., Canada
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 11-19-2003 08:15 PM         

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Oscars can get wierd at times obviously. It's possible he's just throwing a tantrum. They dig from time to time. I had a 7" oscar that dug up all the plant and stuff i put in his tank all the time. How often do you feed him and how much? Tank size?

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posted 11-19-2003 09:14 PM         

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I feed him roughly six medium cichlid pellets plus a dewworm a day. He has NEVER dug before. I don't even weigh my plants down because he's never bothered with them.
He is in a 40 gallon tank. It hasnt been a problem in size up until now so for Christmas I'm getting him a 75 gal. plus a friend. Do you have any tips for introducing new oscars? Do they both have to be the same size or can the newcomer be smaller?

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posted 11-19-2003 09:15 PM         

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I feed him roughly six medium cichlid pellets plus a dewworm a day. He has NEVER dug before. I don't even weigh my plants down because he's never bothered with them.
He is in a 40 gallon tank. It hasnt been a problem in size up until now so for Christmas I'm getting him a 75 gal. plus a friend. Do you have any tips for introducing new oscars? Do they both have to be the same size or can the newcomer be smaller?

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posted 11-19-2003 09:17 PM         

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He gets roughly six medium cichlid pellets a day plus a dewworm every other day. The tank is 40 gallons. I am in the process of acquiring a 75 gallon tank for him, plus a tankmate. Are there any tips for introducing new oscars? Does it have to be the same size as Wally or can it be smaller?

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posted 11-19-2003 09:36 PM         

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Digging out the gravel is pretty common for spawning fish. Wally might be a Shelia. As for the swimming toward you with his/her mouth wide open he or her is probably wanting food. I take it that you are the only one who feeds him/her. Six medium cichlid pellets and a dew worm is a very light diet for a 9"-10" Oscar under normal conditions. During spawning some fish develop varacious appatites while others lose their appatite. I cant' tell you for certain about Oscars appatite during spawning but I would suspect it to increase considering how large an appatite they have normally. Hope this helps.

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posted 11-19-2003 09:37 PM         

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Wally gets roughly six medium sized cichlid pellets a day, plus a dew worm every couple of days.. also if I trap a fly or something in my house I'll toss that in as well. He has never dug before. I don't even weigh my plants down because digging isn't a problem with him. His tank is 40 gallons but I'm upgrading to 75 this Christmas. I am also interested in getting Wally a friend. Any tips for introducing new fish? Also, does the new Oscar have to be the same size or can it be smaller?

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posted 11-19-2003 09:40 PM         

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Sorry guys... my computer hiccupped and I ended up posting a million times. Oops! How much do Oscars normally eat? The worms I feed him aren't tiny. I'm talking about fishing worms. When Wally is hungry, he will normally go to the top of the tank, not try to bash through the side like he's been doing. It is very baffling. He started this so suddenly.

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