Serious question for those of you who have fish..
 

I have a 55 gallon tank with 4 oscars in it... Have had them since they were babys.. Now they are about anywhere from 3 inches to 4 1/2 - 5 inches in length....

2 days ago one of them started doing something really funny.. Summersalts... I thought oh shit there he goes... But now its 2 days later and the fucker is still kicking flipping around the tank... He even grabbed himself a bite to eat...

Anyone have any clue wtf is going on? Anything I can do to fix this?

he swims like that always?

Yeah just for the past 2 days... He is flipping around the tank... I've never seen anything like it...

he is on drugs

maybe he broke a fin or something? is that possible?

Someone must of slipped him some acid then.. cause this is CRAZY!

do you have any russian around ?
it would explain a couple of thing, like why there is a 40 oz of vodka in the aquarium :Graucho

I took as good of a look that i could and nothing seems physically wrong with him...

The only thing I can maybe think of is hs swim bladder is fucked...

HAHAHA Serge is that you under the covers? ;)

he is sick and will die in a day or 2, nothing you can really do

Its been 2 days!!!!! He is still kicking in the tank bro... Right now he is swiming upside down...

maybe he just decided 2 days ago that be wanted to be different. Fuck conforming and swimming normal.

yes he will be dead by tomorrow, sorry bro i have a 200 gallon salt water reef tank and have seen the same thing happen b4, actually i had a goby dye today

It sounds pretty terminal. When fish start leaning on their sides and things, it's a pretty good indication that they're about to croak. I have no idea what it could be exactly though.

He's done. Could be one of a million diseases but once they get the swirlies that is usually it. I've never seen one recover and I was in the fish gig for years.

seen it before, he'll be dead in a couple days.

the SWIRLIES?????????

that sounds sick... Poor little guy.. All he wanted was to find misses right and make thousands of babys...

They need to make an anti swirlie drop or something...

This is exactly what it sounds like to me...... I had one do that once and he swam upside down for the longest time and then I found out what was wrong with him and had to get rid of him as it can't be fixed, or so I was told.

I have one now that is probably a good 6-7 inches long and I have had him since he was maybe a 1/2 inch and he's a little fucker...... he eats everything I put in there except my algae eater.

Swim bladder disease is common with Oscars. If he was big enough believe it or not he could get treated at a qualified establishment. As an avid hobbiest I do business with a guy that injects them with anti biotics.

I am sure you dont want to go that far so at this point you will want to focus on keeping the other fish alive (in case there is a water quality or disease problem in your tank). Make sure your Amonia and Nitrite levels are in line. Do a small water change if they aren't.

In the mean time try some aquarium salt (I dont use more then a teaspoon per gallon). If you can keep him from eating for a few days that may help to (if it is swim bladder disease). Also Paragon 2 is real good for treating disease. The problem with that is it kills the benificial bacteria in the tank as well so you really need to keep on top of the water quality as it regenerates the good bacteria after the treatment regimine is complete.

Go to a good pet store. Look for someone older then 15 that looks like they may have half a brain. Hopefuly they can assist you further.

Check your water PH , also you may need a bigger tank.

Funny you mention algae eaters... I had 2 of them in the tank... Last time I saw the 2nd one was about 3 weeks ago... Last week we had to move the tank into my new office room... Well we started scooping up all the fish... And whatya know... there is only 1 algae eater... where did he go? I have no freakin clue... just GONE! LOL

soundman, wtf is going on with the girl in your sig!?:eek7 :1orglaugh

Wow that was some great advice... I know when fishing for deep smallmouth you sometimes "pop" their swim blatter and some guys talk about using a needle to fix it... I believe this is the technique u are talking about... But thnks again for the advice! I'm gunna see what I can do...

He became dinner....... mine is hilarious, he will get hungry and start picking on my "sucker bastard" is what I call the algae eater.... when he does that I have to feed him or no telling what the shit he'll do to him.

The other day, I swear to god I am not lying, he picked up the long air rock I have in the tank and started poking the sucker bastard with it........ I laughed til I hurt, he finally just threw it at him. He will rearrange my tank and everything.......... he's the funniest FISH I have ever seen.

We can go and feed him, if someone else tries, he hides, but when I do, he'll come to the top and start doing this funny little dance for me.

Stress..........

Apparently this can happen if the fish is unduly stressed, which could be caused by anything from bad water conditions to being bullied by other fish

I had the same problem. I had a couple of Bristlenose catfish. They were actually a breeding pair. I found one. It was just the remains of his head that hadn't been eaten though. =\

Such a pity. lol.

prolly


all kinds of weird shit they get


all your levels right?
get a test kit

Damn - hope you have a really good aquarium shop nearby. They can often point you in the right direction for medicating your sick fish. When I was into it, I was able to cure everything except these damn catfich from Vietnam called Puhroon Sharks. They dropped dead if you looked at em cross eyed.

Oscars are pretty hardy - and, because they are so popular, there is a good amount of published info out there on them. Do some Googling, or pick up a few reference books. I bet you can find something that will give the little guy a chance.

your nitrate and ammonia levels might be high