oscar help!

[Ca Nguyen]

i have been keeping a tiger oscar for 4 months. i just got another one. the new one is a little smaller, and it's getting bully. should i be alarm and separate them? or will they eventually get along?

[Mandocruz06]

The bigger one is just showing his territory they should do fine just givem some time...

[aquabee]

i have been keeping a tiger oscar for 4 months. i just got another one. the new one is a little smaller, and it's getting bully. should i be alarm and separate them? or will they eventually get along?

How big's your tank?

[Ca Nguyen]

55. i"ll move them into a 90 once they real 6 or 7 inches

[aquabee]

55. i"ll move them into a 90 once they real 6 or 7 inches

Yeah... if they're small, a 55g for now might be ok. The reason for the fighting could very well be the smaller tank size. If it persists beyond a couple weeks or gets worse, I'd go ahead and move 'em to the 90g. Try also re-scaping the decor.

IME things work out better if they're raised together or if you have some large dither fish around to diffuse things. Most people say to either go with one oscar or have more than six. I've successfully kept two that were raised together since they were fry, but it was in a much larger tank. I also had a sole oscar in a 55g and he seemed to be happy there.

Good luck! I've always loved these fish, as silly as they are. Enjoy! :)

[cichlid1409]

change your decorations around so they can re-establish territories and give the new one a space to claim.

[Ca Nguyen]

my old oscar tore up the new oscar's caudal, and dorsal fins. the pectoral and anal fins have totally disappeared. one side of his body have been descaled, the other side skin gradually pealed and now there is a square inch of exposed flesh with no scales or skin.

i divided the tank in half with acrylic. the little oscar was sulking for a day or two. but he is swimming and eating normally for the last 2 days now. he spend most of his time swimming near the divider close to the big oscar still.

i've decided to cut back on the big oscar's food until the little guy catch up.

do you guys have any idea how long it would take to heal and what can i do to speed up the healing?

[aquabee]

Oh no! Poor little dude. A little salt always helps prevent infection, and it'll be crucial for that exposed part to stay disease-free. Depending on the depth of the damage, up to 6 weeks or so to get an initial scar on there. Some of those fins might never come back though.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Ca Nguyen]

i will. i'm doing water change every 3 days just to keep water quality up now. thanks :)

[aquabee]

Absolutely. You can also feed him pellets with garlic infused into them... I hear that helps with immune system regulation/upkeep. But the main thing would be water changes, small ones every few days like you're doing, and salt.

Hope he does better!