I have an Oscar/chillid? fish, and we just bought him a new 40 galon tank. I know know nothing about the type of fish and the pet store guy told me that a 20 gallon tank would be good enough. ( yea right!)
The fish out grew it & started to smash his face against the tank.(He's a very angry fish)
Since we moved him to the new tank, I've noticed he's been been swimming around with his mouth open. (although he's much happier.I noticed a dent in his lip, and what look to be like little notches in his inner lip ( unless they are tiny teeth) but I dont think they have teeth. Is anythng wrong?
2006-07-04 04:06:35 · 9 answers · asked by rxqueen♥ † 6 in Pets ➔ Fish
You can kind of see the little things in his inner lip here
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c52/rxqueen22/Picture339.jpg
This is my fish.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c52/rxqueen22/Picture345.jpg
2006-07-04 04:08:24 · update #1
I got bigger everything. We went all out! We even got expensive got pretty plants and rocks, but he moved them all around. He's an interior tank decorator!
2006-07-04 05:56:30 · update #2
He's eating fine, he's his typical grumpy fish self. ( he's a mean fish, he always give's me dirty looks)
We threw out the old gravel from the old tank and I washed the old driftwood and an old plastic plant from the old tank. The old plastic plant has a strange red hair like stuff growing on it. ( I just noticed it today) .
He never closes his mouth fully.
Here's a frontal pic.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c52/rxqueen22/Picture342.jpg
2006-07-04 06:05:22 · update #3
Beautiful oscar!!!
Most fish swim with there mouths open when they need more oxygen. This allows more water to pass over their gills.
I can't see anything unusual in the photo. He does look like he is holding his mouth open at an unusual angle. Does he ever shut it? Is he eating normally? Even fish who need more O2 shut there mouths and re-open them pretty regularly. If you think he may have a wound or absess Melafix and Pimafix are the way to go. They are medications that are very gentle. If he does have a wound this will make it heal faster and protect him from a secondary infection or fungus.
Before you medicate- you have to be careful because medications lower the o2 concentration in the water. You have to figure out for sure why your fish is swimming like that. How did you change tanks? Did you use the same gravel, water, and filter media? If you didn't then your tank is probably cycling. You need to keep the ravel and filter media wet so the bacteria survives the switch. Did you wash everything with hot or cold water? That would have killed your beneficial bacteria as well. If your tank is cycling then the PH maybe high this decreases the amount of dissolved o2 in the water. If you add meds this will decrease it even more and may even suffocate your fish.
Check your water chemistry to make sure everything is ok.
Hows the temp of your water? In the summer tanks can get really hot. Less o2 is in warmer water than in cooler water. (You don't want to drop it below the recommended temp for your fish though. It just shouldn't be way over)
You can always add an airstone temporarily and see if it helps. If it doesn't maybe he got hurt when he was banging around and you should medicate. He may have done permanent damage and will just be like that. Love him anyways.
By the way- fish do grow to the size of their environment. That does not mean that stunting their growth is ok. You did the right thing by giving him more space when he needed it. I hope that is the last upgrade he will need- probably won't be though.
ADDED:
Throwing out the gravel was bad- maybe I wasn't clear above. You want to keep as much of the same stuff from the old tank. The bacteria on it keeps the water in the new tank healthy. If you changed everything then you don't have any bacteria. The red stuff is a species of algae.
It looks like he did something to his jaw in that pic. It doesn't look as though it is aligned properly. You may want to check an oscar specific forum. They may be able to help you.
In that photo it look like there is something fuzzy. If there is then it may be mouth fungus. It would explain a lot. If he cut it then the fungus would have infected it.
2006-07-04 05:55:11 · answer #1 · answered by Lynn 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
My Oscar fish always keeps his mouth open in his new tank?
I have an Oscar/chillid? fish, and we just bought him a new 40 galon tank. I know know nothing about the type of fish and the pet store guy told me that a 20 gallon tank would be good enough. ( yea right!)
The fish out grew it & started to smash his face against the tank.(He's a very angry...
2015-08-20 15:18:24 · answer #2 · answered by Lauree 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fish With Mouth Open
2016-11-14 20:30:51 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Otherwise that a huge beautiful fish Sorry I do not know but if you have Petco store or a Petland store go in there and ask them your question.
I AGREE WITH WHAT WALLABLACK SAID (MEANING) You bought a bigger tank but did you get a bigger air pump, filter? He will do that if the water isn't oxygenated enough.
If I had a fish like that I would have probably started with a 80 gallon tank and just made that tank home sweet home for him.
2006-07-04 04:47:58 · answer #4 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What I can tell you, is that Oscars will grow to the size of your tank, so get ready for your Oscar to get BIG!!! And as I learned from experience, NEVER get a Jack Dempsey. We had Oscars that were twice the size of the Jack Dempsey, and the people at the fish store told us that it would be fine puttng them in together. Well 'Jack' started killing our Oscars one by one! Best of luck to you. Hope it goes well for you. Sorry I can't be more help. We're still trying to master the art of fish-care ourselves. Right now we have a fish that has come down with a case of Pop-eye. We got meds but hope he gets better...
2006-07-04 05:05:14 · answer #5 · answered by angelgrrl2075 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sounds like to me maybe he hurt his jaw a little. The dents are normal. Oscars do have teeth to an extent. Kinda like really rough sandpaper. Sucking at the top wpould be a sign of no oxygen. Keep an eye on him he should be fine as long as he is eating well.
2006-07-04 05:44:37 · answer #6 · answered by dogdude1969 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Those lip things are normal. You bought a bigger tank but did you get a bigger air pump, filter? He will do that if the water isn't oxygenated enough.
2006-07-04 04:11:48 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
thats an interesting question....i cant really help you but im interested in seeing the answers...
2006-07-04 04:10:02 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i can help try everthing you need to know i had one of mine for 6yrs
2006-07-04 06:28:55 · answer #9 · answered by infoman89032 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋