# Tiger Oscar - Looking Pale



## pollers (Dec 10, 2009)

Ok this may simply be nothing to worry about - I think it is, but if not this thread may help others. So here goes.

I have a tiger Oscar, seams fine - fit and healthy....Butttt . . .. . I looks a little pale. I owned a couple years back and Im sure the colours where brighter and the fish its self looks a little grey ish... Ok ok I may be loosing it, but is this something to be concerned about. 

The fish seems to be drinking plenty :lol2:


----------



## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

How long you had him/her? New oscars will lose colour for a while due to stress.

Check you water. If the toxins have built up a little (say if you did a bit of filter work recently, or missed a water change) then that can upset them a little and cause a loss in colour.


If it's a long term thing then make sure to use a good quality pellet. Not anything like the king british shite. As a bare minimum, Tetra Doramin is alright but not great. Best to use Hikari Cichlid Gold. Brilliant stuff, a little pricey but your fish will look so much better. Failing that, use a basic pellet and then frozen fish meat. Not too much, but every 3 feeds swap pellet for frozen (eg lance fish, mussel, whitebait). You could try using live food aswell. Earth worms (from a clean source) work great. The other option is live fish. Not a great idea due to risk of disease transfer but if you can source them from a reliable place (ideally breed yourself some platys etc) then not an issue (except the moral one, but that's up to you). Live fish should be a last resort. So try the pellets and frozen first.

The trick with oscars is lots of water changes. On my big cichlid tanks I do a good 30% a week at least. They love it. Don't use freezing cold water but do put slightly chilled in (just below room temp). They seem to really enjoy it.

Check your filter as well. Make sure there's nothing solid rotting away in the foams. Just get yourself a bucket of tank water and give them a good squeeze in that. If you've got any ceramic media or similar, just give it a quick mix around (to get rid of any channels that may have built up).


Of course you may just have a Fish that isn't very colourful. Or it could be getting on a bit. Any idea how old the fish is?


----------



## pollers (Dec 10, 2009)

mike515 said:


> How long you had him/her? New oscars will lose colour for a while due to stress.
> 
> Check you water. If the toxins have built up a little (say if you did a bit of filter work recently, or missed a water change) then that can upset them a little and cause a loss in colour.
> 
> ...



Sorry for the delay in replying. Not sure how old the fish is, but happy to say changed the diet a bit and he/she seams a lot happier. Are all Oscars the same or is it only mine that eats like a pig :lol2:.

Not sure if its a good idea, he/she seams happy with it, but he/she loves sliced ham cut into strips. Cant get enough of it.


----------



## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

They're well known for eating and being messy about it.  Be careful with meaty non fishy foods due to the fat content. Personally I wouldn't use the ham no matter how much it likes it.


----------



## vicky1988 (Apr 24, 2010)

*hi*

hikari massivoure is a good one oscars love them


----------

