AboutRon Coleman Expertise I am an expert on cichlid fishes, particularly New World cichlids. My broader expertise includes the behavior, ecology and reproduction of fishes in general. (I am NOT an expert on Goldfish). Please do not use abbreviations, such as "my GT has a swollen eye" because I don't know what a "GT" is. The more clearly you can explain your question, the better chance I have of understanding what it is that you seek. I keep fishes both as a scientist and as a hobbyist and I currently maintain about 140 aquariums.
Experience I am an Assistant Professor at the California State University, Sacramento in the Department of Biological Sciences, and I run a website, called the Cichlid Research Home Page . I also write for many popular aquarist magazines, and I am editor of Cichlid News magazine. I am a scientist and I spend my time teaching fish biology, ecology, behavior and evolution and doing research on the reproductive biology of fishes, particularly cichlids. I do research in the laboratory and in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Mexico. My main interest is understanding the evolution of parental care in fishes. I am interested in encouraging greater public awareness, understanding and participation in science.
Publications Cichlid News, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, Freshwater and Marine Aquarium, Science, Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, Copeia, Canadian Journal of Zoology, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, AUK, Environmental Biology of Fishes
Question So I have 3 oscars and one of them is almost 4 years old and he is big! We have a 75 gal tank and the past 2 weeks the big one has not been acting okay at all, laying there won't swim around. he almost never lets the other two fish touch him or be around him and they won't seem to leave his side. He also has been breathing very heavy it seems like and today we got him some feeder fish and he always loves them. He won't even eat. At all nothing! Do u think its just his time or what? I'm so upset.
Answer Hi Amber,
Unfortunately 4 years is not very old for an oscar. They can live to be a dozen years or older (some even reach 20 years!). There are two problems. First, you need to be doing lots of water changes when you have 3 oscars. You should be changing 25% of the water, once a week, every week.
The second important thing is that I strongly discourage you from feeding your oscars with feeder fish. All too often feeder fish carry various diseases which easily get transmitted to an oscar and often prove fatal. This sounds like that might be the cause of your current problem. There is little that you can do other than wait it out and hopefully he will pull through.
-- Ron
rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>
