Oscar behaviour strange (?)

Question
I have a red tiger that is now about 8 inches.  The fish is in a completely bare tank with no gravel or other deco whatsoever.  The fish seems to be getting startled a lot. If the room is dark and I turn on the lights, sometimes the fish will swim around in the tank and bang mercilessly against all sides for a couple of seconds.  I do not believe this to be a normal behavior.. Could this be because it is stressed and needs some place where to 'hide'?

Answer
Hi Adrian,
 This is very normal behaviour for a fish.  The best solution is to put a small light in the room such that it never goes completely dark.  Otherwise, the fish is acting exactly the way you would act if you were asleep in a completely dark room and someone came in and flicked on the lights -- it would really startle you!  (Fish sleep when it is completely dark, and cichlids in particular, are rather deep sleepers -- I have seen this on many occasions in the wild).

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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