oscar swimming head down

Question
QUESTION: I am asking this question for my neighbor, she doesn't have Internet access.  Her daughters Oscar is about 6 inches long, recently started swimming head down and hitting the bottom of the 55 gal tank. One Oscar and one sucker fish in this tank. Her daughter is out of town and we don't know what to do.

ANSWER: Hi Darlene
Try doing a water change.  Hopefully, I"m sure she does lol, has a syphon/gravel vacuum there.  Should look like a clear hose/tubing, with one end bigger.  Change out about 30-40% of the water and see if that helps any.  It could be what's called a swim bladder problem.  Lots of possible causes, from poor water quality to constipation to a bacterial infection.  So, try the water change, if that doesn't work, try splitting open a few peas and feeding that to the oscar.  If he doesn't eat them, the pleco most likely will.  GIve those a bit of time to work/look for improvement, like a few hours, or at least until tomorrow.

If that doesn't work, let me know because then it may be an internal bacterial infection.

Also, look around his head area, I had an oscar that would startle every morning when I came home from work.  He'd slam right into the side of the tank, and I swear he knocked himself out once.  Look for any injuries/sores.  

Hope that helps and hope that works!!

Christy

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Christy, thank you for your help.  So that I don't hurt this little guy and will help him feel better, are you talking about green peas in the can, or hard peas in the bag before they are cooked?  It's not my Oscar so I don't have the knowledge I would need to help him out.  Thank you.

Answer
Hi Darlene
You're welcome!
Not the hard uncooked ones.  I use canned ones, just easier for me.  Some prefer using frozen/thawed ones.  If you use canned ones, get a bowl of some tank water and rinse them off first.  Some say the high sodium in the canned ones isn't good for the fish.....
Good luck!  Let me know if you have more questions with him!

Christy