# Oscars



## Jen (Nov 13, 2007)

Hi all, I've just been given a six foot tank complete with reef filter setup and 2 oscars, along with assorted other fish and 2 4 foot tanks. Oops, enough gloating, anyway, i have never had oscars before, so any tips on their care would be appreciated. Funny thing is, my sister has just been given a 4 foot tank with an oscar too!
So, basically the omnly thing i know about them is that they live to be about 10, and these ones are 6, so only 4 years until i can put reps in the tank


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## Chrisreptile (Nov 13, 2007)

they are a tropical fish, liking the water to be about 27 degrees.
they will eat pellets, bits of frozen fish and feeder fish.


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## Jen (Nov 13, 2007)

Would mealworms be an ok treat?


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## luctifer_juctifer (Nov 13, 2007)

hey! we have an oscar too!!! they're awesome fish...ours is called neville. he's only a baby still but he's doubled in size since we got him!! he's been easy as to look after...feed him twice a day...change the water every couple of weeks, had no probs! i'm no expert tho 

i am very jealous u got given all those tanks!!! lol we need to upgrade nevilles tank cos he's just in our old goldfish tank. its pretty big but hes starting to outgrow it but hopefully a friend of ours is gonna sell us his old turtle tank  how big are ur oscars?? they must be pretty huge if they're 6! pics would be cool i'll try put some of neville on here..just gotta work out how to use me new camera!! 
lucy


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## mysnakesau (Nov 13, 2007)

Yes they love mealworms, they will eat anything that falls into the water.


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## Jen (Nov 13, 2007)

I'll post pics when i get them, hopefully in the next week or so, my friend is moving to perth and said that he wanted me to have them because they are his babies and he knows i'll look after them. Now i just hope i don't kill them lol. Yep, they are huge, he thinks not quite fully grown because they also have some big 'pleckies' in with them/ I have no idea what they are, i think some sort of catfish


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## Chrisreptile (Nov 13, 2007)

i know that they eat crickets that as a treat, but because of the chitin i probably wouldnt feed mealies.
but because they are adults, maybe if you have no other food for them, you could offer one as a treat.


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## PhilK (Nov 13, 2007)

These guys eat _everything_. Had a mate who fed his AHGs on a regular basis. They are real vacuum cleaners. If you hold something above the water they'll jump up and take it right out of your fingers.


EDIT: wish people gave _me_ tanks for free..


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## Viridae (Nov 13, 2007)

WTH is an oscar?


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## Chrisreptile (Nov 13, 2007)

Viridae said:


> WTH is an oscar?



its a fish


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## gillsy (Nov 13, 2007)

They become very tame, and will eat out of your hand. 

They are generally non-aggressive to large tank mates.

Have fun, they are one of the best fish.


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## scorps (Nov 13, 2007)

reef set up with oscars?


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## Jen (Nov 13, 2007)

no, reef filter


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## Inkslinger (Nov 14, 2007)

They love ox heart and also prefer brackish water be careful putting large rocks etc in the tank as they will move them.
Mine used to ring a bell for food string in water bell on outside very smart fish


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## gillsy (Nov 14, 2007)

Brackish water, Never heard of that and i've bred the guys. 

I wouldn't do that.

As they tend to like a neutral to slightly acidic water.

I would like to find where you would find acidic brackish water.


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## Sdaji (Nov 14, 2007)

They're awesome, definately one of the best of all aquarium fish. They love woodies and mealworms, and they're not going to cause the fish any trouble. Whole, live invertebrates are ideal food, they're quite natural. Processed fish food is okay. I could never understand why fish people used to use ox heart so enthusiastically. It's no better than any other cut of meat, I suppose it's just a bit cheaper. Mammal flesh isn't a natural food and isn't a good staple for them, but it's good for a treat. Mice are good too... I can't recommend it, but I've known a few people who fed theirs live mice. I used to catch Gambusia (small noxious fish), which they'd eat, although they had a bit of trouble catching them. I used to feed mine all sorts of things, including a lot of dog food. If I was keeping them now I'd give them mainly fish (preferably small, whole fish), woodies and mice (dead), as well as whatever else I felt like once in a while.

I've never heard of them liking brackish water, and I would be cautious about trying it.

I tried to train mine to ring a bell for food. When I went near the tank they'd swim up wanting food, knocking the bell around, but they'd have been madly swimming in that area anyway  Looking back at it now, I didn't do a very good job of teaching them


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## Miss B (Nov 14, 2007)

My uncle had two Oscars in a huge tank ... one was slightly larger than the other, and one day my uncle came home to find that the larger Oscar had made a meal of his smaller tankmate :lol: This fish was nuts, he used to tap on the aquarium pump when he wanted his dinner :shock:


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## gillsy (Nov 14, 2007)

I agree about the brackish water, there are two or three cichlids that do like brackish water.

But they are the Asian Cichlids the Chromides.

Which are rarely seen if ever in australia.

They live in the same habitat as discus, so I can't see how the brakcish thing comes into it.


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## gillsy (Nov 14, 2007)

http://www.oscarcichlid.com/


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## Inkslinger (Nov 14, 2007)

gillsy said:


> Brackish water, Never heard of that and i've bred the guys.
> 
> I wouldn't do that.
> 
> ...



Most cichlids are found in brackish(slightly acid) water or estuaries perhaps things have changed scince I kept and bred them long time ago (1980) was a back drop filter tank dont even make them now .

The Oscar likes his water wet. Other than that, they aren’t the fussiest of fish. Their natural environment is the soft acid waters of South American rivers, but they tolerate just about any water conditions well.


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## bulla_iia (Nov 14, 2007)

First of all for the chemistry side of things brackish water is not acidic do to the introduction of Salt in the NaCl form, Na(+) combined with the Cl(-) creates a pH of 7 and for those that dont quite know what that means, the charts of acid/base are on a 1 thu 14 scale, so half of that would be neutral. And about the equality of ox heart vs norm flesh diet, there is the high mineral/lower fat factor that distinguishes the two apart, not the price. The difficult availability of the heart vs the normal flesh is much more of the concern, So why waist the time searching for ox heart is it was the same.


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## Tsubakai (Nov 14, 2007)

"Although wild oscars tend to prefer water on the soft and slightly acidic side, captive-bred oscars tend to be extremely tolerant of wide pH and hardness values" - from The Guide to Owning Oscars, Richard F. Stratton 2004

I would love to have an Oscar I could raise from tiny up to large size but not sure I have the room for one at the moment.


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## DiamondAsh (Nov 14, 2007)

*Oscars are great pets, almost like having a dog, except you don't have to walk them !! Our two, (ghost and oscar) are good friends and behave themselves in their tank. We do a half water change every month and full change and scrub around every six. The worst thing about them is they produce a lot of nitrates with their by-products, making the tank get algee quickly unless you're on top of it from the start. I love coming home of a night as they both see the door open and start to get wiggly immediately. Here's a pic ... *


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## Brettix (Nov 14, 2007)

They love pinkies,and they are carnivorous predators


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## Ness (Nov 14, 2007)

just make sure you got enought space for the oscars if you want them to grow to there maxium size they need at least 30 - 60 litres per oscar. otherwise you may stunt there growth.


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## Jen (Nov 15, 2007)

They are in a 6x2x2 tank, so they will have plenty of growth space, once the pleckies are out of there that is


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## Tsubakai (Nov 15, 2007)

If you've got plecos in a 6 foot tank with 2 Oscars, I would consider leaving them in there. That tank is easily big enough for the Oscars to share and the plecs will help keep the substrate clean by eating algae and any food the oscars let get away.


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## Renagade (Nov 15, 2007)

they destroy crickets kicking around on the surface of the water too. you will only need to feed these fish every second day if they are large. also raw prawn (peeled), cichlid frozen cubes, worms ect. they are easy the pleese. post a pic??


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## Ristof (Nov 15, 2007)

I had two of these, now I have one
The one I have left was hafe the size of the bigger one so I am guessing he didn't eat him.
I think he jumped out some how and the cat got him

I have mine is a 3ft tank - he is only about 10cm at the moment, his names bluey.
I don't have an substrate in my tank only rocks and a large fake log
I feed mine flakes every few days and a beefheat cube. To get an idea of his size he can only grab the corner of the beefheat. he loves to rip it to shreds. The two rosy barbs and fake SAE do the clean up along wiht a couple of bristlenoses. 

They like there PH at around 8 and temp at 26, I haven't cleaned his tank out in 3 monthsand it is still clean. Only clean the filter when it starts to lift and top thew water when it starts to evaporate.
I used to breed guppies and feed them to him, not anymore, got rid of that tank. He used to love chasing them


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## Naxx (Nov 15, 2007)

the only problem with having oscars and plecos is that your going to have a pretty big poo load, both oscars and plecs poo like the dickens. consder getingg some sort of bottotm feeder, not a crab or lobster, oscars will riip tthem apart.


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## Jen (Nov 15, 2007)

These guys have been in the same tank for several years, so i think that the filter is able to handle to poo load, but i have kept fish before, so i know that i need to do water changes and clean the substrate . sorry, no pics at the moment, as they are still in sydney, hopefully moving up here next week or the week after


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## Ristof (Nov 16, 2007)

I have got mine in a tank without substrate and it works well


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