what should i know about taking care of my oscar ???

Question

I just got a tiger oscar and want to know what all i should know .... i did do a bunch of resaerch but every site i went to said something different and i'm so cunfused anyway hope you can help :)

Answer 1

The reason you get varying answers is that you always do get exceptions to cases, must like you see the average height of a man in the USA is say 5'10" but you walk out to a basketball game and see like 20 men all 6'6" or higher and lower. You should see some general similarities though among those sites.

Such as tank size. Ok you bought a baby Oscar and he's just a couple inches long, so you're thinking why the hell do I have this guy all alone in a 55 gallon tank? Basically because that Oscar isn't going to stay 2 inches all his life. They are pigs about food so they will grow very rapidly, almost an inch a month or more. Full size you should expect that Oscar to be about 12-14 inches long, so would it be in your best interest to keep him in a 20 gallon?

Tank mates are tough to keep with Oscars because they eat like pigs and tend to eat any fish they could get in thier mouth. Thats part of the cichild in them and also part of them just not knowing any better. And you also need to consider proper filtration from a fish that eats this much. Clearly they will produce far more waste the most other fish, and not having filtration in excess of your tank size is liable to cause health issues for an Oscar.

Water changes should be done twice a week, rather then one weekly change because of the waste being produced. You'll get greater benefits from smaller more frequent changes in this case because waste will build up much faster and mineral levels will also deplete faster.

Hope that helps.

JV

Answer 2

First, make sure you have a 50+ gallon tank, with no other tankmates. You may get the fish when it is a few inches long, but they will soon be 15-18 inches. Then, the next step would be to make sure you know the correct water temperature and water chemistry the Oscar prefers. Do not attempt to add any tankmates, except maybe another large South American fish (if it fits in the Oscar's mouth, it will be eaten.) Oscars prefer less intense lighting and a lot of hiding places. Plants are a tough deal with Oscars, some Oscars will go out of their way to uproot every plant and tear them apart, and others will just ignore them. Fake plants are probably best in this case. Good luck!

Two really helpful sites...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_%28fish%29
http://www.oscarfishlover.com/

Nosoop4u

Answer 3

1. dont feed them alot of feeders, they'll get hole in the head disease which, other than being unsightly, can drasticly reduce the fishes lifespan
2. make sure it's in a big enough tank, 75 gallons is considered the minimum
3. feed a varied diet, pellets shrimp, bloodworms, earthworms, crayfish(big ones having had their clws removed), and if you HAVE to have feed feeders set up a little 10-20 gallon and let them sit in there for about 3 weeks to get rid of any internal parasites, feeding them fish food also adds to their nutritional value (which is pretty poor by themselves)
4. live plants are a waste of money use fake plants and silicone rocks to their base
5. oscars, like many cichlids enjoy cover, a large floerpot or peice of driftwood will be well appreciated.
they get big and tempermental when older as 'lonley' as they may look in that big tank trust me it's for the best, keep just one fish.

Answer 4

keep its tank and water clean. offer it food daily .keep the water temp 72 to 78 f and have a 55gal for 1 oscar and youll do fine.