by junior on Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:41 pm
[b]OSCAR-Astronotus ocellatus[/b]
[b]TEMPERMANT:[/b] Oscars are by far the most interactive fish out there, which is why they are so popular. They are midly aggressive as south american speices go, but they will eat anything that will fit in thier mouths. So tankmates should be picked accordingly. If you want to see the oscars personallity, you should not pick an over aggresive tank mate. Also one thing to not is that oscars are no for the sulking, most new oscars owners think there is something wrong with them. They will move toward the bottom and will sit there for an extend period of time.
[b]ADULT SIZE/GROWTH RATE:[/b] Oscars are exteremly fast growers, a well fed oscar can grow one inch a month, in the first year. Most oscars will reach a full adult size of approximately 16 inches.
[b]COMMON NAMES:[/b] Velvet Cichlid, Marble Cichlid
[b]MINIMUM TANK SIZE:[/b] 55 gallon fish tank is a bare minimum for single oscar and a 75 gallon for a pair. If kept in a small confined tank for a long period, the fish will become stunted and will have a much shorter life span. Also you can not really see the beauty of an oscar if placed in a very confined place.
[b]FEEDING:[/b] Oscar are very messy eaters and requirer a lot of food. Most of their diet should consist of a quality cichlid pellet. The other part of their deit can be Insects and Worms. You can also feed beef heart which is easily obtained at any local butcher shop, but you must cut it up yourself. If you keep an oscar on a very strict diet without much change, they will sometimes stop eating, this can be fixed by trying different foods.
[i]One thing that is highly discouraged is the feeding of feeder goldfish, they carry a lot of diseases that could make your oscar ill, if not kill it.[/i]
[b]BREEDING:[/b] Oscars start to breed around the age of two. There is no visible differences between the males and females. The best way to get a pair is to buy 5-6 juveniles and allow them to grow up together, once they reach maturity you are sure to have a pair, but in some instances 2 females will act as a pair, the way to tell if you have fertile eggs, if they are light brown they have been fertilized.
A Tiger Oscar:
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/Barbokla/BabsWetPets12_2_03Tigerflair4x6.jpg[/img]
A Albino Oscar:
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/Barbokla/BabsWetPets12_2_03oscar4x6.jpg[/img]
PLEASE POST QUESTIONS IN THE FORUM UNDER OSCARS!! Thank You..
Last edited by
Barb Okla on Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.