OSCAR FISH PETS

Here are my 3 Oscar fish. The largest one is the Albino but it gets along pretty well with the Tiger Oscar. The Albino and Tiger Oscars, however kept attacking the Albino Red Oscar, so that one stays alone in it’s own aquarium. Oscars also have relatively large eyes and they often look like thy are staring at you.

I have a big dog (a Great Pyrenees) but I also have some big fish pets, too. Oscars can be found in the wild in Florida or other tropical habitats, but they are found many times much easier at pet shops. They are interesting colorful additions to an aquarium but there are some things you should know before getting one of these large species. Depending on the species type they can get up to 18 inches long and way up to 4 pounds. So ensure you have at least a 50 gallon aquarium to begin with, and a water heater strong enough to keep the temperature at 74-80 degrees. Of course Oscars eat smaller fish, but they will also attack other Oscars. But if you purchase a pair of Oscars or even more when they are still very small, they will usually get along very well. I have done some research and much to my surprise I found that they will eat grasshoppers, crickets, and mealworms, too. But the food I find easy to purchase at a pet shop and feed to them is Tetra Cichlid. A lot of research about this fish can be found online, but here a few other things that I have learned about Oscars after keeping them for a while: Make sure your aquarium has a secure top. I have had an Oscar jump out of its tank more than once. Over and over the Oscars I have raised knock over the decorations I have put in the aquarium, and move the gravel at the bottom to a surprising degree. When you first begin to clean the aquarium the Oscars are outraged, but they soon learn there is nothing to worry about and accept what you do. They also tend to crunch down on their food and this results in many tiny particles that end up in the gravel. Despite their size, Oscars do not eat gobs of food like goldfish do. You can tell when you have fed too much because a lot of it just floats around in the aquarium. I clean the aquariums once every 2 weeks and always surprises me how much I have to clean from the gravel. To keep thing very clean I also maintain 2 kinds of filters for each tank – a big one that sits under the aquarium and the other type that hangs on the side of the aquarium. This also ensures plenty of air in the water for them.

If you have an Oscar and have noticed any unique things about them please email me at [email protected]