Oscar Info

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Oscar Info

OSCARS
There is so much to learn about oscars I can't put it all in this page but I'll give the basics.
Personality.....
If you are looking for a freshwater fish with personality then an oscar is probably your best bet. I've seen so many cool things that oscars do. Oscars adapt to thier owner really well. I've had an oscar that wouldn't eat food unless they knew that it was me feeding it to them. They always seem so excited to see you (probably just because they are hungry but I like to believe it is that they missed me). I've had oscars that loved to be petted like a dog. It is cool to see what new things each of your O's will do. Everytime I get a new one it never fails to surprise me. I have yet to find a fish with more personality than an oscar.
Life span and size.....
Oscars are a BIG dirty fish. They reach a length of 10-12 in. in a good aquarium environment, and they reach this amazing length quickly, growing at a rate often as much as 1 in a month in a good enviroment. It only takes them 2 years at the very most, usually only 1 1/2 yrs. to reach full size sometimes less once again depending on aquarium conditions. Oscars are not a short term fish either. They're life expectancy is 8-10 yrs. I've heard stories of some that lived for 12 years. But here agian you must have a good enviroment for your Oscar.
Tank conditions......
Oscars are a very hardy fish when it comes to the actual paramaters (nitrates,nitrites,ammonia, and ph) of the water. If you keep it fairly low then you are ok. Just because they take easily to water conditions doesn't mean you can slack off though. They dirty thier water REALLY quickly. As matter of fact, Oscars require weekly water changes of 15% or more. As mentioned before Oscars are DIRTY fish. They produce a lot of waste. Which in turn, turns into harmful nitrate and nitrites. You must remember that just because they are hardy and may not show it a lot, but they are affected, and it does cause stress.
Filteration.....
Here agian, oscars are very dirty fish. Therefore, require high filteration rates. I reccomend at least 12 turnovers per hour. Rate isn't the only thing important in looking for your filter. Oscars can make a tank stink bad. To help smell in a tank good bio-logical filteration is needed. Cell-pore inserts help with bio-logical filtering greatly. The only place I have found the cell-pore inserts is at bigalsonline.com . The emporer sereies has really good bio-logical filtering because of the bio-wheel. Also, carbon seems to help out some with the smell of the tank. You want to get some of each...bio-logical, mechanical, and chemical fileration.
Behavior.....Oscars can be aggressive but usually seem to be one of the more peaceful cichlids. Oscars are usually fairly peaceful for the most part. Although, if you let them get really established then try to add another fish.....good luck. They don't tend to like the little red light on heaters either. The more aggresive oscars always break my hearters unless I cover the red light with black electrical tape. They also don't want thier home how you aranged it they want it how they want it and that's it. You bascially can't keep plants(fake or alive) once the oscars reach about 6 in. They move anything that they can to the corner of the tank or wherever they want it. Remember that oscars are very personable so this doesn't apply to all oscars this is just from my personal experience.
Variety
There are many different types of oscars, and there are several new ones out and still coming. Some of the variety are listed below although I can't say this is ALL of them...
Tiger Oscars (My favorite)
Albino
Lutino (a version of albino but not a true albino)
Red Oscar
Gold Oscar
Long Fin Oscar
Wild Oscars (All of the others have been changed over years by breeders these are still the originals)
The following are dyed and I'm goin to list them but I urge you not to buy them as I will explain later.
Blueberry Oscar
Strawberry Oscar
Lemon Oscar
Dying Process
I have a pretty strong feeling about these dyed Oscars and REFUSE to buy them and I usually don't shop where they are sold. So I'm hoping that in this section I will help you to understand why not to buy them. Here is the steps they take in getting your fish those colors...
Albinos are born into a heavily dyed tank (which is really bad on the fish)
They are kept in there for about 2-4 weeks and fed dyed foods until they reach the right color.
here is what happens after you get them home.....
You have your beautiful fruity colored fish. Then as time progresses it loses it's color. That doesn't take much time at all. Within 6 months you have a pretty ugly faded albino oscar. Not to mention a very unhealthy albino oscar. They are prone to disease. Shortened life spans. Hard to take care of. Often very picky eaters compared to most oscars. It is more of a pain then those first 5 months are worth.

Thanks CDevoe1111 :)