are ocsars always tame!

[angelcakes]

hi all, recently got two baby tiger oscars about 1 month ago and growing fast,there in a 4ft long tank 180 litres of water,all ok with the water(yay!!) ive started handfeeding them with worms which they enjoy,

question 1:will oscars stay this tame?

question 2:i heard from somewhere if you have true breeding pair of oscars they live quite happily but if you dont when there bigger they get they will fight and kill off one of them,

could somebody please help with this has its got me concerned,hopefully theres an attachment underneath were you can see my oscar,sorry about the picture there just not posers,and its the smaller of the two,

[jbeining75]

As for Oscars tame, umm. no not really. They are a carnivorous south american cichlid that grow upto 14 inches. They will eat almost anything they can fit in their mouths. They are oppurtunistic eaters and if hungry will go after anything small enough to eat. They are best kept with Oscars or other large south american cichlid.
As for mating they will go through a courtship. If they are ready to breed they will dominate the tank, best to remove other things. They will prance and lock jaws for sometimes hours at times.. If one backs down it usually gets attacked sometimes fatalily. Best mating at 80 degrees or just above. They will lay eggs on pots or rocks.

Alot of times if you bring them up together they will not fight but heed warning any aggressive fish not given adaquate room will establish a tank territory and sometimes fatalily protect it. A pair of Oscars are best kept in at least 90 gallons full grown. I have two in a 55 gallon right now but they are small and will move into either a 90, 110 or 120 in April.

[angelcakes]

thats a big size for a fish,glad there in speciman tank!!!there in tank with 12 inch long plec and a big synodontis catfish(6-7 inches long and fat) so hopefully capacity wont be a problem (180 litre tank),there mating also sounds rough i'll cross that bridge if it happens,but in the long run i can see myself becoming an oscar freak!!!:1: thanks for replying

[Tooch]

They are awesome fish with great personalities! I've had my Oscar Bill for 2 years now. He knows who I am, and I know how he is! It's true they can be aggressive, but since I only have one, he get's along with everything in my tank pretty well. He's definatly my favorite fish that we have!

[jbeining75]

Oscar are awesome fish 180 litre is around 50 gallons right. Your goona need a larger tank with the pleco and cat. I'd move to a 110 gallon tank. hmm. lets see 3.75 litres per gallon. 110 gallon would be like 400 litres. You'll probably need that full grown so nothing stunts and becomes super aggressive. You'll have problems in the 180 litre

[Tooch]

Oscar are awesome fish 180 litre is around 50 gallons right. Your goona need a larger tank with the pleco and cat. I'd move to a 110 gallon tank. hmm. lets see 3.75 litres per gallon. 110 gallon would be like 400 litres. You'll probably need that full grown so nothing stunts and becomes super aggressive. You'll have problems in the 180 litre


According to the liquid converter in the menu, you're pretty much spot on. It comes to about 47 gallons. You'll definatly need a larger tank fairly soon. Oscars grow large fast. They eat alot, they spit out alot, and they poop alot. The larger the tank you have the less aggressive they'll be.

[angelcakes]

hiya,thanks for the input my husbands just pointed out the tank the oscars are in has got a bigger litre then the 180 litre,my husband brought the tanks for me as christmas presents ive given the wrong measurements LOL and the tank is a foot longer than the other,how thick can i get!!!! ive given you the measurements of my community tank!!,feel embarassed now,so to clear things up the oscars are in a five foot tank,

[Fishguy2727]

Oscars hit at least up to 16".

45 gallons is definitely a good start, but not even close to enough for them full grown. Minimum for two adults is a 75.

Every oscar is different. So there is no rule as to whether they will or won't change.

[Bassfan]

1 Oscar needs atleast a 55 gallon as a minimum. 75 is better. Be sure to feed only good food (NLS, or the Hikari biogold+), great filtration. 1 Oscar needs atleast 550 gallons per hour of filtration.

[Fishguy2727]

I avoid gph ratings for filtration minimums. This is moving water, not necessarily cleaning water.

Arguably they need only a 55. I would say 75 minimum for one or two.