1st time oscar, need help & info

[Billythefish]

Hay guys i went to my lfs today and there was a old man that was talking to the salesman he wanted to swap his oscar for other fish but thay would'nt let him so i made a deal with him i gave him 2parrots 1severum 2 bala sharks, what a deal the oscar is so cool hes about 10'' and 2 years old but i dont no much about this fish any idea's would help ???

[angelcakes]

Hay guys i went to my lfs today and there was a old man that was talking to the salesman he wanted to swap his oscar for other fish but thay would'nt let him so i made a deal with him i gave him 2parrots 1severum 2 bala sharks, what a deal the oscar is so cool hes about 10'' and 2 years old but i dont no much about this fish any idea's would help ???
oscars are messy eaters and poopers,dont put in with fish smaller then it otherwise its a free feed,also make sure your tank top is secure as they jump.

[travie]

What size tank are you going to have him in? Get the best filtration you can afford for the tank he is.

Edit: And try to vary its diet the best you can to keep him healthy.

[Billythefish]

The tank is 4ft long and 2ft hight ? And i just learn the hard way when open the lid he soked me ha ha ive got a pleco in with him is this ok the pleco is a baby about 3''

[angelcakes]

The tank is 4ft long and 2ft hight ? And i just learn the hard way when open the lid he soked me ha ha ive got a pleco in with him is this ok the pleco is a baby about 3''
mines the other way around 12"+plec and 2 3"oscars(mine are still babies):19:

[Billythefish]

Haha, what do you feed your oscars?

[OscarFan]

I feed my Oscar Hikari Pellets
Frozen Bloodworms and Krill
and Peas

The Pleco might get eaten. If it will fit in an Oscars mouth chances are it will go in an Oscars mouth.

[jbeining75]

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Here check these out. These are outta my blogs. If you have any question you can always pm me also. I will respond back as soon as possible.

[Billythefish]

Thanks thats real good of you i'll go take a look , and ive taken the pleco out and pup him back in my guppy tank i'll get a bigger pleco if i can.

[travie]

jbeining75, I have a question about the feeding. If a person were to breed their own feeder fish, would that be okay to feed to an oscar? I don't have an oscar, I'm just wondering.

[jbeining75]

Feed them as treats but they have almost no nutritional value. I usually feed mine crickets instead of feeder fish. I use the same gut load that I use for my feeder crickets for my gecko to feed teh crickets. It adds protein and calcium into the crickets. Crickets are already a very high source of protein. Much better than feeder fish. I pull the legs off the crickets so they don't get caught in the mouth while trying to digest the cricket. A good quality pellet like Hikari Cichlid Bio-Gold or NLS Jumbo Fish Pellets should be the staple of the diet however.

[OscarFan]

Feeding home grown feeders is fine as long as it isnt their main diet. But it will heighten the predator in them and cause them to be more aggresive.

[travie]

I see. Well when I do finally get an Oscar. Not for awhile. I won't go the feeder fish for even treats, so that there will be no aggression.

[Billythefish]

Jbehning75 your blog rocks do you know how to sex them and my oscar has some cool orenge scales dose this change?

[OscarFan]

Their is a breeding tube on the males right below the head. And the colors should not change.

[Billythefish]

Their is a breeding tube on the males right below the head. And the colors should not change.
He's a she then no tube just two dots at the start of the anel fin thank you:-)

[Nick89]

Please be sure you have a big enough tank.. Many people put oscars in tanks smaller than what they need. 1 oscar should have a minimum of 55g. I found a great deal on my 55g but now i want to get a 75 to comfortably home my oscar and 2 firemouths. No need to feed fish for feeders, just feed NLS or hikari. I preferably like NLS, my fish's colors look 5x better and they are growing like mad. Usually oscars cant have other fish in the tank, but if you got a similiar sized fish with same aggression then it should be fine. Best way to have tank mates with an oscar is to get the oscar when hes small and the tankmates the same time so he can grow up with them. But even that doesnt mean he wont attack the other fish when hes bigger. Hes a South American cichlid so you never know. You need a ph from 7.0-7.2 area, temp around 78 degrees, big tank, weekly water changes at 30% to reduce nitrates, ammonia, etc. and a good food, like i mentioned before NLS, Hikari, omega 1 etc.. But i reccommend NLS just because what ive seen in my fish's colors. Good luck with your first oscar, they are great fish to keep if kept in ideal conditions.

[Billythefish]

Thanks i'll take it all on bord ive uploaded a pic in the cichlid gallery of my new oscar let me know what you guys think and thanks for all the help and any new ideas welcome

[Nick89]

Cool oscar. My oscar is pretty uniqe with his colors, ill try to post a picture in my gallery, how do you post pictures there lol?

[Billythefish]

Cool oscar. My oscar is pretty uniqe with his colors, ill try to post a picture in my gallery, how do you post pictures there lol?
Go to gallery then mypics then upload then you can chose what your image is most related to re ciclid then upload it. Good luck

[Nick89]

cool, thanks.

[jbeining75]

Billy the only real surefire way to sex Oscars is to see them when their breeding tubes drop down. Females will have long rounded breeding tubes and males will have short and pointy breeding tubes. Oscars are generally considered sexually monomorphic which means both sexes male and female appear the same.

[Billythefish]

I see i think ill say its a female until i no for sure. thanks. Shes up and down up and down wen i go near the tank such a good personality i love this fish

[Lady Hobbs]

Well, he got a deal too I might add. Large parrots are going for $50 each.