oscar growth?

**dean30bb** · 06-25-2008, 08:03 AM

hi all
i got another 3 new oscars about a month ago and they have only grown about half an inch i no that they can grow faster because my other bigger oscars when i had them small they grew about 2-3 inches each month for a few months.
i have my three small new oscars in a 5ft tank with an eel tail 2 silver dollars and a silver scat all the same size ( im moving the scat to a new tank soon so he can live in brackish waters ) do u think it could be the other fish that r stopping them from growing or just slower than the other three that i got ages ago

thanks

**Billythefish** · 06-25-2008, 08:21 AM

Hi it can be a case of over stocking but i'd go with it being more a case of what your feeding them!, my 2 baby red oscars have grown 1'' in 2 weeks and thay are in a community tank, what have you been feeding then and how often to you do water changes and how much do you change?

**dean30bb** · 06-25-2008, 09:46 AM

i feed them oscar grow witch is a HPH brand ive always used it i do water changes 1 a week sometime 2 times depending on how dirty they are lol
and i change 25%-30%

**johnl** · 06-25-2008, 09:54 AM

Average growth for baby O's is about an inch a month. Some grow more some grow less. Try frozen beef heart if you want them to bulk up. IMO you are also overstocked and 3 O's is a bad number because two of them will pair off and pick on the third.

**Billythefish** · 06-25-2008, 11:07 AM

That all sounds ok to me, you could also try hikari or nls with some live foods and give peas once a week to help prevent constipation, and i would look at getting a new 120g tank for the 3 oscars in the future

**angelcakes** · 06-25-2008, 05:02 PM

Originally Posted by Billythefish

That all sounds ok to me, you could also try hikari or nls with some live foods and give peas once a week to help prevent constipation, and i would look at getting a new 120g tank for the 3 oscars in the future

that would be a good idea.......bigger tank and more stable food, my oscars or 1 of, the pig known as charlie can eat for england

the other is quite small compared to charlie but both were got at the same time,

**dean30bb** · 06-26-2008, 05:22 AM

ya i no about the 2 oscars will kill the therd and if theres 2 oscars the stronger one will pick on the weeker one
i have 2ft x5ft tank waiting for them but my bigger oscars are in it so i have them in the 1ft x5ft for now till they grow a bit
will try with the peas and beefhart thanks

**Fishguy2727** · 06-26-2008, 02:28 PM

What is the volume of the tank? The length is only one dimension and tells us only a little.

What is the nitrate concentration? This dictates minimum water change schedule and needs to be maintained at no more than 20ppm.

What foods can you get? I have found New Life Spectrum to be the best. Over there it may not be available or too expensive. Hikari Bio-Gold+ is a great option too. I would ditch the HBH for a better brand if you can.

I do not recommend live foods because there are risks associated with them. One is pathogens, almost a guarantee at some point if you are getting them from the LFS. Another is aggression. Never feeding live foods helps to decrease aggression and in your case with three oscars and other fish this could be very important. The other is that they are nutritionally incomplete and unbalanced. With enough variety and the live foods only being a small fraction of the diet this is not really an issue, but something you should still be aware of.

Feeding things like beefheart is focusing on one thing, protein which increases growth. It is better to have a balanced diet and proper growth, than an unbalanced diet and faster growth. Many grow faster, but genetics play a huge role in how fast the fish will grow. If yours are just slower growers, don't push them.

**dean30bb** · 06-27-2008, 10:15 AM

thek tank is roughly 600 liters i keep the nitrite nitrate ph ammonia all at the rite levels i check them regularly simply because of the amout of fish in there so its all fine
the hph food is really the only food thats best for themm that i can get here there are other foods but they have never been good for me in the past (bad health ect) i havent ever feed them live foods becase of the health resons asociated with oscars

what do u recoment that i try other than beef hart thats good for them

**ILuvMyGoldBarb** · 06-27-2008, 11:25 AM

Well, I'm sure you can get you hands on things like fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Believe it or not, Oscars will love dry, unsalted peanuts. The frozen pees is a great suggestion for them as well. If you want to provide for your fish's dietary needs by providing them a wide variety of foods (IMO this is the best option) then have a look at this thread: http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aqua...ad.php?t=25250
That should give you a good idea of the kind of things you need to be feeding your fish.