Oscars

[bulla_iia]

First of all for the chemistry side of things brackish water is not acidic do to the introduction of Salt in the NaCl form, Na(+) combined with the Cl(-) creates a pH of 7 and for those that dont quite know what that means, the charts of acid/base are on a 1 thu 14 scale, so half of that would be neutral. And about the equality of ox heart vs norm flesh diet, there is the high mineral/lower fat factor that distinguishes the two apart, not the price. The difficult availability of the heart vs the normal flesh is much more of the concern, So why waist the time searching for ox heart is it was the same.

 

[Tsubakai]

"Although wild oscars tend to prefer water on the soft and slightly acidic side, captive-bred oscars tend to be extremely tolerant of wide pH and hardness values" - from The Guide to Owning Oscars, Richard F. Stratton 2004

I would love to have an Oscar I could raise from tiny up to large size but not sure I have the room for one at the moment.

 

[DiamondAsh]

Oscars are great pets, almost like having a dog, except you don't have to walk them !! Our two, (ghost and oscar) are good friends and behave themselves in their tank. We do a half water change every month and full change and scrub around every six. The worst thing about them is they produce a lot of nitrates with their by-products, making the tank get algee quickly unless you're on top of it from the start. I love coming home of a night as they both see the door open and start to get wiggly immediately. Here's a pic ...

 

[Brettix]

They love pinkies,and they are carnivorous predators

 

[Ness]

just make sure you got enought space for the oscars if you want them to grow to there maxium size they need at least 30 - 60 litres per oscar. otherwise you may stunt there growth.

 

[Jen]

They are in a 6x2x2 tank, so they will have plenty of growth space, once the pleckies are out of there that is

 

[Tsubakai]

If you've got plecos in a 6 foot tank with 2 Oscars, I would consider leaving them in there. That tank is easily big enough for the Oscars to share and the plecs will help keep the substrate clean by eating algae and any food the oscars let get away.

 

[Renagade]

they destroy crickets kicking around on the surface of the water too. you will only need to feed these fish every second day if they are large. also raw prawn (peeled), cichlid frozen cubes, worms ect. they are easy the pleese. post a pic??

 

[Ristof]

I had two of these, now I have one
The one I have left was hafe the size of the bigger one so I am guessing he didn't eat him.
I think he jumped out some how and the cat got him

I have mine is a 3ft tank - he is only about 10cm at the moment, his names bluey.
I don't have an substrate in my tank only rocks and a large fake log
I feed mine flakes every few days and a beefheat cube. To get an idea of his size he can only grab the corner of the beefheat. he loves to rip it to shreds. The two rosy barbs and fake SAE do the clean up along wiht a couple of bristlenoses.

They like there PH at around 8 and temp at 26, I haven't cleaned his tank out in 3 monthsand it is still clean. Only clean the filter when it starts to lift and top thew water when it starts to evaporate.
I used to breed guppies and feed them to him, not anymore, got rid of that tank. He used to love chasing them

 

[Naxx]

the only problem with having oscars and plecos is that your going to have a pretty big poo load, both oscars and plecs poo like the dickens. consder getingg some sort of bottotm feeder, not a crab or lobster, oscars will riip tthem apart.

 

[Jen]

These guys have been in the same tank for several years, so i think that the filter is able to handle to poo load, but i have kept fish before, so i know that i need to do water changes and clean the substrate . sorry, no pics at the moment, as they are still in sydney, hopefully moving up here next week or the week after

 

[Ristof]

I have got mine in a tank without substrate and it works well