Oscars are one of the most fascinating fish. Oscars in captivity often live between ten to twenty years and are fun to watch. They do, however, need more care than your standard goldfish setup would provide. Since they can live for such a long time, be sure you are ready for the commitment before you get your first Oscar. Oscar Fish Care can help you learn all you need to know about caring for your Oscars.
Oscars are also known by the names velvet cichlid, red Oscar, tiger Oscar, and marble cichlid. The Oscar is a freshwater fish that originates from Brazil and Peru in the upper Amazon river. They can also be found in southern Florida, but they are not native to that region.
Oscar Fish breeding
For breeding fish you will need male and a female Oscars. Oscars are monomorphic which means that both sexes look the same. You will not be able to go to the pet store to buy a mating pair. Instead, see if anyone is willing to sell you a known mating pair. Your other option, if you want to breed Oscar fish, is to get several young Oscars and wait for them to pair off when they become sexually mature around their first birthday.
Tank and laying egg.
After you have a mating pair, the next step to breeding Oscar fish is to make the tank suitable for their egg laying. They need a flat surface and will not lay their eggs in sand or gravel. Give them a rock so that they will have an area to lay their eggs
Watch your Oscars for mating rituals. These rituals may include jaw locking, chasing one another, or engaging in what appears to be rough behavior. Although these rituals are the start of the mating for the Oscars, they might not produce any eggs for months.
They will stop eating right before they lay their eggs and instead will clean and may even move around the rock they have chosen to lay their eggs on. After the eggs are laid this is also the time that the Oscars become aggressive as they protect their eggs.
Caring for Your Oscar Eggs
What you do next depends on why you are breeding your Oscars. If you want to watch the parents interact with their children, realize that the Oscars may eat the eggs or the Fry. Take the rock that the eggs were laid on and place it in a container so that the eggs are covered by around six inches of water that you removed from the main tank.
You’ll want an air stone close enough that the bubbles are released near the eggs but not so fast that the eggs will be disturbed.Not all of the eggs will be fertilized. You should notice a fungus growing on the eggs a few hours after they were laid. This is one sign that the eggs might be infertile.
Since this fungus can attack fertilized eggs, you may want to add methylene blue to protect the eggs. Be careful when using it in your main tank as it might destroy the biological filter.
Another way to tell if the eggs are fertilized or not are to judge the colour. While fertilized eggs turn a light tan, non-fertilized eggs remain white in color. Many of the non-fertilized eggs will be eaten by your Oscars.
Feeding Your Oscar
Choosing the right Oscar food is important for your fish’s health. In the wild, up to 60% of their diet can be composed of insects. While you won’t have a huge variety of insects available to you, you can always harvest a few from your backyard, but only do this if your garden is pesticide free. One of the animals you can grab that your Oscars will love is earthworms.
Although insects can make up a part of your Oscar’s diet, it is best to buy food, such as pellets, from a fish store for the base of your Oscar’s food. Oscars are in the cichlid family.
Another option you have with Oscar food is frozen food such as krill, beef heart, bloodworm, mussels, shrimp, and cockles. The only problem with frozen food is that you cannot know if it was thawed and refrozen. To avoid this you can purchase food that was freeze-dried instead. When food is freeze-dried, it keeps all of its nutrients. It is more expensive than frozen food, but the higher quality makes it worth it.
Of course, you don’t need to buy all of the food for your Oscar. They enjoy eating live food, just as they would in the wild. You can buy feeder fish at the store, but for better quality consider breeding your feeders.
How often you feed your Oscar depends on the fish’s age. Baby Oscars will need to eat the most; around three times a day. Once they reach about seven inches, you can start feeding them twice daily instead. In Oscar’s mature time feed them one time daily.
Oscar Fish Health
Oscars living in aquariums are likely to develop disease if the proper precautions are not taken. Since aquariums are so small compared with the Oscars native habitat, it’s not surprising that poor-quality water is one of the main causes of fish illness. It’s important to learn what you can about fish health while at the same time finding a vet who is familiar with treating Oscars. Although some conditions can be fatal, others are easy to treat.
Hole In The Head (HITH)
HITH is mainly caused by either poor water quality or poor diet. To keep this disease from affecting your fish, avoid a diet consisting only of feeder fish. Ideally, breed the feeder fish yourself, since those purchased at a store may be diseased and you don’t want to feed unhealthy fish to your Oscar.
Swimbladder
If your fish is having trouble swimming or staying upright, he might have swimbladder. One of the factors that causes swimbladder is sudden temperature change. It can also come from an internal infection. Be careful when you match the water temperatures to help prevent this from happening.
If you do notice your fish laying on his side without responding when you go to the tank or you see your fish have trouble staying upright in the water, move him to a hospital tank. Your hospital tank’s water should be warmer than the main tank by about 5 degrees Celsius and the water should be shallow. Your other option is using an antibacterial in your tank.
Abrasions
Cuts and abrasions are fairly common for Oscars and usually look worse than they actually are. Oscars may be injured while fighting with another fish or by hurting themselves on something in the tank. Usually these injuries will heal on their own in time.
The best thing you can do is to keep the tank in good condition with a low amount of nitrate in the water. If the injury is especially serious or doesn’t seem to be healing on its own, medicating like melafix can be purchased to treat the tank with.
Pop-Eye Disease
Pop-eye disease, in which the eyes are swollen and seem to stick out from the side of the head, is a serious but non-fatal illness your Oscar might get. It can be caused by parasites, bad water, or bacteria.
Parasites
Parasites might be internal or external. Unless an infestation is severe, you’ll rarely notice internal parasites as your fish can be otherwise healthy.
External parasites such as leeches, anchor worms, and lice can be seen with the naked eye. You might first notice external parasites if your Oscar starts flashing against rocks or developing inflammation and red patches. Anti-parasite medication will clear up most infestations. Many diseases can be avoided with proper care.
Oscar Fish Tank
Before you even look at Oscars, you need to have a good tank setup for them. Having the wrong tank for your fish can lead to illness and will cost you more in the long run. They can quickly outgrow “starter” tanks, so start with a full sized tank.
Many oscar experts disagree about the minimum tank size needed for these fish. However, most agree that 55 gallons is the bare minimum you should consider. This size is good for a young oscar, but as they grow they might need a bigger tank so they can more easily move around.
Assuming you only plan on keeping an Oscar and no other fish, a 75 gallon tank is comfortable for them.
If you plan on having a mated pair of Oscars or plan on introducing your fish to other tank mates, you’ll want a bigger tank. A good size is 125 gallons or more.
This may seem like a large tank, but it is necessary for the health of your fish. If you can’t afford a large tank and the upkeep it requires, consider buying a different fish. Convict cichlids can be just as fun as oscars, but are a smaller species.
Tank setup is important.
Keep in mind that the tanks will be extremely heavy when filled with water (larger tanks can weigh half a ton). When you set up your tank, make sure it is level. If it isn’t, it could end up with cracked seals or panels. Other than tank size, the most important issue is proper filtration.
Here are given some best facts about Oscar fish.
- Oscar fish are the important part of the Cichlid family. One of the largest vertebrate families, with 2,000 to 3,000 species.
- Oscar fish are found in South America.
- They are eating both plants and animals, and their diet consists of small invertebrates.
- Oscar fish are intelligent and can easily recognize by their owners.
- They can grow up to 18 inches and 12 to 13 inches.
- Oscar fish can live up to 15 years with proper care.