Oscar Fish

How to Care for Your Oscar Fish

Oscar Fish (Astronotus ocellatus) are a freshwater cichlid from South America and are also known as Peacock Cichlid, Walnut Cichlid or Velvet Cichlid. Oscars are a relatively large fish that grow up to sixteen inches long and can live for up to eight to twelve years if proper care is given. Read on to learn the steps for ideal Oscar fish care.


Setting up a Freshwater Tank


This is an important step, as this will be your Oscar's home. The first step is to gather all the equipment you will need:
Freshwater testing kits
Cichlid Food and other cichlid care products (Water conditioners, buffers, substrates, trace element supplements)
Aquarium vacuum or siphon
Tank of proper size for your Oscar fish
Aquarium gravel (there are gravel blends especially for cichlids)
Aquarium heater
Filter
Fish net
Bucket for water changes
Ornaments or plants(either real or fake) for hiding places
Thermometer



Choosing an aquarium size



Oscar fish need at least 30 gallons of space each. The minimum tank size for a single Oscar fish should be 40 gallons.


Washing the aquarium



Everything must be washed. Hose out the inside of the aquarium thoroughly and then dry it with paper towels. Make sure to remove any soap residue. Rinse all equipment and ornaments you plan to submerge in tap water.

Place the gravel in a bucket and rinse it with water. Fill the bucket with enough water to submerge the gravel and stir until all of the loose sediment and debris comes off. Rinse and repeat this step until the water remains clear.


Finding a place for your aquarium


Oscar fish are sensitive to temperature fluctuations, noise and light, so keep the tank in a place where there will be minimal external influences on the environment. Place the tank away from doors, windows and vents and out of high traffic areas. Also, be sure to keep the tank out of direct sunlight as this promotes algae growth and temperature fluctuations.

Be sure to situate the tank on a sturdy piece of furniture or a special aquarium stand as a tank can weigh well over a hundred pounds when filled. To protect the floor and carpet, you can place a piece of corkboard beneath the stand or furniture as well as underneath the tank itself to keep the tank secure and even.


Filling your tank


If you're using one, place your under-gravel filter on the bottom of your aquarium. (More on filters later.) Next, add about three to four inches of cichlid gravel. The amount of gravel is not pivotal, but there should be enough to support all decorations and plants.

Next, begin conditioning your water. Tap water should be left standing for 24 hours or use a water conditioner or stress reliever to remove contaminants and make your water suitable for fish. You can also use special products for cichlids that recreate the mineral content of their natural environment for optimal health. These elements will be important in your cichlid's healthy transition to your aquarium.

Once your water is prepared, you can begin filling the tank. Pour the water in gently so as not to disrupt the gravel. You can also place a saucer in the bottom of the tank and pour the water directly into the saucer to avoid stirring up the gravel. Fill it up about halfway.
Once the aquarium is about half-full, add plants, ornaments, and rocks. Fill it up the rest of the way after these items are secure.


Bringing your Oscar Fish Home


The most jarring experience of your Oscar's captive life will be the ride from the pet store to your home. Follow these tips to reduce the amount of trauma on your new Oscar.
If it is cold, prepare an insulated box to keep your Oscar in on the ride home.
Wrap the bag in newspaper or place it in a brown paper bag to reduce the amount it is exposed to. The transition from indoor light to outdoor light can be particularly shocking for an Oscar fish, as cichlids don't like bright light.
Keep the Oscar away from heating vents and direct sunlight.
Make the trip home as quickly as possible. The less jolts from the car ride, the better.
Once you get the Oscar fish home, place the bag in the water without opening it for about 15 minutes. Next, add water from the aquarium to the bag a little at before opening the bag and setting it free.


Keeping the Tank Clean and Comfortable for your Oscar Fish


Keep a close eye on your Oscar fish's water temperature with a digital aquarium thermometer. Oscar fish prefer temperatures between 74 degrees Fahrenheit and 81 degrees Fahrenheit with an ideal around 77 degrees. Avoid fluctuations in temperature.

Ideal pH level for an Oscar fish is about 7.2, but Oscar fish are easily adaptable as long as the change is gradual. Keep an eye on the pH level of both the water in the tank and the water you are about to add for water changes using your pH test kit. If the pH level is drastically different, add only a little bit of new water each time or treat the water first using cichlid buffers.

Keeping several small filters is best for a larger tank, as it staggers the maintenance of the filters. You will at least want either an external power, canister or internal filter, combined with an inexpensive sponge or undergravel filter (or both) to ensure that you have enough surface area for proper biological filtration.


Performing a water change


Changing about 10 to 15 percent of the water is a simple way to keep the water clean and healthy (never change all the water in a big tank at once). Do this on a weekly basis by siphoning off a bit of the water and then siphoning new water back in. Make sure you condition the new water as you did when preparing the tank.

Be sure you remove water, even if some of the water has evaporated from the tank. Evaporated water leaves behind impurities that make the water harder and by simply "topping off" a tank you leave the impurities in.


Feeding your Oscar Fish



Oscar fish are primarily carnivorous, even preying upon smaller fish. In the wild, they prefer live foods, but even purchased live foods commonly contain parasites or other contaminants and it is safer (and easier) to feed them processed or frozen foods. There are special cichlid food blends that will provide a good stable diet, but you should regularly supplement these with freeze-dried worms or other organisms.

There are feeder goldfish on the market, but these fish are not very nutritious and could carry disease.

Blended beef heart, earthworms, shrimps as well as cichlid pellets, peas and lettuce are all good alternatives to keep your Oscar on a balanced diet. An Oscar needs a variety of foods with high protein in order to stay healthy.


Overfeeding


It is extremely important not to overfeed your Oscar fish. Oscar fish produce a lot of waste as it is and adding excess food can cause problems related to pollution, like ammonia buildup. Only feed the Oscar fish as much as it can eat in about two minutes. Any food left uneaten should be removed, along with any other floating debris you spot.


Breeding Oscars


Breeding Oscar fish is typically easier than breeding most other fish. Keep the water clean and raise the temperature to about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The male and female will then begin the process of spawning.

Oscar fish will change colors and begin courting when they are about to spawn. Oscars will build mounds of gravel around the aquarium and will chase each other around the aquarium. Then the female will lay her eggs on a flat rock and the male will fertilize them.

Oscar fish usually lay about 1000 eggs at a time. Unfertilized eggs are white and fertilized eggs will turn transparent after about 24 hours and hatch within 2 to three days.

Feed the newly hatched fry brine shrimp and do 25% water changes every day to keep the conditions suitable for raising fry.

Be aware: sometimes the male will kill the female during courtship.


General tips on Oscar Fish Care


After setting up the aquarium, it is best to wait a couple weeks to make sure everything is in order.

Add only one or two fish at a time. Biological filters need time to accommodate new inhabitants and changes in the water.

Before adding an Oscar fish to a community, keep it quarantined in a separate tank for a few weeks to make sure it is healthy. A diseased fish could contaminate an entire population.

Oscar fish prefer hiding places. To keep them relaxed and happy, provide them with plenty of decorations and plants. Oscars prefer about half or more of the tank to be covered, so keep lots of hiding places for him.

Oscars prefer to live alone. If you must, choose other Oscars as companions with even temperaments. A passive Oscar is quickly bullied while an aggressive Oscar will attack other fish.

Do not neglect regular partial water changes.

Air pumps and air stones are necessary to oxygenate the water and release harmful chemicals by agitating the surface of the water.

Oscar fish and many cichlids do not like bright lighting. Use low intensity fluorescent bulbs in your hood or a fluorescent fixture - a 10,000K rating will provide the best viewing - or actinic lighting to avoid stressing them. Make sure to turn them off at night or supply a lunar light.

To avoid electrical shock, make a "drip loop" on all your cords. Hang a small weight in the middle of the cord so water will not travel down the cord and into the outlet.
Choose gravel that is free of dye and will not be swallowed. Cichlid gravels are your best bet.

Oscar care requirements

Oscar fish are a good choice because they are very hardy, easy to keep and long lived, up to 16 years however, they do have a few specific requirements and this is due only to their large full grown size. Baby Oscars are tiny and cute but unbeknown to most fish keepers, they grow very large, over a foot long, 12 inches and their rate of growth is extremely quick. It has been reported that Oscar fish grow up to 1 inch per month while they are young! With that said, never purchase these little fish and put them into a small aquarium thinking you'll upgrade the tank size "down the road"

The minimum tank size recommended is 33 gallons, and this is only if you plan on housing one individual alone, without any tank mates. The recommended tank size for housing Oscar fish is 100 gallons, of course the bigger the better. Oscar fish can live alone, or with a buddy. They are not schooling fish so it is up to you if you will combine them with a partner or not. Oscar fish can be compatible with other South American Cichlids but some rules of thumb must be followed. Be sure that the fish you are introducing is the same size as the current Oscar and that the maximum size is close to that of the Oscar. They are very territorial and will either eat the fish if it's too small, or get beat up and harasses by it's larger tank mate, since all South American cichlids are aggressive and territorial.

Oscars Popularity

They have become very popular with fish keepers and have gained the nickname water, or river dog. This came about because of the way they act whilst in the tank. These fish are professional beggars, they are always on the lookout for food. As soon as you approach the tank, they'll be there wriggling and opening their mouths in the hope that you will drop some food in for them.

Contrary to popular belief, Oscars are not aggressive fish. You often see them labelled as killers of other fish. Yes, an Oscar is more than capable of killing another fish but they don't make a habit of terrorising their tankmates. You may well have problems if you keep two Oscars that just don't like each other, but as a rule, Oscars are definitely not among the most aggressive of the South American Cichlids.



Oscars can be moody fish and have been known to sulk for various reasons. This normally occurs if you move things around in their tank, or sometimes when water changes are carried out, especially if there are sudden changes in water temperature. As you can see in the photograph to the left, the two Oscars are sulking after a water change, this behaviour didn't last very long on they were soon swimming around normally. I would dismiss statements that quote Oscars sulking for days or even weeks. I have kept many Oscars and I've never seen this happen. If you keep Oscars in the correct environment, they should live quite happily without getting upset. Yes Oscars will sulk, but not for very long, and certainly not for days at a time. if you observe your Oscar sitting on the bottom of the tank looking unhappy for days, then you should be looking for an underlying problem, possibly poor water conditions, or may be illness in the Oscar itself.

They will also become very tame and will show little fear if you put your hand in the tank, if you are lucky, they may even let you caress and stroke them. It's no wonder people have fallen in love with them. Having said that, try not to handle them too much, the delicate membrane that covers their skin can easily be damaged which could leave them open to infection. What I actually do sometimes is put my hand in and let them come to me, rather than chase them. Remember that it is not natural for fish to let you touch it so if you want to pet your Oscar, take your time and don't rush things. Don't just shove your hand in the tank and expect the Oscar to let you touch it, it won't. You could start by hand feeding your Oscar. Quite often, Oscars are so interested in the food, they will actually barge through your hand to get to it. Once they become accustomed to taking food from your hands, you could try just touching your Oscars head with a finger. Once they get used to this try putting your hand in the water whilst they are feeding and let them brush up against your hand. Once again, don't make any sudden movements, just keep your hands still and they will just get on with things. You could also start petting them whilst you are cleaning the tank. They will often approach you by themselves, just leave your hand in one place and they may just brush past.



Putting your hand in their tank if they have eggs is certainly not advisable. Oscars have got very small teeth in their mouths. They won't be very apparent until an Oscar actually catches you on the finger when feeding. A large Oscar is more than capable of drawing blood.

How to Choosing your Oscar

It's time your tank is fully cycled and you are ready to choose your Oscar. When you go to the fish shop to choose your Oscar, have a very good look at them before you actually buy. Try to go for ones that are nice and alert, in other words, they are very perky and active. Don't choose any that are just lying on the bottom of the tank, there's a possibility they may be something wrong with that particular fish. If you are choosing from a tank that has a lot of babies and they are all nice and healthy, they should all be acting the same, probably hanging around hoping to be fed. The picture above shows some 3 inch baby red Oscars. They are always alert and on on the lookout for food, this is the sign of a healthy fish.

If you are going for a mature Oscar, study it very carefully. If it has any pitting, or holes around its head, leave well clear. There is a possibility it could have hole in the head disease. You never know how it has been treated and what kind of environment it has been kept in before. Having said that, if you want to buy a diseased fish and try and treat it, go-ahead. Just remember that the treatment could be very time-consuming and expensive, and it may not work at the end of the day.

Because Oscars come from the tropics, their tank water needs to be warm. Oscars will be okay with temperatures ranging from 22°C (72°F) to 28°C (82°F) You would normally have transported your fish home in a large plastic bag. Don't just open the bag and pour the fish in. Float the bag in the tank for around 15 minutes until the water inside the bag has had time to match that in the tank. The fish will already be a little bit stressed out from the journey, putting them straight into a tank that has a different temperature water could very well stress them even more, which could increase their chances of developing diseases.

When you first put your new Oscar in the tank, you may well find that he just swims to the bottom and sits motionless. Don't panic, he may just be a little bit stressed. After all it can't be a very nice being dragged out of your tank leaving all your mates behind, and then bouncing up and down while you're transported in a car. If you purchase more than one Oscar, they are normally more relaxed, safety in numbers I suppose.

The Oscar Fish

The Oscar Fish, or to give it its scientific name, Astronontus ocellatus.  Astronontus actually means being marked with a star on the back.  Ocellatus means bearing an "eye spot"  The Oscar is a fresh water fish that is a member of the Cichlid (pronounced sick-lid)  family which is native to the Orinoco, La Plata, and Amazon river in South America where they inhabit the many slow-moving rivers that are attached to the Amazon.

During the rainy season the Amazon rainforest floods to depths of 9 m and covers an area the size of California. The Amazon river is home to some of the largest fish in the world including massive catfish and the elusive Arapaima which can reach lengths of over 4 m.

The Oscar has also found its way into other tropical and subtropical parts of the wild such as some of the canals in Florida USA.  However these are not native and were probably introduced accidentally, or released on purpose.
The oscar  has various names such as velvet  and peacock cichlid. It is fairly obvious why people sometimes refer to an Oscar as a peacock cichlid, you only have to look at its tail to realise why this has come about.  The reason it is sometimes called a velvet cichlid is because of the size of its scales, if you look very closely, it almost has a velvet appearance.  Having said all this, is most commonly known as an Oscar with aquarium hobbyists.  Nobody is actually sure where the name Oscar came from. It probably came about from an early importer of tropical fish that for reasons of his own, gave the fish the name that we all love.  The Oscar can reach 16 in + (2LB +) in size and weight.  However,  fish normally only reach their maximum size in the wild. An average sized for an Oscar in captivity is probably between 9 and 12 inches.   There are various different types of Oscar, some of which include the Common or Wild Oscar, this being the original Oscar from the wild. Oscars bred from this wild Oscar include  Red, Tiger, Albino, Lutino, yellow, Lemon, Veil Tail. And then of course you can have all your cross breeds such as Red Tiger, Red Albino etc.

You may come across what is commonly referred to as a dyed or tattooed Oscar. These fish often display extremely bright colours that look very unnatural. We would advise anyone not to purchase any fish that has been dyed artificially. Whereas the colours may be bright and vibrant, the chances are they won't stay like this. This practice is very much frowned upon by serious fish keepers as the fish is put through quite an ordeal when artificially colouring it.