Oscar Care and Feeding
A Beautiful Fish in Your Aquarium but Large and Aggressive
Known as the Velvet Cichlid or Peacock Cichlid or Walnut Cichlid, the Oscar requires special care in feeding and maintaining a stable aquarium environment.
Oscar Compatibility
Oscars, when they are small, can be put with any hardy cichlid. Their colours are a great addition to your tank. But they only stay small for a short period of time. When they grow up, they become very large and aggressive fish. Yet some Oscars can nicely respond to humans. It is best to not mix Oscars with any other fish.
Feeding Oscars
Oscars are mainly carnivorous (meat eaters) and require a high protein diet. Feed them a combination of processed, freeze dried and frozen food. You can also feed them live bugs, earth worms, grasshoppers, beetles, chicken, or hamburger. In order to provide a varied diet, try feeding them a wide range of frozen vegetables such as corn or peas.
Most fish should be able to consume all the food you offer within two minutes of feeding. If there is food in the tank after this time has elapsed, this causes poor water quality and can make your Oscars more susceptible to disease. Oscars love to eat but many people end up killing them because of feeding them too much due to ignorance or intentional cruelty. They only should be fed once a day.
Water Conditions for Oscars
Oscars need clean, warm water with a temperature between 74 to 81 degrees Fahrenheit with an ideal setting of 77 degrees. To maintain a constant temperature, a tank heater is required. If the water is too warm, Oscars can suffer oxygen deprivation resulting in nerve damage, heart damage and immune system difficulties. On the other hand, water that is too cold can cause chills and harm to the immune system which then makes Oscars susceptible to diseases.
Oscars are messy fish and need weekly water changes of at least 10% to 15% of the total tank capacity. When doing water changes, the filter substrate should be rinsed with water.
Tank Size for Oscars
A general rule of thumb is 30 gallons per Oscar. If there are other fish in the tank, you will need even more tank space. Oscars, when they are fry, will be alright in 10 and 20 gallon aquariums only for a few weeks. Then you need to get a bigger tank within a month. It is best to get the largest aquarium first and allow the fry to grow.
Oscar Tank Decoration
An Oscar tank should no have plants; they will be destroyed faster than you put them in. A well decorated Oscar tank should only contain rock and drift wood. You should keep hiding places because Oscars tend to pick on one another.
A good guideline is to provide hiding spaces in at least half to three quarters of your tank. They like to move and rearrange objects in your tank. If you want to keep your decorations in place, you must use large and heavy pieces. Remember to avoid decorations with sharp or rough surfaces.
Training Oscars
Even though Oscars are aggressive, some can be trained to take food out of your hand. They will also come to the surface of the tank and want to get patted or scratched when they see you enter a room. Not many fish can do this so that is why Oscars are special.
