Got My Oscars, At Long Last Im Sooooo Proud

[shelaghfishface]

i have wanted to own oscars since forever

well after getting a 48x15x18, i have finaly got them, they are tiger oscars,i havent named them yet, but would be a shame not too,as my god they are little people!!!
i got them yesterday,had to leave them in the shop and come home and re-organise the tanks, but went back and when i got them home put them in a smaller tank just over night, with new plants that i got for them, a stick on thermometer as a pose to the glass one that was in there.. good job too! .. the words golden labrador springs to mind with this pair, big heavy,hungry lumps lol , i have hoovered the tank twice already , the mess they make is unbelieveable, they are so funny, they swim then just lie down.totally knackered from swimming,took them a while to settle in and i managed to get a pic this morning,without using the flash,and the lights in the large tank are off now, so i will have to wait before i can take more ( awww) they are my windows background, my mobile background, im mad about them!!! and when they have settled in properly i want to start, interacting with them/feeding them by hand etc,i used to be scared of anything bigger than a neon , but these two dont scare me at all, i hope you will all agree that they are beautifull,and so far are getting along fantastically, snuggling up to eachother,( doubt that will last) they are curently about 4-5 inches long each,but even at this size they are very impressive fish, their colours are fantastic, one being paler than the other,here they are, this was first thing this morning,after watching them almost all night

i have done tonnes of reading up on them, but if other oscar owners have any " from experience advice" id more than happy to hear it
shelagh xxx

 

[shroob]

2 oscars may be abit much for the tank, especially if its only 15" wide. The most commonly suggested min tank for 1 oscar is a 75 gallon (48"x18" footprint - though people still suggest a 55, which is only 13" wide but I think its too narrow). You may also encounter trouble with having 2, if they both turn out to be males (no way of telling until breeding), they won't tolerate each other. 2 females has a much better chance of working, and a pair would be better really.
As you have found out they are unbelievably messy, so I hope you have good filtration , they will also grow very quick, like 1" a month when they are young, but slow down at the 8"-10" mark though.

Make sure to feed them their greens as well, people believe that a poor diet could be a factor in Hole-In-The-Head, a relatively common disease in poorly oscars.

Also, don't worry if they arn't themselves for a couple of days they will be 'sulking' infamous oscar behaviour caused by a change of scenary, mine even sulks when I do a water change and some deco gets moved around.

These links should help:
[URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=120976"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=120976[/URL]
[URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/oscar_cichlid.php"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/oscar_cichlid.php[/URL]

 

[shelaghfishface]

2 oscars may be abit much for the tank, especially if its only 15" wide. The most commonly suggested min tank for 1 oscar is a 75 gallon (48"x18" footprint - though people still suggest a 55, which is only 13" wide but I think its too narrow). You may also encounter trouble with having 2, if they both turn out to be males (no way of telling until breeding), they won't tolerate each other. 2 females has a much better chance of working, and a pair would be better really.
As you have found out they are unbelievably messy, so I hope you have good filtration , they will also grow very quick, like 1" a month when they are young, but slow down at the 8"-10" mark though.

Make sure to feed them their greens as well, people believe that a poor diet could be a factor in Hole-In-The-Head, a relatively common disease in poorly oscars.

Also, don't worry if they arn't themselves for a couple of days they will be 'sulking' infamous oscar behaviour caused by a change of scenary, mine even sulks when I do a water change and some deco gets moved around.

These links should help:
<a href="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=120976" target="_blank">http/www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=120976</a>
<a href="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/oscar_cichlid.php" target="_blank">http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/oscar_cichlid.php</a>

i appreciate what your saying, i could have bought 4 i spose, and hope they would pair, but then what would i do with the others??- what would you have done? as you say theres no to tell until they pair/breed, and honestly being landed with more than i could handle would have been nightmare imo.
i am aware of the constipation probs with them lol, i went and got peas,and cucumber- which they are not bothered with, and am just defrosting some bloodworm for them..
yes i def see the moodiness in them, i did a 30% change, about 2 hours after moving them, they went back in the corner of the tank, and i could feel the dirty looks!
as for the tank size, thats a mix up on my part, i misunderstood the rec sizes,( dims) if - sorry when lol, they need a new one i will just upgrade, icant really go bigger than 4ft but can go wider
the filtration is 2xfluval 4plus, but they take up room, and not perfect for them so im looking into external which will do the job more efficently and free up a lot of space- tho the only one i have tried before has been a fluval 405, which i wasnt impressed with as it leaked on my laminate ( from the hoses-fitting the inlet pipe)- so ideas on that would be great

shelagh xx


those links are great thanks shroob

 

[becca320]

They are beautiful, And have a very caring mummy
for the new fish!!
As for names, leave it with me will have a think see what I can come up with .. Other than Ruby !!
Hey you could call one Ruby and one Slippers Ha ha

 

[shelaghfishface]

lol, they are having a strop still, i just gave them bloodworm, huh! not having none of it, so lights back off, leave them for a few more hours

 

[rossyt99]

Aaarrgh... the memories of Tiger Oscars> troublesome but great fun and I also thought of them as being Labrador-like (Or Rottweiler sometimes!)

Hope the two grow up to get along> I had a one for a while and then my Lfs had a similar sized one in and I attemted (+failed) to introduce it, but he was having none of it> I returned her within a few hours!

I used to pop a couple of 'Ping-Pong balls in for Him to play with> nudged about like a Seal, heading them about the surface.
(Cost about 20p from sports shop)

Also, if you feel confident enough you could try to start hand-feeding them soon, as its another good trait of keeping Oscars. My Cousin hand fed his fully-grown one in a Cichlid community tank about 20years ago, and that is the reason I got into Fishkeeping + now have three tanks myself > loved to watch them when visiting.

Oscars sometimes lose the patterning a bit when older, and the waste volume is large.

Maybe an 'Aqua One' External or 'TetraTec Ex.' Filter could be an idea?? (Websites of them brands will have specifics and Prices.)

'Oscarfish.com' used to be useful site.

 

[shelaghfishface]

oh brill thanks rossy

maybe i will have a go at feeding them when they come out of hiding,im not scared, they are quite small compared to what i have seen , they nearly tore the faces off eachother when fighting over a cichlid stick earlier
yes i heard about the ping pongs, and will have a go with them

 

[shroob]

i appreciate what your saying, i could have bought 4 i spose, and hope they would pair, but then what would i do with the others??- what would you have done? as you say theres no to tell until they pair/breed, and honestly being landed with more than i could handle would have been nightmare imo.
i am aware of the constipation probs with them lol, i went and got peas,and cucumber- which they are not bothered with, and am just defrosting some bloodworm for them..
yes i def see the moodiness in them, i did a 30% change, about 2 hours after moving them, they went back in the corner of the tank, and i could feel the dirty looks!
as for the tank size, thats a mix up on my part, i misunderstood the rec sizes,( dims) if - sorry when lol, they need a new one i will just upgrade, icant really go bigger than 4ft but can go wider
the filtration is 2xfluval 4plus, but they take up room, and not perfect for them so im looking into external which will do the job more efficently and free up a lot of space- tho the only one i have tried before has been a fluval 405, which i wasnt impressed with as it leaked on my laminate ( from the hoses-fitting the inlet pipe)- so ideas on that would be great

shelagh xx


those links are great thanks shroob

I would have only bought 1 oscar, if I wanted a pair whats often suggested is to buy 6 youngers, grow them on, then return the spares to the LFS (I always ask the owner if he will be willing to accept the extras back, have never had someone say no to this).
Really, the widest 4ft tank you will find will be a 4x2ft, unless you get a custom made one, that SHOULD be big enough for 2 oscars, it depends on the individual fish. 2 Oscars will be producing ALOT of waste, so you will be looking at large, fequent water changes like a religion. I would also suggest trying to find that wider tank as soon as possible.
If you do get 2 males, then its likely you will have to return one of them.

With reguards to them not eating greens, oscars can be picky, I know this sounds like a contradiction with oscars being the pigs of fish, but what I mean is they can get hooked on certain foods. Try and vary the diet as much as possible (with a good quality pellet as the staple). Don't worry about starving them, an oscar of your size can go for a week easily without food, so I would try and get a few peas down them. I even resorted to using a knife to cut open a prawn, mash some pea into the hole and then throw it in.

For the filter I would definately go for a large external or two. For about £120-140 you can pick up 2 TetraTec EX1200 (new), with media and all parts. Filtration for oscars isn't something you should skimp on, you're looking at filtering 456 litres of water (with the 4'x2' tank), for messy cichlids its common to double this, so you're looking at filtering 900 litres of water.

Hope this helps, I'm sure you'll enjoy your oscars they are great fish.

 

[shelaghfishface]

right ok,bit of a dilema there,as i dont want to return one and i dont want more, so ill look for a 4x2 and see how it goes,i will go to the lfs on monday and ask him if there are issues can he take one back, for me one is better than 6, and he didnt mention that i could keep one alone,and i have certainly never looked at this either( my fault)
they have eaten the blood worm and have had some tetra doromin, so thats pleased me,tho with the info you gave me i know not to worry too much if they go off it
there is a place not far that custom builds tanks, and as oscars live for up to 10 years it would be a good investment,and of course i am more than willing to get the better filtration for them,ill get on to that tonight ( online)
thanks ever so much shroob, you have given me a lot of valuable advice in yoiur replies,and im ever so gratefull

shelagh xxxx

 

[shroob]

No problem, I'm sure you'll look after the oscars great, and in return they will keep you entertained. Toss them a few live worms, they go nuts for them .

Forgot to say also, nice fish I got a young, 8"ish tiger oscar (wish I could have found a lutino oscar, but I'm happy with this one) and its probably my favourite fish atm (though the dat is creeping up).

 

[shelaghfishface]

No problem, I'm sure you'll look after the oscars great, and in return they will keep you entertained. Toss them a few live worms, they go nuts for them .

Forgot to say also, nice fish I got a young, 8"ish tiger oscar (wish I could have found a lutino oscar, but I'm happy with this one) and its probably my favourite fish atm (though the dat is creeping up).

do you mean worms from the garden???, they are out of hiding this morning, but ill give them today to settle in, i still have the lights off,as i have heard about sulks that go on for days lol,yup im with you on that ,they are fast becoming my favorite,dont get me wrong, i love all my fish, but these ones are sooo diffrent,im off today to get a new filter,and some toys,and have a look at some diff foods, as i have noticed there are quite a few cichlids sticks,whole on the tank floor, maybe they are not hungry, settling in, whatever but it wont hurt to try something else

i dont agree on the lutino oscar,sorry, lol, i dont like anything very light coloured, tho they have dark eyes and not pink/red,so thats an added bonus, i think anything with red eyes is a little bit scarey lol, imo

oh forgot to ask, will an oscar play with a home made woollen spawnning mop??,i saw a fish ( not an oscar-but cant reacall the name) in the lfs, dragging the wool mop around with him,really seemed to be enjoying it,just wondered if the wool was safe ( after being boiled or something to remove the dye),
and also would i need to use melafix or something before putting my hands in the tank ( i dont with my other fish),i wont be touching the fish, not just yet ..

shelagh xxx

 

[shroob]

Yeah, if you can get worms from a clean source ie no chemicals (I know my garden doesn't get any or any of my neighbours). All I do is dig them up, put them in a container, usually a margarine tub, then wash off the dirt when I get back to the house. I have heard of some people 'purging' the worms in water, recently I even talked to a person who boiled the worms before feeding, though I personally think this is abit excessive, I've had oscars for about 8 years and havn't noticed anything wrong with just rinsing the worms and then feeding them.

If you havn't got a garden or arn't sure on the safety of the worms, my LFS owner buys earthworms from a fishing tackle shop as a treat, I would ask if they had been treated or anything before buying though.

Not sure about the spawning mop, it couldn't hurt to give the oscar something to play with to keep them entertained. Ping pong balls are often used by people who want to add something to an oscars life. As long as the toy can't harm the fish then I would say go for it. I'm no expert on wool, so I'll leave someone else to say how to make it safe .

And as for the Lutino issue:
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtop...ht=white+tigers
Honestly thats quite possibly my dream tank.

 

[emmsy]

Oh my god!, Shelagh, they are lovely. If mt LFS had got oscars in that looked as good as that, I would have probably got them...Well done girl!

Emma

 

[shelaghfishface]

well what can i say, im blown away, they are beautiful,and so healthy too, i take it back! they are really good looking,and that guy really knows his stuff, that tank is massive and agree its a dream tank,( is that natural colouring on them with the yellow??)
tho i would still choose mine over the lutino




aww thanks emma, i luv`em

shelagh xxx

 

[england]

they look great congratulations
you will probally find as they grow up they will anialte your plants<mine did but luckily minw were plastic
mine used to play with a golf ball<ive lost it now>they can chose the most odd things to play with,
mine love eating worms/daddy long legs/woodlice<most nights for treats