Oscar Growth

[falcon1]

I have had an oscar for a little over a year now. I bought him when he was at least 2.5", maybe more. Over the year he has grown to 5.5", which is way less than the 1" a month rule that one hears. I'm not complaining as I like him small but why could this be happening? I feed him well, even pork liver or worms once in a while. He just won't grow. I am not looking for ways to make him grow, however I would like to know why he is so small.

Thanks

 

[thereverendturtle]

What size tank is he in? How often do you do water changes and how much? By the way, liver isn't good for him.

 

[star4]

What other foods do you feed him? It might be that he is a poor quality fish too, runt of the litter so to speak. One of my oscars that had a very bad start in life has only reached 9-10"

 

[fruitjam]

What size tank is he in? How often do you do water changes and how much? By the way, liver isn't good for him.

How about testing water parameters for NH3/NH4, NO2 and NO3?

 

[fruitjam]

What other foods do you feed him? It might be that he is a poor quality fish too, runt of the litter so to speak. One of my oscars that had a very bad start in life has only reached 9-10"

Poor quality or not, I cannot rid myself of the belief that even the dull looking oscars are more intelligent than even the brightest colored fishes of other varieties.

Speaking of other fishes, I have had experience in raising poor quality green terrors for sometime now. A seemingly simple task of regularly changing water in the fish tank made most of the green terrors that I have had, either display vibrant colors or at least grow at a faster rate than what would have been expected.

But oscars, being just that - oscars, have a charm that is so easily intoxicating. I remain rooted in front of my aquarium for hours and hours just to see my pair of dull-looking tiger oscars cruise around.

 

[fruitjam]

I thought of sharing a picture of the pair of oscars that I own. Not a very colorful pair. But loads of fun to watch, feed and take care of them.

 

[falcon1]

I love my oscar. I clean his tank often, and his water perameters are definitely fine. When I bought him, I sort of broke the "don't buy an unhealthy fish because you feel sorry for him" rule, because he was missing some scales, and was being picked on in his cramped tank. He also had most of his fins torn. Since his tank was empty, I bought him. He recovered slowly over the course of a month. I never saw him except for when I snuck into my room, but he always hid. To feed him, I had to put food in, and leave the room. I could tell he was eating it because I would come back and the food would be gone. A month after I got him, I found some bloodworms in my freezer. I broke off a chunk, defrosted it, and put it in. He must of seen me because he seemed to realize that I was not a threat. He came out before I had a chance to leave and went crazy eating bloodworms. Since then, he never hid when I was around, but wouldn't show himself to other people for another whole month. He has demonstrated a great amount of intelligence for a fish and reacts differently to me entering the room than he does to others. To top it off, he is a stunner. Jet black and covered with firey red splotches. I would never allow him to be mistreated, and he never fails to scare me when he plays dead. He seems to have realized that my striped raphael is a good way to get extra food. My catfish scours the bottom for food (I need to take care to make sure that some hits bottom before my oscar eats it) and my oscar follows closely behind trying to beat him to the scraps (he is rarely sucessful).
I am aware that mammal flesh of any kind is unhealthy for any fish in large ammounts, but it is ok for an occasional treat. I reasearch everything

I suppose the best explanation then for his small size is the poor conditions he was in at petsmart. He was a little over half the size of the other oscars the same age so he must of been a runt as well.

And fruitjam: I deeply respect you for your take on fishkeeping. If you read this entire post, you will see that I too fell for the runt of the litter, the poor quality unwanted fish

 

[star4]

awww, My runty oscar was given to me when I stopped at a fish shop, I didnt intend to but the car started over heating so while it was cooling I went in for a look. I spotted the pathetic looking little thing in a tank on the floor, fluff all over his face, fins torn etc. I had tears in my eyes looking at him, then the assistant came over and asked if I knew what it was, I said an oscar, he asked what size tank did I have, I told him I had lots of large tanks, he smiled, walked off and came back with a bag, telling me the fish had to be out of the shop by close of business drawing his finger across his throat, he caught the little oscar and handed it to me,saying "look after him" and walked off. I stood there holding the bag thinking "my hubby is going to kill me when I come home with this" it took a while to get him right too, the fluff on his face was from his jaw bone sticking through it was broken quite badly but he healed, he is butt ugly because one side of his face is caved in where the jaw healed bent. I wouldnt swap him for anything he is such a naughty fish!

 

[falcon1]

awww, My runty oscar was given to me when I stopped at a fish shop, I didnt intend to but the car started over heating so while it was cooling I went in for a look. I spotted the pathetic looking little thing in a tank on the floor, fluff all over his face, fins torn etc. I had tears in my eyes looking at him, then the assistant came over and asked if I knew what it was, I said an oscar, he asked what size tank did I have, I told him I had lots of large tanks, he smiled, walked off and came back with a bag, telling me the fish had to be out of the shop by close of business drawing his finger across his throat, he caught the little oscar and handed it to me,saying "look after him" and walked off. I stood there holding the bag thinking "my hubby is going to kill me when I come home with this" it took a while to get him right too, the fluff on his face was from his jaw bone sticking through it was broken quite badly but he healed, he is butt ugly because one side of his face is caved in where the jaw healed bent. I wouldnt swap him for anything he is such a naughty fish!

Wow, what an amazing story. Makes my little rescue fish look like a picture of health (he is now but then... not so much). Is he an albino, red or a tiger? Mine is a tiger oscar

 

[fruitjam]

And fruitjam: I deeply respect you for your take on fishkeeping.

And I, yours.

 

[fruitjam]

I am quite excited. I bought myself a Nikon Coolpix L310 as a gift before the onset of festivities which are held at this time of the year in this part of the world.

Now the reason why I bought myself this equipment was so that I could take even better pictures and videos, especially in a HD format, of my fish tank. Progressively, a DSLR could be on its way soon if the money can be saved.

Not a bright video, but progress by my standards - the attached video may well be of interest to some of us.

http/www.filedropper.com/silent-137

 

[england]

I thought of sharing a picture of the pair of oscars that I own. Not a very colorful pair. But loads of fun to watch, feed and take care of them.

Nothing wrong with these guys, stunners...in my oppinion true wild oscars are beautiful....these however im sure with age will colour up quite a bit

 

[star4]

Falcon both mine are tiger oscars. Fruitjam, your two look lovely, very similar to a pair I rescued earlier in the year.

 

[falcon1]

Falcon both mine are tiger oscars. Fruitjam, your two look lovely, very similar to a pair I rescued earlier in the year.

I was wondering because at petsmart at least, the albino oscars look really unhealthy. At the time that I bought my tiger oscar, they had one that had just recovered from HITH. Though in fairness the fish caught HITH at the purchasers house, then was returned. The usual albinos tend too look lethargic and unhealthy for the most part