Fish: Oscars

Oscars are very popular fish. They are very smart and they can recognize their owner. The only bad thing about these fish is their size. They require at least a 70 gallon aquarium because they get to be over 12 inches in length. You can purchase 75 gallon aquariums from www.petco.com, www.petsmart.com and www.petland.com. You can also buy your oscars there. There are quite a few different types of oscars. Some of them can be albino and some are a deep dark color which is known as a tiger oscar. They almost have a gold appearance. These fish will actually jump out of the water when you try to feed them. They should be fed twice per day.

Oscars are known for being very picky about their settings in the tank. If you put decorations somewhere in the tank and they do not like them, they will actually pick up and move the decorations somewhere else. They will also pick up rock, which could be a problem. You could leave the tank without rock or gravel, which would be a lot easier to clean. The only problem with this is that there is no where for beneficial bacteria to grow. I would suggest using a small type of rock which will not get stuck in the fishes mouth.

Oscars should only be kept with fish that are larger than they are. They will eat all of your fish if they are smaller than them. They are also very hungry all of the time and they have huge appetites. These fish are excellent predators and they do not have to chase around smaller fish. The oscars will actually pretent like they are dead and lay at the bottom of the tank. When a small fish gets close enough, he becomes a snack for the oscar. I would suggest keeping oscars in pairs and alone. I wouldn't buy oscars which are different sizes. I would get them both while they are small.

You can feed your fish beef heart but it will cause them to grow very fast. There are other types of food you can feed them such as a special type of lettuce you can purchase at the pet store. I wouldn't buy feeder fish because you run the risk of getting your fish very sick. Most feeder fish are not healthy and your fish will get sick all of the time. If you do not catch the disease in time your fish will suddenly die.