Help!

[cheekysbabe]

G'day.

My boyfriends wants a Oscar. I know nuffin about them, never had one. And most of all my dad told me not to get one. LOL!!

He is at college for a year so he only has a little bit of space. Me wonting to be the best girlfriend. Im doing the looking into it thing.

I thought if I got him a 20-30L and got the worlds smallest (in pet shops) Oscar it might be ok for say 9 months but then I dont know how quick they grow. I dont wont to rush out there and get one. I wont to know what they eat, etc. Also, how big do they get to and what size tank will the Oscar need in the need.

He tried to tell me that if you keep them with other fish for a young age, they are fine with them but I dont know how that would go. To me I'd reckon they tried and eat them.

Please if anyone can help that would be great.

Thanks.

 

[indigoj]

Have a read through the many many posts about Oscars in the 'New World Cichlids' section.

They can grow to 12"+, reach 8" within a year and 6" within about 4 months. A single Oscar needs a 300 litre + tank on it's own and filtration that provided at least 8-10 x turnover.

Oscars can easily be kept with fish that don't fit in their mouths but to keep fish with an Oscar you are looking at needing 400l+ tank and preferably closer to 600l upwards depending on the fish you want to keep.

So no, getting a 20l tank and a tiny Oscar is in no way going to work, and your dad is right, don't get one unless you can provide the right home for one.

 

[gasmask]

Good advice from indigoj.
They can and DO get big.

Here is a pic of mine (hopefully fully grown!)
He is a wild caught, and is at 45cm in length. Well over the "average" adult length.

 

[always4lora]

Good advice from indigoj.
They can and DO get big.

Here is a pic of mine (hopefully fully grown!)
He is a wild caught, and is at 45cm in length. Well over the "average" adult length.

How wide is that Oscar? must be at least a couple of inches !

 

[gasmask]

Good advice from indigoj.
They can and DO get big.

Here is a pic of mine (hopefully fully grown!)
He is a wild caught, and is at 45cm in length. Well over the "average" adult length.

How wide is that Oscar? must be at least a couple of inches !

HAHA you know what? I have never tried to measure it's width!
But yeah it's a wide boy!

 

[cheekysbabe]

WOW!!! i wish i could talk him out of getting one then. The tank would need to bigger than the community I'm planing ATM. At this point in time I have no room for a tank like that.

They are beautiful but much to big for me.

What do you feed a feed that size?

'gasmask' can I please see pictures of your tank.

Thanks everyone

 

[england]

a fish that size,theres only one thing you can feed,small children.....

na seriously a good quality pellet and thing like prawns and bloodworm/pea's..

heres my old pair in my 5/2/2

 

[ChilliPepper]

Good advice from indigoj.
They can and DO get big.

Here is a pic of mine (hopefully fully grown!)
He is a wild caught, and is at 45cm in length. Well over the "average" adult length.

Beautiful oscar there

G'day.

My boyfriends wants a Oscar. I know nuffin about them, never had one. And most of all my dad told me not to get one. LOL!!

He is at college for a year so he only has a little bit of space. Me wonting to be the best girlfriend. Im doing the looking into it thing.

I thought if I got him a 20-30L and got the worlds smallest (in pet shops) Oscar it might be ok for say 9 months but then I dont know how quick they grow. I dont wont to rush out there and get one. I wont to know what they eat, etc. Also, how big do they get to and what size tank will the Oscar need in the need.

He tried to tell me that if you keep them with other fish for a young age, they are fine with them but I dont know how that would go. To me I'd reckon they tried and eat them.

Please if anyone can help that would be great.

Thanks.

Oscars grow into big fish, so need big tanks.

You can see my oscar - Boris - in my avatar. That was when I got him a month ago. I will take some photos tonight so you can see how much he has grown in that time. He has grown at least an inch. He is such a greedy fish, sooo entertaining and I am so glad I bought him BUT I knew from the start he would need a large tank, so I have a 5ft tank on order which is 566 litres or 150 USG in size...

Please don't get one unless you can provide a good home for them, as they are such little characters I'd hate to think of any in a small tank

 

[cheekysbabe]

Don't worry. I'm not a person to put a fish into a tank that is too small for them. I love my fish. My room is full of betta's. and two communtiy tanks already. I have made a deal with him that he is not aloud to get one untill he has brought a big enough tank for him/her and we have a place of our to put him/her.

Do they have to be keep alone? I hate seeing fish by themself unless they are like bettas which have to be for there own good.

Thanks

 

[indigoj]

""Oscars can easily be kept with fish that don't fit in their mouths but to keep fish with an Oscar you are looking at needing 400l+ tank and preferably closer to 600l upwards depending on the fish you want to keep.""

The main problem with keeping Oscars with anything is space and filtration. Oscars are incredibly messy fish.

I wouldn't necessarily introduce an adult Oscar to smaller fish but introducing a smaller Oscar to similar sized or slightly bigger fish that grow at a similar rate can be successful.

Large plecs and silver dollars are common tank mates.