I Love My Oscar!

[Winston Smith]

What first attracted me to fishkeeping was the science of the whole thing. I viewed fishkeeping as something akin to a science experiment, and a healthy thriving fish or community of fish as the positive outcome of that experiment. In other words I entered into fishkeeping as an intellectual exercise, and keeping the fish alive and healthy the intellectual challenge. When I started fishkeeping I never considered fish as pets in the same way I consider my dog and cats as pets.
Well, I still find the science of keeping fish very interesting, but after having my Oscar for about two months I am beginning to consider him/her more like a dog or cat than a mere intellectual exercise. In fact, I never thought it would be possible for me to develop any sort of emotional bond with of all things, a fish. I think my Oscar is one of the most amazing fish ever. When I turn on the light in the morning my Oscar will rapidly swim up and down the tank because it knows it is about to be fed. It will allow me to feed it by hand, and if I approach it very slowly it will allow me to pet it. When I walk by the tank it will follow my along as I walk, and when it sees me when I come home it will swim rapidly up and down the tank, because it knows its feeding time again. Feeding my Oscar has become one of those little things that makes life for enjoyable, and my Oscar just by the charming nature of its behavior has made me consider it more than just an intellectual exercise, but more in the nature of a true pet.

 

[demonmagus]

nice to see you enjoying your fish

 

[paul-discus]

I felt the same way when i had an oscar some 20 odd years ago. I now have discus and they too come to the front of the tank wanting to be fed and indeed will take food from my hand. Once a fish gets to know it's owner (particularly the larger cichlids) they too develop a bond and will often shy away from a stranger. My oscar would shoot mouthfuls of gravel at the front glass when we were having our supper until he too was given something. Look after him he will give you many years of pleasure but you know he will always be the boss.

 

[Samy1986]

Hi.
What size tank do you have your oscar in? i have been thinking about getting one for a few months now they realy facinate me.
can you keep them with other oscars or any other fish as i know they can be aggresive.

 

[james1971]

I would love an Oscar but my current tank is just not big enough.

One day I will have that 450ltr tank and have my Oscar !!!

James1971

 

[Miss Wiggle]

our oscar lets us know when he's hungry by jumping out of the water and headbutting the tank lid, makes a right load of noise to get our attention, worse than the bloody cats!

 

[Samy1986]

Nobody answered my question?
....How big a tank would i have to have for an oscar i realy want one of these fish!!!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

75 us gallons minimum, more is prefered

 

[Samy1986]

it will take some time for me to save up for a tank that size!! the tank i have at the moment is 20.8 us gallons, is there another fish similar to an oscar which i could get instead maybe slightly smaller?

 

[Winston Smith]

it will take some time for me to save up for a tank that size!! the tank i have at the moment is 20.8 us gallons, is there another fish similar to an oscar which i could get instead maybe slightly smaller?

I understand a Jack Dempsey has quite a bit of personality and you could probably get away with keeping one Jack Dempsey in a 45 gallon tank. Some of the disadvantages of keeping large Cichlids is they need a very large tank, a number of them are quite aggressive, and they are the world's biggest pigs so you will need double the normal filitration. A number of people thought I was crazy to purchase a 75 gallon tank for just one Oscar, but believe me I think the investment was well worth it. An Oscar is a true pet like a dog or a cat with the added bonus they are very easy to take care of. Just do a 30 to 40 percent water change a week and vaccume the gravel and you are well on the way to becoming an ace Oscar keeper.

 

[Winston Smith]

I felt the same way when i had an oscar some 20 odd years ago. I now have discus and they too come to the front of the tank wanting to be fed and indeed will take food from my hand. Once a fish gets to know it's owner (particularly the larger cichlids) they too develop a bond and will often shy away from a stranger. My oscar would shoot mouthfuls of gravel at the front glass when we were having our supper until he too was given something. Look after him he will give you many years of pleasure but you know he will always be the boss.

Good for you if you have the work ethic to keep Discus. I am willing to vaccume gravel and do water changes, but I am not willing to spend hours and hours to change the chemistry of my water. I would love to have a reef tank or keep Discus, but I am just to much of a lazy butt to put the work in to keep those types of tanks.

 

[demonmagus]

althouth people recommend discus for softer RO water, some can be acclimatised to a little higher, and with a reef tank you'll be using coral sand and live rock which will bump the pH up by itself anyway