Oscars Are They Worth The Hassle

[bonzo]

Are oscars worth the hassle ? I suppose they must be as so many of us keep them. These two of mine are driving me nuts. A while ago i started seeing scrapes on them and thought oh no i hope these two aint falling out and starting to turn on each other so every time i heard the splashing i'd rush to their tank to see what was going on but oscars being oscars would stop what they were at and rush to the top of the tank as they thought food so could never really catch them in the act, i knew they pulled the inlet apart as ive fixed it so many times but it never dawned on me the splashing was how they were getting scraped. But now they never stop trying to destoy the inlet. Ozzy will grab the end of it bubbles coming out of his gills and just wont let go, flicking himself out of the water and still holding on for grim death. Any maintanance in their tank is a fight as both are trying to rip lumps out of me. They've both always had an attitude but now they've matured they're a nightmare. So has anybody ever tasted battered oscar and chips ?

 

[star4]

I know how you feel, I adore Rusty to pieces he is calm affectionate and has never (yet) bitten me, and has never moved a plastic plant or anything. Chops on the other hand the rescued oscar, is forever bashing the intake pipes, knocking the spray bars off, moving any decor he can, swimming round the tank with plants hanging off him, destroyed 5 thermometers, attacks the syphon when I clean out the tank, and smacked me in the face more than once. Oh and he scared my little boy today until I gave him a bit of the banana my little boy was eating!!!

 

[roadmaster]

Are we talking about a spray bar from canister filter ? If so, you might try lowering the water level, while raising the spray bar above the surface. That way they gotta jump to grab hold of it.
Had similar problem with Jack Dempsey, He broke a thermometer and a heater. Had to place both behind some shoe sized stones to keep him from getting to them.
Tried keeping water level around six inches from the rim of the tank lest he displace two or three gallons each day just cause he felt like it.

 

[bonzo]

Are we talking about a spray bar from canister filter ? If so, you might try lowering the water level, while raising the spray bar above the surface. That way they gotta jump to grab hold of it.
Had similar problem with Jack Dempsey, He broke a thermometer and a heater. Had to place both behind some shoe sized stones to keep him from getting to them.
Tried keeping water level around six inches from the rim of the tank lest he displace two or three gallons each day just cause he felt like it.

I think he,d still get it. Last night he jumped out of the water with such force he opened the lid slightly and splashed water down the outside of the glass. He just doesnt know what to be at. You gotta love em.

I know how you feel, I adore Rusty to pieces he is calm affectionate and has never (yet) bitten me, and has never moved a plastic plant or anything. Chops on the other hand the rescued oscar, is forever bashing the intake pipes, knocking the spray bars off, moving any decor he can, swimming round the tank with plants hanging off him, destroyed 5 thermometers, attacks the syphon when I clean out the tank, and smacked me in the face more than once. Oh and he scared my little boy today until I gave him a bit of the banana my little boy was eating!!!

I think we,ve got some of chops long lost relatives

 

[star4]

Are we talking about a spray bar from canister filter ? If so, you might try lowering the water level, while raising the spray bar above the surface. That way they gotta jump to grab hold of it.
Had similar problem with Jack Dempsey, He broke a thermometer and a heater. Had to place both behind some shoe sized stones to keep him from getting to them.
Tried keeping water level around six inches from the rim of the tank lest he displace two or three gallons each day just cause he felt like it.

I think he,d still get it. Last night he jumped out of the water with such force he opened the lid slightly and splashed water down the outside of the glass. He just doesnt know what to be at. You gotta love em.

I know how you feel, I adore Rusty to pieces he is calm affectionate and has never (yet) bitten me, and has never moved a plastic plant or anything. Chops on the other hand the rescued oscar, is forever bashing the intake pipes, knocking the spray bars off, moving any decor he can, swimming round the tank with plants hanging off him, destroyed 5 thermometers, attacks the syphon when I clean out the tank, and smacked me in the face more than once. Oh and he scared my little boy today until I gave him a bit of the banana my little boy was eating!!!

I think we,ve got some of chops long lost relatives

OMG I pitty you if you have a Chops relative


Are we talking about a spray bar from canister filter ? If so, you might try lowering the water level, while raising the spray bar above the surface. That way they gotta jump to grab hold of it.
Had similar problem with Jack Dempsey, He broke a thermometer and a heater. Had to place both behind some shoe sized stones to keep him from getting to them.
Tried keeping water level around six inches from the rim of the tank lest he displace two or three gallons each day just cause he felt like it.

Both of the spray bars in Chops's tank are above the water

 

[Uriel]

Hey when you said you wanted a fish with a personality, You didn't specify that the personality wasn't #16##### hole

 

[markandhisfish]

i think im really lucky as my 2 seem to be very well behaved and not destructive. altho having said that they are still only yound and small so i guess there is time for the "dark" side to come out in them . but 1 thing ive found is that oscars have this way of getting under your skin like no other fish. you cant really explain it but they really do suck you in. i love mine and i hope to have them for many years to come yet .

 

[bonzo]

Your time will come. Ours were well behaved at that size besides being a little cocky. Its only the past couple of weeks they've went crazy. A while back ozzy developed a small spot on his chin which i read is a sign of reaching maturity and since then he's lost the plot.

 

[markandhisfish]

how big are yours?

 

[bonzo]

Ozzies about 8 inches and bubbas slightly smaller. They've grown so quick its unreal

 

[markandhisfish]

quite a bit bigger than mine

 

[bonzo]

quite a bit bigger than mine

We got ozzy last august at about 2 inches and I swear every time we looked at the tank the little #28### had grown. We got Bubba a couple of months after that from a friend who got his at the same time as ours so he/she is roughly the same age. When we got Ozzy we had 9 harlequins left from our original stocking and the #28### at 2 inches ate them all within 2 weeks