Oscar

[solar-ton]

COMMON NAMES - Oscar,Velvet Cichlid

SCIENTIFIC NAME - astronotus ocellatus.

ORIGIN - Rio Ucayali drainage and upper Amazon river of Peru and Brazil.

HABITAT - Rivers and lakes with lots of bog wood. They like to "sit" on the wood to wait for prey to pass by.

MAXIMUM SIZE - 14" in aquarium in the wild they can get up to 2'

MINUMUM TANK SIZE - 70 Gal, or more a 100 gallon is best. DO NOT PUT THEM IN A 30 GALLON OR LESS TANK THEY WILL GET A "HOLLOW BELLY". Hollow belly is when the Oscars insides grow but its spine doesn't,and the organs become bloated leading to a very slow and incredibly painful death.

DIET - In the wild Oscars eat smaller fish, crustaceans, some plants, and water insects. Though their diets may mainly be protein in the wild they should not be fed other fish in captivity in order to prevent HITH(Hole In The Head) disease. Goldfish have thiaminase in their systems which reduces vitamin B so they should not be feed goldfish. If they are fed goldfish it will give them HITH(Hole In The Head)disease. GOLDFISH COME FROM ASIA OSCARS COME FROM SOUTH AMERICA DO NOT FEED THEM GOLDFISH. Also the massive amount of protein and indigestible bones can-and will-lead to intestinal blockage. In captivity their diet should consist of: brine shrimp, cichlid pellets, beefheart, small insects, and fruit and vegetable matter. NOTE: Oscars will not eat until they explode like chickens. They will eat until their scales pop out on their bellies but no more.

TANK ZONE - All levels, mostly bottom. They dig and search for scraps of food.

TEMPERMENT - Aggressive fish,will attack others of its own kind or size, even those larger than it. Oscars have varied personalities so one can be so peaceful to the point that its a large community fish, and others will try to attack anything, and bite your fingers if they get too close. If raised properly some will be peaceful towards each other, the the cause of what makes them act this way is unknown. If not enough territory they will constantly fight each other. Many only peaceful when juveniles. This is a picture of when Oscars flare:



HARDNESS - 1-30 dGH optimal hardness-7 dGH

pH - 6.0-8.5 optimum ph-6.8 Some peat moss in the filter will lower it the natural way by releasing tannin. NOTE: use only pure sphagnum peat with no added chemicals in it that will kill the fish, fluval peat is the clean peat.

TEMPERATURE - 74-86F(22-29C).Optimal temp 79F

SALINITY - Freshwater. Likes a little aquarium salt in the tank. No more then 1 tsp per 5 gal

PHOTOPERIOD - Spawns during the rainy season.

HARDINESS & LIFESPAN - Ridiculously hardy fish can tolerate ammonia, and nitrite up to 4.00 ppm but only for a short time after about a few days it will start to get badly stressed. Lifespan averages 20+ years some have lived 30+.

ACTIVITY PEAK - Early morning too late noon. Diurnal

HABBITS - Likes to dig by using its mouth as a shovel.

SPAWNING NOTES - Oscars are an easily breed fish. Note they need a 125 gallon to spawn. Turn the temp. from 77F to 82 F over a period of a few days and do a water change of 25% which mimics the rainy season when they spawn. Then they will do a sort of lip-locking thing where they will open their mouths wide and knock into each other with their mouths. This may last up to 2 hours or more. The pair lays 1,000-2,000 eggs on the glass, slate, or gravel. Sometimes they will dig to the glass on the bottom and lay the eggs there. In 24 hours the eggs will turn a tan color if fertilized and white if not. Note that if it is the first time spawning the parents may eat the eggs. Also even tough they lay so many eggs only half hatch and the ones that do hatch only about 20% of the fry survive. After a period of 2-3 days the eggs will hatch, they will live in a ditch covered by the parents, they will live off their yolk sacs for a few days and then should be fed newly hatched brine shrimp, cyclops, or infusoria. To prevent accidental fry death a sponge filter in the two back corners of the tank will keep the tank clean. Test the water every day to make sure there is no ammonia or nitrite above 0.02 ppm.

OTHER NOTES - Oscars need an aquarium of rocks and driftwood. A good filter is a must since the fish is very messy, and a heater guard should be used since they tend to bump into things. If plants are to be put in the tank then they should be anchored to the ground or be a very tough plant like anubias.
Color morphs include: red, tiger, zebra, olive, albino, lemon and blueberry, there are also gold, orange,and long finned Oscars but they are very rare.
Most Oscars (when you buy them) will probably have hexamita or hith so look very closely at the head and lateral line before you buy them. If an Oscar doesn't have hith then it would be a good idea to treat it with metronidazole to prevent any hexamita that may be in its system. When Oscars have hexamita they usually look skinny, and tend to be inactive.

Albino color morph note the gold color on the belly.this Oscar was dyed but it will eventually drain out of its system. It doesn't always happen though...



This is a copper color morph a variety of the red Oscar. Note that this Oscar has a minor case of Hole In The Head disease.