Everything You Wanted to Know About Oscars

Oscar fish are a kind of Chiclid, believe it or not, and can live happily with other Chiclids their size or larger. But if you would like to have these fish together, a large aquarium, lots of hiding places and live plants will be needed.

One thing that I like about Oscar fish is that they are like dogs, they get excited when they see you. Of course in a fish's case it's not love, he's just hungry all the time and wants food.

When setting your tank up, temperature is a major factor to consider, as well as consistency of temperature. You can upsize tanks as he grows, but keep in mind that any time you do any kind of upheaval, it is a major stress factor and could make him vulnerable to disease. Temperature is important, and should be kept stable somewhere in 79-86F range. Feeding Oscars is not a problem since they will take every food you give, including flake frozen fish, prawns, pellets, earth worms, crickets, kitchen scrapes, and of course live food.

Breeding Oscars is easy as long as the water is clean and you raise the temperature from the normal 25C (77F) to 28C (80F). The female will choose a flat rock to lay her eggs (about 1000 eggs) and the male will fertilize them. Breeding goes well when you use live food . Use heavy rocks , they will clean them in order to lay eggs on.

Oscars are a very rewarding pet to have. They do take special care, and are not recommended for beginners, but sure can be a fascinating creature to watch.