Oscar

This month we are celebrating Astronotus ocellatus the infamous oscar.  Oscars are Cichlids that originated in tropical South America.  They have been introduced in many tropical waterways around the world including Florida,  Asia and even Australia.  Oscars grow to 18 inches and are often caught for food where they occur naturally. The oscar has been selectively bred for color for more than 50 years. Popular varieties include the Red Tiger, Albino Tiger, Red, and longfinned varieties of the all the color variants.  Astronotus ocellatus has certainly proved itself to be a very popular domesticated fish.

Almost every longterm hobbyist keeps an oscar sooner or later, often it’s a new hobbyist who wants to watch a fish grow.  Growing a baby oscar is a really fun experience.  Frequently the unknowing buyer introduces it to their 10 gallon community tank and watches as it consumes all the small fish.  Often times the hobbyist is accepting of this vicious but innocent behavior as their growing fish quickly demands a 29 gallon.  In the end nothing smaller than a 75 gallon will accommodate the shirt soaking, antics of their new found fish friend.
Oscar are very hardy fish, but there are a few common problems to avoid.  Although they are aggressive fish, the baby oscar is very whimpy.  Be careful about other aggressive tankmates that might injure a small oscar.  Oscars grow fast if eating feeder fish but realize this teaches them that other fish are food.  Live foods also increases the occurence of hole in the head disease (hexamita).  Almost all oscar that eat feeder fish require an occasional regime of metronidazole to prevent scars from hole in the head.  As they mature, male oscars become very aggressive toward each other. Adult female oscars usually live together in harmony but young adult males often must be separated.  Remember to visit Centreville Aquarium to check out the latest selection of oscars and all the supplies your growing fish will need.