Joined: Mar 10, 2010 Posts: 685 Location: Kolkata, Barrackpore
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Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 10:42 pm Post subject: Re: Setting up Oscar Tank..
You've taken a good decision. Oscars are very good pets. They have hard personality. They become familiar with the masters who are feeding them. Once they are familiar with you, you can feed them by your hands. Oscars grow up very fast. So you need a very large tank, minimum 55 gallons. Oscars are very hardy & messy fishes, you have to go with a good filtration system. A top filter will do the work properly. You need a dark substrate with hiding place like caves or rocks.
At first you can start with 4 Oscars. 2 albino & 2 copper or tiger. Their tank mates are few. Pleco, Iridescent Sharks, some other cichlids, etc are some of the tank mates. The tank should have a bright background. You just put the substrate in a sliding way from back to front. And then leave it to the fishes, they will create their own environment.
A heater is must, keep the temp. at 28 degree Celsius. For information about PH levels just visit websites about oscars. One of the website is :- http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Oscar.htm
Don't think of keeping live plants in the tank otherwise this fellows will uproot the plants. And don't be surprised to see big holes in the substrate.
Feed them shrimps, blood worms, Cichlid pellets. Just don feed them live fishes or there will be 'hole in the head'. Do 25% twice a week. You can feed shrimps half boiled or raw. But half boiled is better.
Once you set up the tank you will surely enjoy the set up. After you have finished the setup, please post pics.
I too have a question which will be relevant to this discussion and hopefully will not hijack Betta's thread.
1. What are the different types of Oscars? (Tiger, Copper, etc..)
2. How exactly to differentiate between them?
3. Which strains are "premium" compared to other Oscar strains?
Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:05 pm Post subject: Re: Setting up Oscar Tank..
Thanks bro..
The character is the main reason I am going for Oscars
* 55 gal > can u gimme the dimensions pls? I will get it done from some LFS here
* Top filters > some models pls, so that I can get an idea on them
* Substrate > chips n gravel kind or fine sand kind?
* Do I really need a heater in chennai ?
* 'hole in the head' ????
Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 9:38 am Post subject: Re: Setting up Oscar Tank..
@Titash
How many oscars have you kept mate?Can you please list some advantages of some of the advise you have given...a 55 gallon tank for 4 oscars?Top filter?Sloping substrate?Sharks as tank mates????Would advise you to read up a little more about them before you advise people.Sorry if am rude.
@Betta (you not the original betta are you )
Oscars are seriously misunderstood fish and the biggest reason that attracted me towards them.I have been keeping them for nearly 8 years now and i dont think i will ever have a tank without oscars.Biggest rule for oscars...get the biggest tank as possible..a 4 foot at the very least..5 footer even better..and invest in the best filter you can go in for.Cannister would be ideal otherwise one or two very large capacity internal filters.(i had 2 cannisters running when i had 4 oscars in a 4 footer!)Go in for neutral sand and make sure it has no sharp edges as would also the rocks and wood or anything you would keep in them.dont bother sloping the substrate or anything..no matter what you do they will do it better.Heater should be kept at 28 though i use a heater in only the coldest months.Dont tinker with the water chemistry if you dont know what you are doing.they adapt to most waters easily.Dont feed them worms of anykind live or frozen.U can feed them well cleant pieces of meat and prawns but only when you sure you can handle one big water change a week.Otherwise stick to pellets.I find the Hikari range of cichlid food really good.I dont know where you stay so cant advice you where to pick them up from.And yes they do jump.Hole in the head is where they develop small pits around their head as a result of bacterial infection which is usually due to poor water quality and poor diet.
My advise would be to get a 4 foot tank..try and get 4 of the same kind as juviniles..let them grow up form a pair on their own and then remove the other 2.Thats what i would do given a choice.
@Sidrock.
Oscars are of many varieties as a result of inbreeding..copper albino albino copper tiger red tiger etc etc and every person has a name of his own.There are no such "premium strains" though you do get premium qualities of fish.
Joined: Jan 31, 2009 Posts: 2377 Location: guwahati,kolkata
Status: Offline
Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 10:27 am Post subject: Re: Setting up Oscar Tank..
oscars are greedy eaters..you gona need an efficient filtration system for them..juveniles are extremely active but they tend to become lazy as they grow..i would advice keep a mixture of both albino and black forms..they would look good..lighting would not be a factor..you can use any lights you want,except that the oscars should be visible
you can keep sturdy plants like some echonodorus species and anubias..gravel would also not be a problem..
and yes,do not overfeed them..and if you want their true colours,go for live food dude
best of luck with them..
.and if you want their true colours,go for live food dude
best of luck with them..
I don't think feeding live food is a good idea, getting good quality live food is always a problem.
The risk of infection is very high.
Feed them good quality dry food, fasting every 15 days , plenty of space and good filteration and watch them grow.
Keep the aquarium well covered, they are very good jumpers, specially at feeding time.
mine have already taken a tumble out of tank at feeding time.
Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 6:44 pm Post subject: Re: Setting up Oscar Tank..
Thanks a lot to you all guys...
So,
> a 4' x 1' x 2' tank should be ok?
> is sandy substrate fine? I heard that sometimes they end up eating too much sand
> when choosing a filter, will a 300L/H filter do the job?
I am not much into plants..so will add them to the agenda later, if necessary
Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:46 pm Post subject: Re: Setting up Oscar Tank..
Well i had seven of them including two albinos.. but due to their agressiveness towards new fishes, i have given them to LFS to sell it off. They had grown big.
@Titash
How many oscars have you kept mate?Can you please list some advantages of some of the advise you have given...a 55 gallon tank for 4 oscars?Top filter?Sloping substrate?Sharks as tank mates????Would advise you to read up a little more about them before you advise people.Sorry if am rude.
@Betta (you not the original betta are you )
Oscars are seriously misunderstood fish and the biggest reason that attracted me towards them.I have been keeping them for nearly 8 years now and i dont think i will ever have a tank without oscars.Biggest rule for oscars...get the biggest tank as possible..a 4 foot at the very least..5 footer even better..and invest in the best filter you can go in for.Cannister would be ideal otherwise one or two very large capacity internal filters.(i had 2 cannisters running when i had 4 oscars in a 4 footer!)Go in for neutral sand and make sure it has no sharp edges as would also the rocks and wood or anything you would keep in them.dont bother sloping the substrate or anything..no matter what you do they will do it better.Heater should be kept at 28 though i use a heater in only the coldest months.Dont tinker with the water chemistry if you dont know what you are doing.they adapt to most waters easily.Dont feed them worms of anykind live or frozen.U can feed them well cleant pieces of meat and prawns but only when you sure you can handle one big water change a week.Otherwise stick to pellets.I find the Hikari range of cichlid food really good.I dont know where you stay so cant advice you where to pick them up from.And yes they do jump.Hole in the head is where they develop small pits around their head as a result of bacterial infection which is usually due to poor water quality and poor diet.
My advise would be to get a 4 foot tank..try and get 4 of the same kind as juviniles..let them grow up form a pair on their own and then remove the other 2.Thats what i would do given a choice.
@Sidrock.
Oscars are of many varieties as a result of inbreeding..copper albino albino copper tiger red tiger etc etc and every person has a name of his own.There are no such "premium strains" though you do get premium qualities of fish.
hey!!! if you want to know the advantages then read the following:- 1. 55 gallon is minimum for oscars, it can be more but not less. 2. If you don't want to slope the substrate then there's no problem. Oscars create their own environment. 3. ID sharks are very peaceful species but it depends on you what type of tank mates you want for oscars or you want the oscars to be alone. I'm keeping 4 oscars in my 4ft tank. With beach sand as substrate. You have kept oscars for last eight years na? But I'm habituated with oscars, discus and arowanas since the past 18 yrs. I have 2 4ft tanks and one pond/artificial tank with dimensions 16x8.3x5(lxbxh). I'm keeping arowanas in the half part and oscars on the other half part. The four oscars in the aquarium are the 2 breeding pairs. And in the another 4ft tank discus are kept, out of which 3 are breeding pairs. I'll be shifting them to a new tank.
@Titash
How many oscars have you kept mate?Can you please list some advantages of some of the advise you have given...a 55 gallon tank for 4 oscars?Top filter?Sloping substrate?Sharks as tank mates????Would advise you to read up a little more about them before you advise people.Sorry if am rude.
@Betta (you not the original betta are you )
Oscars are seriously misunderstood fish and the biggest reason that attracted me towards them.I have been keeping them for nearly 8 years now and i dont think i will ever have a tank without oscars.Biggest rule for oscars...get the biggest tank as possible..a 4 foot at the very least..5 footer even better..and invest in the best filter you can go in for.Cannister would be ideal otherwise one or two very large capacity internal filters.(i had 2 cannisters running when i had 4 oscars in a 4 footer!)Go in for neutral sand and make sure it has no sharp edges as would also the rocks and wood or anything you would keep in them.dont bother sloping the substrate or anything..no matter what you do they will do it better.Heater should be kept at 28 though i use a heater in only the coldest months.Dont tinker with the water chemistry if you dont know what you are doing.they adapt to most waters easily.Dont feed them worms of anykind live or frozen.U can feed them well cleant pieces of meat and prawns but only when you sure you can handle one big water change a week.Otherwise stick to pellets.I find the Hikari range of cichlid food really good.I dont know where you stay so cant advice you where to pick them up from.And yes they do jump.Hole in the head is where they develop small pits around their head as a result of bacterial infection which is usually due to poor water quality and poor diet.
My advise would be to get a 4 foot tank..try and get 4 of the same kind as juviniles..let them grow up form a pair on their own and then remove the other 2.Thats what i would do given a choice.
@Sidrock.
Oscars are of many varieties as a result of inbreeding..copper albino albino copper tiger red tiger etc etc and every person has a name of his own.There are no such "premium strains" though you do get premium qualities of fish.
hey!!! if you want to know the advantages then read the following:- 1. 55 gallon is minimum for oscars, it can be more but not less. 2. If you don't want to slope the substrate then there's no problem. Oscars create their own environment. 3. ID sharks are very peaceful species but it depends on you what type of tank mates you want for oscars or you want the oscars to be alone. I'm keeping 4 oscars in my 4ft tank. With beach sand as substrate. You have kept oscars for last eight years na? But I'm habituated with oscars, discus and arowanas since the past 18 yrs. I have 2 4ft tanks and one pond/artificial tank with dimensions 16x8.3x5(lxbxh). I'm keeping arowanas in the half part and oscars on the other half part. The four oscars in the aquarium are the 2 breeding pairs. And in the another 4ft tank discus are kept, out of which 3 are breeding pairs. I'll be shifting them to a new tank.
Hey Titash would you please like to explain what you want to say?
Keep the flame war aside..
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if you want to know the advantages then read the following:- 1. 55 gallon is minimum for oscars, it can be more but not less. 2. If you don't want to slope the substrate then there's no problem. Oscars create their own environment. 3. ID sharks are very peaceful species but it depends on you what type of tank mates you want for oscars or you want the oscars to be alone. I'm keeping 4 oscars in my 4ft tank. With beach sand as substrate. You have kept oscars for last eight years na? But I'm habituated with oscars, discus and arowanas since the past 18 yrs. I have 2 4ft tanks and one pond/artificial tank with dimensions 16x8.3x5(lxbxh). I'm keeping arowanas in the half part and oscars on the other half part. The four oscars in the aquarium are the 2 breeding pairs. And in the another 4ft tank discus are kept, out of which 3 are breeding pairs. I'll be shifting them to a new tank.
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