the_dragonslayer

I have bred Oscars for many years and I used to remove the eggs from the parents every single time and raised the fry on brine shrimp. These fish will get really aggressive when you do this and will attack you (I have a scar on on of my fingers to prove this). I used to have to get a friend to corner the parents off after that incident. It sounds as though you do have a pair if the vents are different. The good news is that although the eggs fungused, they will breed again and very soon too. If you want to speed this process up do a few water changes and keep your tank as clean as possible. I also found that they would lay eggs again very quickly if the eggs had been removed. They also sulked a bit after the eggs had ben taken away, but rather that than have them eat the fry. The best thing to do IMO is to have a flat piece of slate in the tank. Once they have layed the eggs on this you remove it and place it in a smaller tank with water from the larger tank they were in in the first place. I used to keep the smaller tank bare with a small airstone placed under the slate so that there was a constant flow of water moving over the eggs. (this achieved the same effect as if the parents were fanning the eggs) Do not have the bubbles directly on the eggs and do not use a power filter as i did this once and all the fry ended up getting sucked into this and died. common sense did not prevail and I should have known better. Although I do recommend removing the eggs I should also tell you this. there is nothing like seeing the fry and parents swimming around in a tank together. It truly is an amazing sight to behold. Its a risk leaving the eggs in but definately a worthwhile one if you can achieve this result. I only removed the eggs because I owned the LFS and it all boiled down to raising the fry into baby oscars and selling them off. Good luck with your oscars and if you have any questions that i may not have answered please feel free to ask. It has been a long time since I bred these wonderful fish but i do remember a lot of things.

I agree with all of you except maybe the cat biscuits. I have never tried them and am not too sure if I would. oscars are messy enough as it is. Now just to add this to the above. I believe that finding out information about the fish you wish to keep should not apply only to Oscars. Anyone who keeps fish should take the time to find out as much as they can about the fish they are wanting to keep and Any pet store worth their salt should be able to tell/provide you with information about the fish you want to buy. I did when I owned mine. I could even tell you the latin names of most of the fish I bred and sold (not showing off I was just very passionate about fish like most people here). But the onus is not just on the store, its also up to the person who buys the fish to find out what the requirements are and to find out if the fish they wish to buy are compatible with the ones they already have or the set up the have. Our hobby is not cheap, take the time to find out what you need to and you will save a lot of hassle later. Its easy to sell a fish to someone, the hard part comes when they get home and have no idea how to look after the fish they just bought. I personally would never just walk into a store to buy a fish and be in and out of there in 5 minutes. I would take my time and watch the fish I wanted and pick the exact ones I wanted and make sure that I got what I was paying for. I looked for fish that swam properly, that had no obvious signs of damage/disease etc. Its not easy to do when its your common guppy I know but the point I am trying to make is "know what you are buying" and that was the point I was making when I started this topic. Now for other things Mystic - What type of Arowana do you have? I have kept 3 in my lifetime. One was in a large show tank in my store. I want to get another one but i want the black one but every store I have spoken to in hamilton say they do not import them so i will do without for now. Sad i know but I am patient and will find one eventually.

Good to see you too. And thanks for your reply. I love my oscars too and yes i am probably an oscar nut too.I have just had a 450l tank made for these 2. Have not had a chance to set it up yet but soon....Just waiting for the stand to arrive. take care

Oscars - Astronotus ocellatus :- is a member of the cichlid family. It's name derives from the Latin roots astron meaning star, and notus, meaning back, referring to the ocellated spot on both sides of the dorsal fin of the fish. I have just come back home from having a look at a pair of Oscars that someone was selling and it broke my heart to see these two fish in a tank that was just too small for them. I did not buy them but I gave the owner a lot of advice.This has prompted me to come home and write this little note up for wanna be oscar keepers. Most people do not realise that the cute little 1"oscar they bought in the pet store grows very very fast into this beautiful large oscar. I have seen too many oscars in tanks that just do not suit them. These are amazing fish with fantastic personalities and deserve a whole lot better. I have bred and kept oscars for many years and have also seen a lot of posts by people who want to keep these fish but don't know anything about what they require. It's always a good thing to because at least these people are asking the questions. I would hate to think about the ammount of people who do not ask questions and set up a tank for an Oscar or two or three that will just not suit them at all. These are my thoughts on what you should do set up a tank so you can keep these fish. A fully grown Oscar can reach 12 inches in length and as you can imagine they do need a large tank. So if your tank is a small one find another fish to keep. Minimum tank for one specimen would be 120x45x45 cm about 250l.Extremely good filtration is required as these fish are messy eaters (mine were).Avoid bright lighting, people say this increases aggression but my opinion is these fish don’t like it. I believe in natural decorations in my tanks, I stay away from little plastic divers, broken bells, ships etc, etc opting instead for natural driftwood and rocks with real plants. Just be warned that Oscars will rearrange your tank if they do not like how you have set it up (remember they have personalities). Also avoid sharp rocks/objects as these fish will fight (lip Lock esp when they are going to breed) and Oscars are always hitting into things and get hurt easily. They heal quickly, especially if water quality is maintained. Keep the water well filtered and clean. I do a water change of at least 25% minimum a week. - by doing so your Oscar will rarely get a disease and you will save yourself a lot of trouble. Good water quality is the key to healthy fish. They are not sensitive to water chemistry as long as extremes are avoided. Ideal temp of 26-27°C. Oscars will eat almost anything but they are gluttons so do not over feed them. I just realized that this post is a lot longer than I thought it would be so I am gonna end it here. If you have any questions about these fish I will gladly answer them. Just remember this though if you wanna keep Oscars and enjoy them give them a large spacious tank they deserve it. The above is strictly my opinion – But I had a little help from 2 beautiful 10†Oscars called Jeffie and Scarface. Aneal