WAHOO! WE'VE BREEDING PAIR OF OSCARS!

[Chaiah]

I can't take pics quite yet but we just noticed eggs on the slate in our 125 gal tank with our female albino and a male red tiger Oscars fanning the eggs and viciously defending them. Getting too close right now can cause the parents to destroy the eggs so have to wait to see if definitively fertile, but the colorization indicates they are. If so, we hold have some really cool fry in a few weeks. I love watching Oscars parents their fry. It's extremely cool stuff.

I'll post pics in a few days, perhaps, if I can get safely closer to the tank as I can't use a flash at all. Fun stuff!

 

[Anne & Gang]

 

[Chaiah]

Woot! Just got a close enough look and eggs are fertile. This is a very odd and rare pairing as it, often, takes years to have a female select a male. Our female was adopted with her now ex mate about five years ago from a pet store. The red tiger was purchased with five siblings when he was under 2" long and that was about 17 mos ago. Having a sexually mature Oscar at a out 18 mos old is very rare and then to have it accepted as a mate is incredible. So, suffice it to say, I'm freaking excited. My parents raised Oscars and Jack Dempseys when I was a kid and I hoped to have a mating pair, myself, but never thought it would really happen. Just awesome.

 

[Hrtofau2]

I love Oscars! I am so very happy for you. You will have to post plenty of pictures, as you can of course!

 

[Chaiah]

We may have a problem but won't know for certain until morning. When we adopted the albinos they were in pretty bad shape. The pet store, a locally owned one and specializes in fish, mostly, had them in terribly dirty water and the ammonia caused both fish to be all but completely blind. Their vision improved somewhat but it's still significantly poor. So, this evening the male went to fend off a couple of potential intruders and when he turned back to assist the female, she started fighting with him as she was confused. Then he got ticked off so we had some pretty nasty marital spats and the Oscar Council for the Blind was called in for assistance. We think things have calmed down and the female had resumed laying more eggs and the male was being allowed to protect, again. So, only morning will tell.

I'll be so bummed if things don't continue to improve. We will, likely, move the pair to their own tank but had to wait until we knew we had a mating pair.

My husband and daughter have listened to me speak of what a neat experience it is to watch a mating pair of Oscars care for their young. It's almost mammalian and nothing one can truly understand without seeing it.

Edit - ours love to be petted and we hand feed twice a week. Just awesome.

I love Oscars! I am so very happy for you. You will have to post plenty of pictures, as you can of course!

 

[Hrtofau2]

I have often heard of Oscars being the "dogs" of the fish world. I remember a friend of my moms had a pair when I was a little girl. I loved watching them, they where so gorgous and they would "chase" me up and down the tank. I have no clue how big the tank was just that it took up nearly an entire wall and I would run up and down and they would follow from one side to the other. I remember feeding them, and they where so fun to watch when they fed them live food.

I hope that everything is fine now, and that the spat is over!

 

[Chaiah]

We have six Oscars, one Blood Parrotfish, two female Jaguars (South American Cichlids), two Blue Zebra Cichlid found in Lake Malawi in Africa (African and South American Cichlids can reside in the same tank with right salt levels), and a 16" common Plecostomus in our 125 gal tank with sump system. We will be going to a 265 gal tank next spring and the mating pair of Oscars will get the 125 to themselves.

I have often heard of Oscars being the "dogs" of the fish world. I remember a friend of my moms had a pair when I was a little girl. I loved watching them, they where so gorgous and they would "chase" me up and down the tank. I have no clue how big the tank was just that it took up nearly an entire wall and I would run up and down and they would follow from one side to the other. I remember feeding them, and they where so fun to watch when they fed them live food.

I hope that everything is fine now, and that the spat is over!

 

[Timmy&Crash]

I miss my Aquariums just sold my last 125 gallon tank a couple years ago, I had a breeding pair of Vail Koi Angelfish, talk about beauties. Had Oscars and Rope Eels just about everything. Just be careful if you have any Plecos in the tank they got my eggs more than once before I knew to remove them. Miss them but had to make room for all the cages and bird stands

 

[Chaiah]

Yeah. The plecostomus has attempted a caviar run but has been beaten back, so far. He's a stubborn bugger when eggs are around. He loves it when our Jaguars lay. It's a buffet feast.

I'm really hoping the pair manage to hatch some but it might not happen this time. I can't manipulate them or anything in the tank now, so we wait and see and get ready to prep to move them to their own tank.

I have our 55 gal. but am using it as an herb terrarium and water it with some fishy water once a week. Want some parsley, basil, cilantro, oregano, or rosemary?

I miss my Aquariums just sold my last 125 gallon tank a couple years ago, I had a breeding pair of Vail Koi Angelfish, talk about beauties. Had Oscars and Rope Eels just about everything. Just be careful if you have any Plecos in the tank they got my eggs more than once before I knew to remove them. Miss them but had to make room for all the cages and bird stands

 

[waterfaller1]

That must be awesome. Good luck! Post pics when you can.

 

[waterfaller1]

So what can you tell me about keeping them? I have never kept an oscar,but have thought of getting one perhaps after the goldfish are gone. You don't have to feed them live food do you? I wouldn't like that at all.

 

[Chaiah]

Bloody super red oscars


A rare sunshine lemon oscar


These are all reds


These are all tigers
One at the top is Albino
The
first thing you need to know about Oscars is that they are Cichlids. In fact, Angelfish Are Cichlids, too. If you are going to have them in a tank with other fish, they really need to be cichlids. You can have a plecostomus but make sure it's at least as large as the Oscars.

Now, as far as feeding, we get frozen bloodworms/krill and all those frozen goodies from the pet store. They all carry them. The Oscars get fed twice a week. We give each oscar a couple of chunks of the frozen bloodworms - by hand. We also feed cichlid pellets so if someone misses his bloodworms he still gets fed. Feeding them the pellets is pretty easy. They get to have as much as they can consume in three minutes. Now, no live food - even worms. Some people do this but it's been discovered that captive oscars do not have the ability to filter out the soil that's often in worms/insects. We cut up raw chicken and give them chunks of burger on occasion. They also like occasional veggies. Mine like broccoli a lot. They'll shove so much into their mouths that it can take a while for them to work it down. Just be careful because we, actually, had one die from gorging himself. We couldn't pull the piece out as he refused to release his treasure. They do have these fanglike protrusions at the inside rear of their mouths and they help to swallow their food.

Now, this can get a little tricky. I'd suggest you get four to six baby oscars. There are several kinds and I've posted the ones I believe are natural - not hybrid. Some of the hybrids are very pretty but I'm very against it and there are some that are dyed. Not cool, IMO.

Oscars do not have teeth but their mouth can open quite wide and their inner lip area can hurt and break skin. So.... My suggestion regarding getting babies is because their bite isn't as severe and they can be taught more easily to take food gently (relatively) and you can work at teaching them various things - one of which is to allow petting. Some enjoy it very much.

Wow, I've been thinking and typing for while. I hope I've not overwhelmed you. I'm going to work on acquiring some other varieties sometime next year. They are just beautiful, pretty smart, and yes - are known as river/water dogs. They'll follow you and will learn to do tricks for treats.

I'll help you as much as I can. It's such fun and so relaxing to just sit and watch.

Chaiah

So what can you tell me about keeping them? I have never kept an oscar,but have thought of getting one perhaps after the goldfish are gone. You don't have to feed them live food do you? I wouldn't like that at all.

 

[waterfaller1]

Thanks so much for all the info. Very helpful.
Hopefully my goldfish are sticking around for awhile. We have been to hell and back in the last few months. I would be pretty devastated to lose them now. I realize they won't live forever though.

 

[waterfaller1]

I knew someone that had one she called rainbow. This was a very long time ago. I just remember him being huge and gorgeous. I hate to see them in tanks so small they can't even swim. Not sure my tank is really suitable for one, let alone six. It's only 90 gallons with a 29 gal sump. Wish I had a 125.

 

[Chaiah]

Oscars' average lifespan seems to be around 15 years. Also, they can grow to a foot long so you need to be prepared to have a large tank. . Oh, and a sump system is pretty much required.

Thanks so much for all the info. Very helpful.
Hopefully my goldfish are sticking around for awhile. We have been to hell and back in the last few months. I would be pretty devastated to lose them now. I realize they won't live forever though.

 

[Chaiah]

I knew someone that had one she called rainbow. This was a very long time ago. I just remember him being huge and gorgeous. I hate to see them in tanks so small they can't even swim. Not sure my tank is really suitable for one, let alone six. It's only 90 gallons with a 29 gal sump. Wish I had a 125.

You could do four in a 90 gal.

 

[Chaiah]

I knew someone that had one she called rainbow. This was a very long time ago. I just remember him being huge and gorgeous. I hate to see them in tanks so small they can't even swim. Not sure my tank is really suitable for one, let alone six. It's only 90 gallons with a 29 gal sump. Wish I had a 125.

A "rainbow" is a South American cichlid but it's not an oscar. However, it would be an excellent cichlid to start with as they're smaller (I think the smallest) of the cichlids in the Honduras area. They live in still river waters under logs and stuff. They're also easier to breed.