Oscar fish how many

Or you can use them to make your own homemade fish foods. The best diet will be a mixture of different food types to provide a range of nutrients that your fish will need to stay healthy. Feed them a couple of times a day, in amounts that they can completely finish in a couple of minutes. Watch out for aggression as these cichlids get excited around food. This makes cleaning the tank very important , or conditions will deteriorate quickly. Perform water changes at least once a week, ideally twice.

This is where cavities and holes begin to form. It is worth changing their diet if you see signs of this disease. Most aquarists will have heard of ich. This is a parasite called Ichthyophthirius multifiliis that causes a range of different symptoms.

Other symptoms include flashing and a loss of appetite. Infected fish will be more susceptible to other problems too. If you spot an infected fish, separate them into a quarantine tank to help prevent the spread of disease to other fish. It also ensures that any treatments will not impact tank mates. Complete the treatment here and only return the fish once it has returned to health. Quarantine tanks are useful for new fish too.

Pathogens thrive in poor water conditions, so maintaining a clean environment will help to keep outbreaks of disease at a minimum. Using a water testing kit each week will help you to spot changes in the water conditions as soon as possible. These are one of the hardest fish to breed in captivity. You can try to buy an already established breeding pair. Another option is to buy a group of juveniles, as they grow together they will build a connection and be more likely to form mating pairs.

A problem with the second option is that it will take a while for breeding to happen since you will need to wait until the juveniles have matured; this takes years. To signal the rainy season in an aquarium try lowering the temperature a couple of degrees. Water changes every couple of days along with sprinkling water on the surface for a few minutes each day will also help.

This could be simple fin waggling or vibrations. The pair will clean a rock surface for the eggs to be laid on. The largest females can produce up to 3, opaque white eggs. Both parents will guard the eggs until they hatch after days ; females fan them to keep the substrate from smothering them, while males keep other fish away.

Move the juveniles to a new tank with a sponge filter for the best chance of survival. Feed them around times a day to help them grow quickly. You will have to move them again as they get bigger or the tank will get too small and their growth will be stunted. This cichlid is usually a centerpiece that you design the rest of the tank around.

This may sound like a lot of work, but your effort will be rewarded with some bright colors and unique social behaviors. Diseases are uncommon and you have lots of choices with their diet. Hi, my common oscar lives happily with 2 albino pangasius catfish, a spotted sydontis and 3 bnose plecs.

I have albino Oscars with blue acaras, silver dollars, lemon cichlid,banjo catfish, sail plec, red tail catfish all doing great no problems at all. They have all lived together in my dinning room since the beginning going on 4 years. The next step is to get them in a gallon! Hi Shandi, what is the Oscar currently housed in? He should be fine for a week or two until you can get 55 gallon tank in a couple of weeks. Thanks, Robert. I am finally upgrading to a fifty gallon tank thanks to generous donors!

I have an albino oscar and a tiger-barb oscar and the tank mates are a fire mouth cichlid an electric blue cichlid a tin foil catfish a sucker mouth algae eater and a freshwater perch. The biggest cause of diseases in tropical fish is the introduction of foreign bacterias from things that us owners carelessly put in their tank. If you have got the space for an Oscar-only tank, that is what we would recommend. Oscars do better in pairs, or small groups but due to their size, they do need a huge amount of water per fish in order to thrive.

Oscar Fish are not the friendliest of fish, even in their native environment, so you can imagine how they can be in a smaller aquarium with limited space. A few Oscar fish tank mates that I have kept successfully include:. If the fish is small enough to fit in the Oscars mouth, chances are it will end up their.

The same goes for invertebrates such as shrimps and snails. They certainly have an appetite! The way that Oscar Fish will waggle their heads and fins when they see their owner walk into a room is heartwarming. Depending on how comfortable your Oscars are with you, they may even let you feed them with your hands. Oscar Fish are a fascinating fish that are not only intelligent and fun to interact with but also beautiful to look at.

If you are ready for the challenge of keeping this popular tropical fish, we hope this guide has given you some nuggets of information to make your job a little bit easier. I created this website to help fellow fishkeepers get accurate and helpful information at the click of a few buttons.

I love sharing my tips and tricks to help make you a better fishkeeper, so stay updated by following us on Social Media! The Neon Tetra is the crowning glory of home aquariums. Its exquisite natural beauty says it all. Its shimmering colors — silver and white at the abdomen and light blue at its back, combine into The Bristlenose Pleco. One of the most popular species of Pleco fish you will find in home aquariums all over the globe. Also known as the Bushy nose Pleco, these easy to care for tropical Article Contents.

Oscar cichlids do not school, but if provided with a large enough tank, they will coexist peacefully with others of their species. There are three main types of Oscar fish, but only one is commonly kept. This commonly kept species has over twenty different color morphs, and no one can resist all these colors! This is the most popular type of Oscar, and these are the ones you see in stores.

These are the Oscars known for their patterns and personalities. These Oscars are extremely rare in the aquarium trade and are often mistaken for their more popular cousin. These fish also produce an extreme amount of waste, so even though they are smaller, they require just as much filtration.

They are also extremely hardy and will eat the same food as other Oscars. Even though little is known about this species, they thrive under the same conditions as the common Oscar. This is another rare Oscar species, though not as rare as the Fat Oscar. These Oscars are gorgeous, black with yellow stripes, hence their bumblebee name.

Their care is the same as the other Oscars and they can be kept with others of their species. When choosing Oscar fish tank mates, keep in mind that they will eat any fish smaller than them when full grown. Also, due to their aggressive nature, tank mates should be added to the tank before, or at the same time that the Oscar is.

There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to mixing fish. Some fish-keepers will have success keeping two fish together, while other will not. If you plan on adding anything to your Oscar tank, watch the interactions carefully and separate the fish if you see any aggression. Oscars are such ferocious eaters that they will sometime root around in the substrate looking for uneaten food that has fallen to the bottom.

If you plan on using same, be aware that eaten sand can sometimes cause their feces to become white and stringy, which is often confused with internal parasites. Your last option and my favorite is a bare bottom tank.

Bare bottom tanks are extremely easy to clean, which is a big plus when it comes to messy fish like Oscars, but it is not the most aesthetic option. Live plants and Oscars do not mix, as Oscars love to destroy them. It is nearly impossible to get plants to thrive when surrounded by these fish. Alas, if only we could combine the stunning Oscar and beautiful planted tanks! Rocks and aquarium driftwood can still be used as hardscape, though Oscars may move smaller rocks and light driftwood around.

Oscars are extremely sensitive to ammonia and nitrite, so it is essential to cycle your aquarium before introducing any fish. Even though you must wait to add fish, there is no need to wait to add the hardscape. Mizer mentions, "If nitrites rise above 20 parts per million, Oscars will suffer. However, it is best to keep nitrite levels as close to zero as possible. Nitrite test kits are available to monitor your tank's conditions. Your goal with any aquarium should be to maintain the tank in the same conditions your fish would encounter in the wild.

Oscar fish require a water pH between 6 and 8. Use a cichlid buffer or a water conditioner formulated for cichlid fish, and use an aquarium water pH test kit to measure water pH.

Remember that Oscar fish come from warmer, tropical climates. Maintain temperatures between 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit -- ideally around 77 degrees for optimal conditions. You can do this by using an aquarium heater set to the proper temperature. Avoid glass heaters as Oscars have been known to break them. Shatterproof aquarium heaters are available that work well in Oscar aquariums.

Oscars can jump and have been known to leap to their deaths out of an open-top aquarium. To avoid this scenario, be sure to confirm your aquarium is secure. One trick to prevent Oscars from jumping is to keep the underside of your tank hood and lids meticulously clean. In the wild, insects and plant debris land in the water, which creates a ripple that attracts the fish to the area.

It's like a dinner bell ringing for them. In captivity, moisture dripping from the underside of the tank hood or bits of fish food stuck to the hatch can fool an Oscar into thinking a meal has arrived. By keeping the hood clean and latched, you can keep your fish where you want them and where they need to be -- in the tank! One of the most fascinating aspects of keeping Oscar fish is their habit of rooting among the accessories in their tanks.

They can easily lift out plants and even move rocks across the aquarium floor. Don't be surprised if they dig trenches in the substrate, move your carefully positioned plants, and otherwise change their tank. Since this behavior can get expensive, especially when they pull up live plants, consider adding artificial plants to the aquarium. Your Oscar won't mind.

Mizer also recommends anchoring decor within the aquarium by securing them to the tank bottom prior to adding substrate, or gluing them directly to the tank. There are a variety of different options to choose from when it comes to what to feed your Oscar fish. It's best to select a complete commercial diet specifically created for cichlids, which typically come in a pellet form. Although these balanced formulas provide your Oscar with all the requirements they need, many owners choose to supplement their Oscars' diet with additional food or treats.

It's important to know that Oscars and many other cichlids are omnivorous. Therefore, you can feed your Oscar fruits or vegetables such as green peas or small pieces of apple. Many owners also offer their cichlids frozen, dried, or live bloodworms and mealworms. These food sources can be a great compliment to a balanced commercial diet, but be sure that your source offers clean live foods free of parasites and diseases.