oscar questions

[Rbishop]

If cared for well, with good food and filtration, and minimal stress, and free swimming space (which it will not have in the 38) I have seen them hit 7-9" in 10 months.

I would forego the Oscar idea until you had the 75-100 gal tank.

 

[ryf]

ok ok.... I slept on it, you all are right, thnx for straightening me out. I get a little loopy when insomnia kicks in.

 

[Needeles]

If I might ask, why are you wanting an Oscar? There are other fish out there that would go good in a 38g tank if you want some ideas.

I'm happy to hear that you decided to not get an Oscar. This is a good sign that you are in the right direction to having a good tank at some point.

 

[ryf]

why wouldn't you want an oscar?

once they mature they have awesome colors, as well the personalities they can posess are very unique, I have a relative who is a breeder for them and Angels, and some of his adults are just amazing.

I had considered making it a smaller variety s. american tank, but they just don't grab me the same... I don't know what I'm going to put in there now, so back to the thinking.


p.s...

Not to defend my previous standpoint, but I did research the net, and there are quite a few places that say one oscar was ok for a 30 gallon, I'm not saying they are right, just pointing out I was mis-informed(hence my response).. perhaps adding realistic tank sizes to Aquarias fish profiles would make that part easier for newbs to get good info..

I joined this site because it seemed to be the biggest and friendliest, and honest. which doesn't mean the best by default, but its a good start. thanks again for your info.

 

[azrednex]

Oscars are from the Amazon basin, fish from this region are unique in their ability to deal with nitrates and other polutants in their water.
This is because they have evolved to survive in an area with a wet season and a "dry" season . During the wet season practically everything is under water (low PH and low nitrates). During the "dry" season the rain tapers off and lots of aquatic animals are stranded in small bodies of water. Throughout the "dry" season these bodies of water decrease in volume, by evaporation,thus becoming more concentrated, all the while the fish is still producing ammonia which in the end becomes nitrate also. The oscar in particular has the ability to "turn off" some of it's growth hormones. It also stores energy during this time. When the rain steps up again the Osacar is treated to a giant water change and grows very fast at this time, from the stored energy and because the growth hormones are being turned back on.

Think about what this means for the aquarium bound fish. It's a beautiful thing when you have an oscar or two in a properly sized tank, while they are young, EVERY time a water change is done the fish grow almost overnight. My favorite tank is a 90 gallon, in a tank like this you could have breeders inside of 1 1/2 year I've done it it's beautiful.