Oscar Information | Keeping Oscars | Oscar Guide

Oscars are a freshwater fish that belong to the Cichlid family which are native to The Amazon River, Orinoco and La Plata (Peru, Colombia and Brazil). Oscars appeared in captivity in the 1960's and can grow up to a size anywhere from 9" - 12". They love food and are known to be pro beggars and are always on the lookout for a bite to eat, many enthusiasts regard them as being very intelligent, and some even say that Oscars can distinguish their owners apart from strangers. The Latin name for the Oscar is Astronatus Ocellatus; Astronatus meaning that they are marked with a star and Ocellatus meaning the bearing of an eye spot. A lot of thought is needed before considering keeping Oscars as they can live for 15 or more years and require a very large tank.
From personal experience I have found that they have great personalities, they like to uproot plants and even rearrange the aquarium. Oscars should be kept with larger fish that they do not see as food.

In this section I will give you the basic guidelines on equipment that should be used when keeping Oscars. The basic equipment needed is as follow:

- Tank
- Filtration
- Heating
- Lighting
- Water

Oscar Tank
When keeping Oscars you will need a large tank that has a large volume of water; plenty of water means it will be easier to cope with the waste that Oscars produce. It is recommended that a the minimum size of the tank should be 350ltrs but if you want to keep 2 or more Oscars I recommend that you select a tank which is around 550ltrs in size; a good dimension sized tank should roughly measure around 1.8m x 0.6m x 0.6m.

Filtration for keeping Oscars
When keeping Oscars you will need to make sure that you have a great filtration system as Oscars are incredibly messy fish. The filtration will need to consist of mechanical filtration and biological filtration.
Mechanical - i.e.: Sponges, to catch larger debris.
Biological - i.e.: Ceramic type material, to harvest good bacteria.
There is a wide range of filtration systems available. The top three that are recommended are the canister filters, sump filters and the power head filters.

Heating an Oscar Tank
As Oscar tanks are very large try to get two heaters that have thermostats. Place each of them on either side of the tank, at 45 degree angles, to ensure good heat circulation. The right size heaters will need to be purchase, the combination strength of the heaters should be measured using the guideline of 1 watt per 1ltr of water.

Light for Oscars
You don't need any special lighting when keeping Oscars; generally they prefer lighting that is not too bright. The lights should be kept on for 12 - 14 hours a day. Just remember that over lighting plus bright lighting can lead to excessive algae growth.

Oscar Water info
The water temperature should range from 22 - 28 degrees Celsius. They prefer soft to hard water with a PH of 6.0 - 8.0

If you are new to the Oscar world and want to have a resource with all the correct answers, then I would suggest an eBook called 'Oscar Fish Secrets'. It explains everything step by step so you never have to be wondering if you are doing things correctly.