An Oscar Could be Your Friend

by Nellie Oldaker

If  you  have  a large fish tank and  would  like  an  interesting tenant, an oscar might be the right choice for you.  Astronotous ocellatus, or more commonly known the "oscar", is one of the most popular large fish found in the home aquarium. Although not  one  of the most colorful fishes, and certainly one of  the messiest, it is quite well liked by fish fanciers. They are more intelligent  than  most aquarium fishes and can be taught  to do simple tricks such as ringing a bell to obtain food or take  food from  their  keeper's  hand.  They  have  a  greater  degree  of awareness  of  their  keepers than most fish  and  even  seem  to respond  to human affection. They may even brush  against  hands placed  into their aquarium homes as though they were seeking  to be petted. In general an oscar needs a large size tank. It may do well in a smaller  tank as a juvenile but as it grows it will require  more space.  A good rule of thumb is to provide 2.5 gallons  of  tank capacity for each inch of body length, not counting the tail.

It is  generally a waste of effort to decorate an oscar's tank  with plants, as  oscars tend to bother rooted plants by  turning  them into uprooted plants. However they usually don't bother floating plants  except to eat  them.  Because  oscars  prefer  subdued lighting,  floating plants serve a good purpose by  cutting down the intensity of the aquarium light.

Oscar's are hefty eaters. They can even be gluttonous. In general oscars like to eat live foods, especially fishes. A steady  diet of  live food can be a very expensive proposition, especially  in Juneau, Alaska.  Fortunately  there are many frozen and  packaged  foods available  and you can also give an oscar "people food"  such  as fish,  shellfish and cuts of meat. You may even make up a  blend of  food. Home blends of oscar food usually contain meat,  fish, cereal,  leafy green vegetable fibers, and some type  of  vitamin fortifier. High quality dog and cat foods, both canned and kibbled, are  also popular oscar food.

Oscars are not the most even-tempered of fish and have a tendency to bully their tank-mates. They can be housed with other  fishes that  are  to large to be eaten or bullied, but it  is  generally better to keep oscars by themselves in the tank. With proper housing, diet, and good tank housekeeping your  oscar can be a long lived pet. Some have been know to live for as long as 15 years.