Scientific name: Astronotus ocellatus

Common name: Oscar cichlid, red oscar, tiger oscar, velvet cichlid

Region: South & Central America - Rio Ucayali drainage & upper Amazon river of Peru and Brazil

Size: 12-15 inches

Color: Ocellatus is Latin for spotted, referring to the spotted pattern of the Oscar's body. Oscar can vary from olive-green to gray to chocolate brown in base color, but most often a dark brown or black. Black spots surrounded by an orange or red ring on the base of the upper caudal peduncle are characteristic of the Oscar.

Water Chemistry: pH: 7, soft water

Temperature: 72-80 (24-28)

Aggression: Aggressive (which is sadly the reason this is one of the most commonly purchased tropical fish.

Compatibility: Other large South American cichlids

Diet: Carnivorous

How to breed: It is very difficult to sex Oscars from external characteristics, so you'll have to keep a colony, and hope that a pair develops. A breeding pair of Oscars will prepare a breeding area, such as a flat stone or slate. A single spawning may consist of around 2000 eggs, and will usually hatch within 3 to 4 days.

General: The oscar is one of the most commonly kept cichlids (or tropical fish for that matter) in the aquarium. Their reputation is strong, so much so that people who've never heard of cichlids still know what an Oscar is! I remember fondly the day I heard a PetSmart employee telling a group of kids how the 'Oscar is closely related to a Piranha'. Just make sure that if you're keeping Oscar cichlids in your fish tank, that you're prepared to buy lots of fish food, and do plenty of water changes!

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PJ (Unregistered) 2007-06-05 14:50:26 How long do Oscars live? Reply 7   2

Oscars Justin (Unregistered) 2007-06-05 15:06:43 As long as you treat them well :). My friend has one that's over 7 years old! Reply 3   4

Oscar age gccesgd (Unregistered) 2008-02-25 22:18:25 They can live 16+ years. Reply 1   1

Jen (Unregistered) 2009-01-27 08:25:32 They can live 15 - 20 years. Reply 2   0

Oscar age Angel (Unregistered) 2009-03-14 13:54:49 We had one when I was a kid that lived 15 yrs. Probably would have lived longer if the power (and his heater) hadn't gone out in our home one weekend while we were away. Reply 0   0

Mike Anonymous (Unregistered) 2009-04-17 12:58:52 Well there is a chance that the oscar maybe sick. I have a mixture of oscars, convict, african chiclids, bala sharks, tiger barbs and as soon as I walk in the the door, the sunshine brightly upon the tank and they know I had arrive. Therefore they food is on the way. All my fish swim to the top circling the top of the tank excited and ready for food. You my have over feed him. Are there other fish in your tank? Reply 0   0

dempseydude (Registered) 2009-11-30 13:46:48 My ex girlfriend had a 14 yr old oscar Reply 0   0

life span of an oscar cichlid sean (Unregistered) 2010-04-06 15:31:41 my oscar is 15 inchs and 19 years old and i know that because i know who his parents where and he is still as active as he was when he was 1 years of age and he lives along side a black banded headstander which is 12 inchs and the headstander is about 9 years old Reply 1   0

Oscar charateristic J Rosell (Unregistered) 2007-07-20 12:16:05 My oscar is just swimming at the top as if he is lifeless. I know he is not dead because he would periodically move his fins. It looks as if he is unhappy or something. It all started when I changed the water. I also put a lot of gulpies in there for him and he is not eating normailly like he usually does. He hasn't stop eating completely it's just that he is taker longer to eat the gulpies than normal. I also just recently added a convict to his tank. Help Me out! Reply 0   5

oscar floating Justin (Unregistered) 2007-07-20 12:33:14 Out of curiosity, did you remove the chlorine from the water? How much of the water did you change? Was is a very different temperature? Has it been raining a lot where you are? Reply 0   4

Anonymous (Unregistered) 2008-02-25 22:12:04 ddcdfg Reply 0   1

Oscar age gccesgd (Unregistered) 2008-02-25 22:13:01 They live up to 17 years Reply 2   1

Mcped (Unregistered) 2008-06-27 10:30:00 Check for hole in the head desease. Reply 1   1

dempseydude (Registered) 2009-11-30 13:53:21 oxygen floats to the top do you have buble curtain? Reply 0   0

Anonymous (Unregistered) 2007-07-24 01:11:28 they are not related to the piranha Reply 0   3

just a question, chino (Unregistered) 2007-08-19 12:31:45 i have a red tiger oscar wich looks really nice, but he seems kinda slow to catch some feeder fishes that i put there with him.. well, is that norml? he just swims around but he cant catch any food.. when i gave him pellets, he just ignored it... and another question, can i keep him with my red eared slider turtle? Reply 8   2

dempseydude (Registered) 2009-11-30 14:00:41 I have a turtle in with mine and its fine the buy the turtle a docking staion so it can get away win it wants Reply 0   0

slow oscar justin (Author) 2007-08-20 07:27:00 He's most likely fed too much, and therefore can afford to eat the feeders at his own leisure. How often do you feed him? How many feeders do you put in at once? And no, I wouldn't put the turtle in with him Reply 0   1

crazy oscar nicci (Unregistered) 2007-11-10 16:17:53 My oscar constantly attacks the side of my tank and the plecasamus. If any one goes nears the tank she opens her mouth and tries to attack. Yet she always thinks its feeding time when I go near the tank. Is this normal behavior? Reply 6   1

Anonymous (Unregistered) 2008-11-16 21:21:32 yeah they eat meat Reply 0   1

yar yar (Unregistered) 2011-01-28 13:34:44 they arent attacking the people, just begging like a dog for you to feed them. dont overfeed though, you dont want a fat unhealthy oscar Reply 0   0

Nitrite & Nitrate vanessa (Unregistered) 2007-11-18 19:12:19 WHEN TESTING MY WATER I'VE NOTICED THAT THE NITRITE IS 80PPM & NITRATE 10.0PPM. I TREATED IT WITH THE ACE AND I'VE TRIED AMQUEL PLUS WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO REMOVE NITRATE, NITRITE, AMMONIA ETC. I DONT KNOW IF ITS SUPPOSED TO BE THIS HIGH SINCE MY OSCAR TAKES BIG POOPS. WHAT CAN I DO TO BRING THESE LEVELS DOWN. Reply 3   1

re: Nitrite & Nitrate Drew (Unregistered) 2007-11-19 18:35:54 Was your tank cycled before you got the oscar? The only thing you can do now is heavy water changes (50%) everyday until your nitrite level goes down. Adding Amquel or other products is just a temporaty solution. you need to let the proper bacteria develop in your tank/gravel/filter that breaks down nitrite into nitrate. Until then, you will be having this high nitrite problem, which will kill your fish. One you have control of your nitrites, just do moderate water changes to keep nitrate levels under 20ppm. Good luck! Reply 1   2

Moron The_Truth (Unregistered) 2009-07-24 23:40:30 You have no business having any pets Reply 2   4

Awesome Jacob (Unregistered) 2008-01-04 13:07:49 We bought a tiger oscar for a our school and it's very cool to watch them eat gold fish. The gold fish has absolutly no idea what is going on. It's very cool. I suggest that YOU get one today!!! Reply 3   1

Anonymous (Unregistered) 2009-05-09 17:30:23 goldfish are very high in fatty acids (thiamine) which is very unhealthy for your oscar. buy a few convict cichlids, they will pair off, and breed massivly. feed the oscar their fry and it will love you forever as well as be much healthier. if you think im joking, when i bought my convicts, it took 13 days for them to pair off, spawn and lay eggs, and for them to hatch. there were over 150 babies from my 1.5" convict female. then i fed her to the oscar, and raised the babies in another tank. they are now a primary food source that renews itself. hope you try this for yourself. Reply 1   1

Anonymous (Unregistered) 2009-11-11 21:32:04 HOW MANY CONVICTS DID YOU BUY TILL YOU FOUND A BREEDING PAIR? I just recently took my friends guppies because they were breeding like crazy and she had to get rid of them. So I was planning on breeding them and then feeding them to my oscar's as treats. But I'm worried that they will be too fatty for my oscar's and I'd like to give them the best that I can. I also feed them pellets and frozen shrimp, so they have a wide variety of food and are healthy. Reply 0   0

mixing oscars with other cichl Brandon (Unregistered) 2008-01-08 23:12:29 I have a freshwater tank with many African Cichlids and in the future i would love to have a large enough tank to house an Oscar. Is it possible to introduce an oscar to african cichlids although some african species grow to 4 or 5 in.? Reply 3   2

Mixing oscars with Africans Dave (Unregistered) 2008-04-20 16:15:29 It is not usually a good idea to mix any Africans with American Cichlids because of PH differences and aggression levels as well. If you are lookig to mix Africans with your Oscar, try the Tilapia (Joka). The PH is about the same for them. A Jewel could be a good tank mate as well as long as the Oscar is bigger the him. Oscars are not as aggressive as many believe they are. If you are just looking for a good tank mate for you Oscar, I would suggest a Sverum or a Red Snook. I have all 3 of these housed in a 200 gallon tank and they get along wonderfully. All 3 are very messy and aggressive eaters. Over filtration is a must for these fish have large amounts of waste as well. Reply 1   2

Wow! Zilch (Unregistered) 2008-01-21 14:06:27 It really worries me that some very stupid people are trying to keep these great fish! Reply 3   3

Rob (Unregistered) 2008-02-13 00:27:35 The oscar i got is doing great in my 55gal I have 1 oscar, 1 jack 1 green terrow (i think he will be oscar food) 2 severns, The only thing i am worried about is that i heard jacks are the true bad eggs in chiclid family should i move him in my other 55 gal? that tank have 1 texas 1 jack 1 firemouth? Reply 0   2

Tank size Dave (Unregistered) 2008-04-20 16:25:33 First of all both of your 55 gallon tanks are to small to be housing the fish you have together for very long.Jack Dempseys, Green Terror and your Texas are pretty pugnacious fish as well as beligerent of other fish, not just Cichlids. Those fish in my opinion should be together in a 150 gallon tank and your Firemouth, Oscar, Severums should be together in at least 150 as well. Although I have kept all these fish at different times together without much trouble. Reply 2   1

dempseydude (Registered) 2009-11-30 14:12:35 Please get that jack out of thre I had 2 yr od oscar that was 5 in and introduced a 3in jack and he almost killed oscar Reply 0   0

teacher micki (Unregistered) 2008-03-21 21:11:39 What kind of school feeds goldfish to oscars and has children cheering themon?? Reply 0   2

What kind of school? Donna (Unregistered) 2008-04-20 02:51:54 A good one. The food chain is not a bad thing to learn about. Geesh! Reply 1   1

is it normal mark (Unregistered) 2008-06-05 19:01:10 my 2 oscars fight alot is that normal????????????????????????????? Reply 0   1

Anonymous (Unregistered) 2009-11-11 21:36:58 It is normal for 2 oscars to fight.The best thing to do when you first get oscars is to get 3 or more. The more you have the less aggressive they are to eachother. Oscars enjoy being in large numbers. Reply 1   0

is it normal?? Ty (Unregistered) 2008-08-23 01:07:40 Of course its normal, they are an aggressive fish make sure they have enough room and are well fed and that should help out a lot. Reply 1   1

oscar is half color what do i Anonymous (Unregistered) 2008-08-28 12:12:16 well my oscar is 2 colors half his body is light and the other ir really dark like one is gray and the other really dark black i think it happened after my greenm texas attacked him like 3 days ago can u help me figure out what that is? Reply 1   2

holes melissa (Unregistered) 2008-09-26 10:50:16 my confict is digging holes i was wondering if this is a way of nesting and also there are 6 of them in one tank i think about a 55 gallon while they be able to bread with so many together Reply 1   2

Anonymous (Unregistered) 2009-03-05 16:53:03 55 gallon tank is WAY too small for that many. My one Oscar is comfortable in a 55 gallon. I wish folks would do their research before just throwing all these fish in together and then asking dumb questions later. Reply 2   0

feeding oscars? bigguy (Unregistered) 2008-10-02 15:08:57 how often do i feed live feeders to my two 3-4" oscars? Reply 2   1

feeding oscars lins02 (Registered) 2011-08-24 19:45:16 We fed ours 1 every day when they were that small. Reply 0   0

cichlid tank Gaz (Unregistered) 2008-11-01 08:49:51 hi i have 11 malawi cichlids a severum a red oscar and 2 plecs in my tank they were all introduced as babys at the same time and are fine 6 months down the line what is all the crap about not being able to keep them together so far no casualtys Reply 0   2

stupid yar (Unregistered) 2011-01-28 13:15:15 dumb, the africans will pick on the oscar. somethings going to die. Reply 2   0

jennifer (Unregistered) 2008-11-01 10:08:26 We have three tiger oscars together... and so far the casualties have been our albino tiger oscar and our very peaceful plecostomus. I think because we have three of them, they like to bully around the other fish in the tank... Reply 0   3

sexing newbie (Unregistered) 2008-11-02 17:16:27 How can you tell what the sex of an oscar is? or can you? I have 2 tiger oscars that are about 4 inches long. Reply 0   1

Sexing oscars (Unregistered) 2008-11-30 23:30:20 in a male oscar is the vent under them lass visible Reply 0   1

oscars (Unregistered) 2008-11-30 23:31:25 a male oscar has a less visible vent Reply 0   1

your wrong Mr. KnowITall (Unregistered) 2008-12-25 01:40:25 Oscars are great fish. They can grow up to the size of 12-18 inches if kept in a proper tank setting. Basic rule is an Oscar needs 55 gallons for himself Minimum. So a 55 gallon tank gets one Oscar and a 110 gallon tank can have two, or another fish that doesn't exceed those extra 55 gallons. Oscars are aggressive fish that will fight each other if kept in poor conditions. Some can also be paired together and be kept as good tank mates if they are usually the same size. Feeding your Oscar feeder fish is a TREAT, not good as an everyday meal. The high fat in guppies and goldfish basically turn your fish into a fat@$$. Best food is pellets, insects, blood worm's, and brine shrimp. Feeder Fish also leave your Oscar open to more infections. If your getting those feeder fish from lets say pet-co, those fish came from a bigger tank with way more fish who could have been sick, have parasites, or infections. So when you bring those fish to your tank, you have a chance to ether get your fish sick he dies and you waste that money you spent on him, or he gets a parasite and starts to get small white worms all around his body or Hole in the head(crators on top of his head) or ike(white spots), OR your fish gets a nasty infection which ruins his scales. My Oscar is 14 inches and I've had her in a 75 gallon tank for 9 years. Reply 2   0

Feeder Fish cause Ick ashley (Unregistered) 2009-02-18 08:13:25 I agree that feeder fish should be used in moderation. It is important to be careful where you get them also. i recently had to treat my oscars for ick which was caused by the feeder fish I give them. Reply 1   0

Tiger Oscar Mealtime Anonymous (Unregistered) 2009-03-05 16:59:07 We feed our Oscar a variety of food. Mostly we feed him frozen brineshrimp or flakes. I have been considering breeding my own guppies (in a separate tank) to use as treats for him. I've heard horrible things about the health of storebought feeder fish and wondered if I raised them myself to ensure proper care/health, if they would be a nice snack for my Oscar. I don't want to cause any health risks to my little friend. Any opinions? Reply 0   0

color change rosey (Unregistered) 2009-03-27 21:54:17 does anyone know what it means when they turn greenish in color. (when it naturally occurs on their heads). Reply 1   0

Anonymous (Unregistered) 2009-08-14 13:48:21 Would 1 Oscar, 1 Severum, and 1 Starry Night Pleco be too many in a 75 gallon tank? Just trying to do my research before getting my fish. Thanks Reply 1   0

ken26 (Registered) 2009-10-19 21:23:12 how long does it take oscars to grow? Reply 0   0

growing rate sean (Unregistered) 2010-04-06 15:46:14 well my experiance is that in the right health and right size tank then an oscar will grow to 12inchs in about a year then ofter that it will take longer to get to anything between 13-19inchs hope that helps Reply 0   0

oscar breeding sean (Unregistered) 2010-04-07 08:15:00 when oscars are breeding do nt put plecos of anysize because the male oscar will murder it the only thing i found that can live in the same tank is a large black banded headstander and a spotted dora (talking cat) 6 inchs as solid as a rock Reply 0   0

new tankmate for breeding osca sean (Unregistered) 2010-04-07 08:26:24 hi if anyone want a really good and compatibile tankmate for large i would look for a large fire eel i have just brought a 22inch fire eel for £125 and they all are getting on okay apart from the small featherfin 5inchs which was killed and eaten about 30 mins ago poor mr squeker but is still fine with a large black banded headstander and a breeding pair of oscars and a six inch spotted dora and if anyone want 2 know how big my tank is it is about 700gallon its huge but well worth the money and that im nt saying but it was alot of money Reply 0   1

Is Punctuation dying? Anonymous (Unregistered) 2010-04-11 05:25:50 Overcrowding, inattention, sloppiness. Coincidence? I think not. Reply 2   0

feeders/snacks chrissy (Unregistered) 2010-09-12 18:12:33 Have 5yr old tiger oscar in 75gal tank. He gets brine, bloodworms, daphnia, and green seaweed for his reg meals. As a treat he gets a dozen small rosy reds about every 2wks. He also enjoys fresh/frozen deer hearts when we get lucky during deer season! I have had to bring him back from hole in the head twice so he doesn't get goldies anymore. He ate his tankmate a long time ago and eats or kills anything new. He is right at 13inches. Glad to hear they live a long time when treated right. Don't think I could fall asleep at night without hearing his waterfall after this many yrs! Reply 0   0

oscar! yar (Unregistered) 2011-01-28 13:12:16 ive got 1 albino oscar, 4 tiger barbs and 3 catfish in a 30 gal tank. its good for now but will be a prob soon. have 2 ten gal tanks for when the water becomes a prob in the big i can transfer the others to their own. feed them algae wafers, flake, blood worm and shrimp. after a couple years ill start of give the oscar feeders. Had the barbs for 2 yrs so they are equal size as the oscar is now. the catfish have grown rapidly since i got them apx 3 months ago (same time as oscar). got the 30 gal and wanted more than barbs. people who complain about over crowding have to take into consideration how old the fish are. i could have 8 barbs in there if they were the same age as the oscar and catfish but i dont want to kill anything. Reply 1   0

Anonymous (Unregistered) 2011-11-21 01:16:44 55g 2 albino red tiger oscars 1 red tiger oscar 1 common jack 1 eb jack 1 columbian shark 1 rainbow shark I had my setup 4 about a month now and just recently the water has become cloudy I feed them frozen bloodworms flakes and once a week guppies im not overfeeding for sure and all fish are under 3in so they are not producing that much waste espically in that amount of time to cloud the water right???? Help dont wanna waste no $$$$$$$!!!! Reply 0   0

geld verdienen Cindi (Unregistered) 2011-12-26 01:37:16 i am a Test Comment! Reply 0   0

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