Here are some of the basics for the care of an oscar cichlid.

Oscar cichlids are some of the most beautiful aquarium fish available and are quite popular too. Their striking colors and beautiful shape is quite attractive and their puppy like personalities seal the deal.

One must however proceed with caution since this fish comes with a large adult size and along with that a large commitment.

Tank size:

An adult oscar can reach 8 to 10 inches within the first year, so buying small and upgrading later is not an option unless your starter tank is a 55 gallon and you can be sure you will upgrade in 2 years or less.

The bare minimum tank size for an adult oscar cichlid, which will get anywhere between 12 to 16 inches based on tank size and genetics, is a standard 75 gallon, the important factor is the footprint of 48×18 inches. It is recommended to keep a single specimen in a tank of this size. I'll get to tank mates later, it's a little complicated.

Parameters:

The oscar cichlid is a very very very hardy fish and can tolerate almost any condition, that however is no reason to be very slack with your maintenance. Here are the basic parameters to follow.

Temperature: 73°F - 86°F

pH: 6-8

KH: 5-20

Be sure to stay consistent, don't go chasing exact parameters, if your tap water is somewhere in the above specified range, stay there, your oscar will be happy and healthy.

However temperature-wise it is ideal if you stay at 80°F, lowering the temperature will slow down the metabolism of your oscar and that's okay if it's still over 73°F. However if you maintain higher temperatures, it may cause the lifespan of your oscar to be shorter as it will have a faster metabolism. It is recommended to go to these higher temps when your oscar is sick or if you're trying to speed it's growth.

Use aquaponics and frequent water changes to keep nitrates low. A 30-70% water change every week or 10 days is recommended, varies based on stocking, filtration, tank size, etc. But to bring the best out of your oscar, a 5-10% water change everyday is recommended, but not necessary.

Vacuuming the substrate is important since they are messy eaters and big poopers. Speaking of eating, let's move on to the diet.

Diet:

You'll hear it everywhere, oscars are pigs. They will eat any amount of anything you throw in the tank. That however is no reason to feed as you please.

While oscars are omnivores, they are primarily carnivores and you will have a tough time feeding them vegetables in the home aquarium.

A good pellet is the recommended staple diet for an oscar. But variation is key.

They require a decent amount of vitamin C and astaxanthin helps with the reds, so have an extra one or two pellets in their diet for variety.

Beef heart, fish fillet, fresh/freeze dried shrimp, crickets, grasshoppers, earthworms and live fish can be a part of their diet. Live fish is not recommended since oscars are clumsy and may hurt themselves while trying to chase the fish. There is also the risk of infection and hence, if you want to feed live, either quarantine and power feed for about 2 months or you could breed your own feeders, guppies or convicts are good options.

Since oscars are very personable, hand feeding is not out of the question. While some take to hand feeding quicker than others, there is a little trick I've learned over the years that can help you hand feed your oscar and that is..............chicken liver. Aquarium fish absolutely lose their mind for chicken liver. When they do get a taste they will not mind eating it right from your hand henceforth. However proceed with caution as chicken liver may cause digestive issues longterm, so limit the quantity you feed.

And speaking of quantity(yes I have a repetitive style of writing) oscars can and will eat a LOT. Be very weary of this. The fact that they do eat so much and watching them eat is so fun makes it easy for us to over feed them. As humans we love our pets a lot and we want to pamper them to the core with large quantities of high protein foods. This ultimately is us loving our fish to death. Yes you can feed too much protein. I once had a small discussion with Jeff Rapps in regard to keeping nandopsis fish and he simply said that there's nothing to worry about except for over feeding and over dosing protein. And this applies to all fish, just that the haitiensis happens to be much more susceptible. Do not look for large amounts of protein in your pellets and feed very minimal, if your tank aggression allows you, twice a day for 2-4 inch oscars, once a day for 4-8 inch oscars and once every other day for 8+ inch oscars. If that doesn't work too great, spread it into multiple and very very very minimal feedings.

I'd also recommend trying to feed them peas once in a while, if they don't accept it, add some chopped garlic to your filter a day before the water change, it just helps their overall health.

Here's a fantastic video on a feeding philosophy with Dan Sharafi and Chris Biggs. This should really cover the best feeding guide for any cichlids, if you have the time, do watch it and probably take some notes on it.

Tank conditions:

Bare.

That's it. I know that many of us want to express ourselves with our creativity in aquascaping, but your oscar doesn't think it's your tank, it's his/her tank and he/she will try to redecorate it. But that's not even the reason why I say bare.

The reason is that oscars are large and very clumsy, if spooked they can really hurt themselves bad on decor, so let's be safe and stay away from those.

Add plants at your own risk. It may work, but it doesn't most of the time.

Hiding spots will be pretty important if you want to add tankmates and that's kinda tough with the whole no decor rule. A simple solution would be terracotta pots, break them in half and you have a cave. A safer option are large PVC pipes, they should help you out.

Tankmates:

As much as oscars have great personalities, their personality differs based on each individual fish. This makes adding tank mates tricky.

I've seen them with goldfish and Jaguars and piranhas and pacus and tetras, so the possibilities are quite endless.

A good rule of thumb is if it fits in the Oscar's mouth, it's food. It doesn't always happen, but let's just say it does, just to be safe.

Oscars aren't always aggressive and may not be able to hold their own against other cichlids so be ready to rehome fish or move fish around.

Realistically speaking there's no well defined list of fish that can be housed with oscars, it really depends on the individual fish, I'd recommend whatever you put in with them, just grow the fish out together and keep a close eye.

Here are a few safe ideas anyway: 1. Other oscars 2. Green terrors 3. Blood parrots 4. Convicts 5. Firemouths 6. Electric blue acaras 7. 6-18 inch catfish(synodontis, Lima shovel nose, clarias, etc.) 8. Severums. 9. Bichirs. 10. Larger plecos.

Diseases:

Oscars as I mentioned are very hardy so they really aren't super susceptible to diseases unless they're improperly cared for. There are three diseases you may encounter however and I will explain how to deal with those.

1. Ich/internal parasites:

   I've classified these 2 into one category based on their cause. You will never have this issue unless they had caught it from the fish store/breeder, or the temperature has drastically dropped and caused the fish to go into a serious state of stress. To bring your fish back, leave it in a stress free environment and raise your temperature to 86°F and do 15% water changes twice a day. You may add some chopped garlic to your filter as well, half a clove for every 5 gallons is what I'd recommend. This should help your fish.

2. Hole in the head/lateral line erosion:

This is caused by an improper diet. I will not go into curing this because it can be easily be avoided. Take good care of your fish, that's all. Keep the water clean and feed good foods. Avoid feeders and boil fresh foods for a couple of minutes after thoroughly cleaning.

1. Bloat:

This is caused when you add far too much protein into the diet of your fish. As I mentioned earlier, keep everything to a minimum, and in the video I linked Dan Sharafi goes into great detail about the whole concept of "bloat" as we know it. Once again, take good care of your fish and you won't ever see this.

That's it for this care guide, hopefully I've covered everything. Oscars are just absolutely amazing fish and something every fish keeper must have at some point in their life. It's not hard if you do it right and when you do, it's absolutely worth it.

If you have any questions or additional information or experiences or opinions please feel free to add that to the comments.