He's doing so well. He loves the 75 gallon, but is mean to my rhino pleco. His hole in the head is almost completely gone, and he eats like no one's business. He lifted his entire head out of the water last night and tried to snatch his bag of food out of my hands. Apparently I wasn't feeding him fast enough!!! He has so much personality it's ridiculous. He re-arranges his tank on a daily basis, moving terra cotta pots and stringing his plants everywhere. He's my buddy.

Here's his tank.........



And here's the devil himself........

Beautiful oscar what type of oscar is he.I only ask because I saw some in a fish store and I think they were called tiger oscars or something.

You know what Blue? I don't know!! I'm hoping SandTiger sees this, cuz he'll know what kind he is. I've often wondered myself. Thanks for the compliment!

my dad used to keep oscars so I like them even tho they can be aggressive and fight with other fish.

Oh he's so handsome! nice metallic sheen

Awww he's looking good!! I've never seen an oscar so coppery before.

I'm certainly no expert here,but I think he's a Red Oscar.I have always loved Oscars and Cichlids,but have never gone that route.From everything that I've ever read about them,they're like puppy dogs in water(personality wise) but they really do not like sharing their tank much. Poor little Rhini may have to find a new home.

I'm not too worried about Ol' Rhiny, he's got his hiding spots and he's no lightweight! He's much quicker than Groucho too and just gets out of his way. He's mostly out when the devil is asleep!

And Devs, puppy dog in water is exactly right. He knows me from everyone else, and if I put a pellet in the water instead of a mealworm, he just looks at it for a sec, then starts dancing for me again. He's telling me he wants MEALWORMS, not PELLETS!!!

Nice looking oscar and he sure has healed up nice. A lot of people have a hard time getting rid of HITH but you seem to be doing something right.

Despite the fact that it's not really all that red Devs is right, it is known as a red oscar.

Here is Chef, my red oscar. I'm not trying to hyjack, I post pictures of my oscars every chance I get. It's like showing off pictures of your kids.

Don't tempt me Erika,I still have another 75gal.that I got from Smack that's been sitting empty for weeks now because I can't decide on what I want to do with it. Ther's a huge Oscar at this one Mom & Pop store that I get to every once in a blue moon-It's an Albino(not my favorite) and all you have to do is look at him and he rams the front of the tank glass! He scares the crap out of me everytime!
I've also seen some that give you those sad eyes like"What,you're leaving me here?" and I'm always soooooooo tempted.I just have to many darn tanks and fish.

sandtiger,What a beauty! I happen to like the Reds alot myself-every once in a while I see a pretty Tiger,but I do like the Reds.
Why is it that HITH is so common with these fish? I just read where moving them can get it started.Are they that vulnerable?

Wow Erika... I have been lost in space or something... didn't realize you had that beauty (Sandtiger.. your oscar looks so awesome as well). One of my life long dreams is to have one of these guys. I saw albino ones at the petstore recently.. about the size of a silver dollar... I just dreamed of a huge tank.

Couple questions... Can they live together with other oscars?
How fast do they grow?

DEVS!!!!!!!!!!! Go GET HIM!!!! I PROMISE that you'll find him utterly amusing!!!! If you do though, just one oscar for a 75. They don't get lonely though, they seem to enjoy the company of people thoroughly!!!!!


Barb~ They can be with other oscars, but you have to have TONS of room. They can be very territorial too, and WILL go after smaller fish, so it's kind of a touch and go thing. They grow pretty quickly too, Groucho has already done some growing since I've had him and he's actually been eating like he should. I think that the HITH is something that's common with them, but only for reasons such as poor water quality.

My dream is to get a veil-tailed albino...... they're SOOOOOOO neat. And don't flame me, but once I have about 5 goldfish left, I'm turning the 125 into an oscar tank and getting one of the veil tailed albinos. that's a long time down the road though. The goldfish will go in the 75.

Im going to flame you! JK

He is looking great!! I love reds so much. Im really glad to see him looking so much better. I have wanted one for a long time too but just dont need any more tanks and creatures to care for.

You should get one someday Jen, you'll adore him or her!!


SandTiger....... is that an eye spot behind the gill? Looks like yours has a scar where my Groucho has one too. He got his from me trying to take him out of the QT tank. I've never dealt with a fish that boistrous!! He banged into the filter uptake when I was trying to get him out.

Beautiful fish guys!! Erika, what does that warning type label on your tank say? And congrats for pulling him thru hole in the head!!

LOL, I forgot about that label till last weekend when someone pointed it out. It says "Warning, Protected By Killer Goldfish". My comets use to be in that tank and Dev's daughter, Heather, got me that sticker a long time ago. I think that it's funny that it's on an oscar tank, so I just left it.

He's great Erika! I sure wish I had some room for one of those dude's, They seem like so much FUN (Sandtiger, Your Oscar looks wonderful as well) Very pretty fish they are. Groucho looks like he's healed up very nicely for you..That's wonderful!

Groucho seems like quite the chracter from what you've said, I could be entertanied all day by one I bet!! The look on his face alone cracks me up, "Whadda lookin at lady"?

Yeah, he always looks at me like that. Unless he sees me with his food, then he's all cute and wiggles around and stares at the surface of the water. He's mad at his terra cotta pot again right now, repeatedly biting it and scooting it around. He's so hilarious.

That must be so funny to watch! He is really a preatty fish! I love oscars! They always appear to be brooding about something!

Poor diet and poor water quality are what causes it. Oscars are sensitive to Nitrates and they should be kept at 20ppm or lower. Wild oscars don't seem to get it. I imagine with all the inbreeding that has gone on with captive oscars they have a weaker immune system.

Depends greatly on the personality of the oscar. I have two together that get along great, some poeple are not so lucky.
When young they average around an inch a month until they hit between 7-9" within the first year of life and the onset of sexual maturity (when an oscar's TRUE personality starts to show). After that the grow more slowely and steadly.

It's not an eyespot but it is natural. He only has it on that side. Yes, he does have couple scars. Those are all healed up now though, every once in awhile he will do something and hurt himself...it's common with oscars. Typically they just loose a few scales and forget it ever happend.

Congratulations Erika that your oscar has come along so well. I wonder why they get mad at their terra cotta pots and such like? Same as the albino that Devs says charges at the glass all the time? Why? Do they behave the same way in the wild or are they frustrated perhaps?

Sandtiger your oscar is beautiful too.

I have no idea Annette, as far as the one charging Devs, I'm sure he's probably hungry. Groucho does that with the terra cotta for reasons beyond me. I don't think he's actually MAD at it, but he definetly wants it moved!!!

haha, what funny guy gotta love that sticker too

Groucho is a perfect name for him! He's so pretty, I love his color. I had the Roman ruin decoration in my goldie tank my bristlenose lurked in it, I love it in Groucho's tank with the terra cotta pots.

Thanks Maceo...... it does work well with plecs.... ol' Rhiny hangs out in that thing allllll day.

Groucho last night snapped at something on the surface of the water and hit his head on the hood! I just heard CLUNK really loudly and then saw him up there. He's a source of constant entertainment, let me tell you!! I wanna teach him to ring a bell.