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oscar cichlid

Oscar fish came to surface at feeding time and may touch the hand of owner.  Oscar fish sold at low size in aquarium shop so don't get confused and have well prepared long fish tank for them. Oscar is basically carnivorous fish and can have brine shrimps, beef heart, blood worms, frogs etc. However they have learnt to fed on pellets and flakes. Keep changing their diet so they never lack any specific nutrient so take care of it. Never compromise on the food quality. They reach at sexual maturity at the age of about 1 year.

oscar_cichlid_fish_care
 Oscar cichlid fish is not a good community fish and can become predatory to other fishes and definitely kill them. Fishes of same size and nature can become good tank mates. The temperature of fish tank should be around 23 - 28 degrees Celsius. Always maintain regular water changes and maintain good water conditions. Feeding oscar cichlid other small fishes regularly may lead to deficiency in certain vitamins and may susceptible to other deadly diseases.
oscar cichlid care
Care : Easy

Nature : Aggressive

Fish Tank Size : 55 gallons or more

Temperature : 23 -28 degrees

Breeding : Moderate

Lifespan : 10 years or more

Size : 15 inches or more

Food : Basically carnivorous ( pellet and flake can be fed )

Breeding 
Oscar cichlid fish are very selective while choosing their partners. This can be done by letting them forming pairs themselves. Just bring about 6-8 small fishes and so that they can form pairs while growing.  You can also ask aquarium dealer for proven pairs. Breeding oscar fish somewhat resembles breeding other cichlid fishes such as discus and angel.

oscar cichlid breeding
While growing oscars will form pairs. Hopefully you will get 1-2 pairs. When the pairing is done their aggressive nature increases. Now the tank mates which were tolerable up till now soon seem to be in threat. So remove every other fish except the pair. Give them protein rich food especially live food such as brine shrimps, cricket, blood worm, earth worms, bait fishes etc. Change 20 -25 % of water every week and add peat moss to encourage breeding. Raise the temperature from 78 F to 84 F. Spawning is generally aggressive ,both may seems to having lip lock and tail slapping.

Now they will find a site and start cleaning it off. You can put spawning slate or marble piece so that they can lay eggs. They may even dig a pit in substrate and lay eggs in it. Also do not disturb the oscar cichlid too much during spawning. Soon the female will give about 1000 of eggs and after some days  fry will come out. Fry are sensitive to poor water condition so avoid it. You can try feeding them crushed flake food or baby brine shrimps.