Keeping Oscar Fish
Keeping Oscars..
An aggressive species that’s known for its tantrums, the Oscar fish are a popular fish among aquarium enthusiasts. Oscar fish belong to the cichlid family which is usually seen in regions of South America. Oscar fish appear in a multitude of patterns and colours and are also referred to as marble, velvet or tiger cichlid.
The scientific name for these fish is Astronotus ocellatus and they can grow up to 16 inch in length or (40 cm) and weigh more than 3 lbs or (1.5kg). These fish can be very aggressive and require the proper attention should you decide to get them in your fish tank.
Peculiar Behavior..
Oscar fish have quite a character and like to re-arrange the tank the way they like, they will move any item which is not secured including tiny plants ,stones and substrate (they do not care if they’re artificial or normal) and attempt to toss them outside the aquarium if they do not want them. A sandy bottom and some big stones should help you to stay hassle free.
Oscars have large appetites and need to be placed with fish of the same size or bigger, a little fish becomes an easy meal for an Oscar. Some South American cichlids as well as a big catfish are the ideal tank mates if you want to mix it up.
These guys can really put on a performance and can be very entertaining, i have seen them over the period of a few days completely rearrange the setup i had made in the tank for them.
Oscars will dig holes, move tiny rocks around the tank and love to pull up plants. So make sure every thing is secure so they do not hurt themselves. Like other creatures they will run and play with one another, make some courtship dance, and fight amongst themselves. You will also notice the gradual color changes in their skin.
Oscars will occasionally pretend they are about to die and lay on their side at the bottom of the aquarium (don’t be alarmed by this behavior, Oscars are marvelous actors), he will stay on his side and watch for little fish to get closer, and then he pounce and eat them.
Feeding Your Oscars..
People have suggested serving them with live goldfish and guppies, but it isn’t recommended , since you’ll have the potential for diseases to develop. It is a much better idea to nourish them with vegetable pieces, mixed beef, shrimps, bee, bugs and earthworms.
If you are breeding them, you must realize there will be occasions when the males may hurt the females through rough play , this is pretty normal for Oscars. The propagation of Oscar fish is pretty easy to instigate, the trick is to raise the temperature of the water. So if you increase the temperature from what normally should be 25 degrees Celsius to a warmer 28 degrees Celsius it will get them to reproduce.
The female will choose a smooth stone or rock to lay her eggs (approximately 1, 000 eggs) and male Oscars will come along and fertilize them. The thick eggs will become more visible within 24 hours and will produce young after two or three days. Observing the breeding cycle of Oscars can be very interesting to observe due to their erratic behavior.
Cichlid Species — Scientific Names List
Lately I have been asked a lot about Cichlid species, so I thought I would put together a bit of a list including their common names as well as their scientific names.
Cichlid ( sik-a-lid ) fish stem from what’s known as the Cichlidae (sik-li-day) family. The Cichlidae family is an extremely large & diverse family having nearly 2000 specimens described and it’s believed the still many more to be described scientifically.They would have to be the largest family of vertebrates.The exact number of existing cichlid species is an extremely hard thing to estimate because of the constantly found new specimens.These fish come in some of the strangest looking shapes to the most breath taking colors and throw in some peculiar mannerisms and it makes for quite the character.
Cichlids are found all across the globe ranging from Africa throughout Asia to North and South America.Cichlid fish which tend to be kept in captivation can come from the African waters as well as the Amazon basin area and also from some the famous lakes like Lake Malawi, Great African Rift Lake and Lake Tanganyi.Presently there is a massive diversity in the behavior and eating habits of these fish because of the greater number of types.
The majority of cichlids are herbivorous fishes and feed on vegetation or even algae. The other cichlid varieties are generally omnivorous, will eat anything or they are carnivorous fishes that live on other fish & insects.The broad range of eating habits has really allowed cichlid fish to occupy numerous habitats. Cichlid fish do not survive in salt water although funnily enough their ancestors did.
A Few cichlid kinds are fairly meaty in size and many among them tend to be referred to as game types. Consequently a multitude of cichlid types are farmed for food. On the flip side, we can’t deny the amount of fish tank enthusiasts that enjoy cichlid species because of their eye-catching colorings and tendencies.Angelfish, Oscar fish, Discus fish and Convict cichlid are among the most popular with aquarium enthusiasts.
African Cichlid Species
Most of the Cichlid types that we see in captivity today come from the African Amazonian regions. Sowith that said, on with the listings:
Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi is one of the largest lakes known to man and is home to over 300 varieties of cichlid fish. Here are some of the better known of the African cichlid species:
* Big-lipped
* Moori or Blue Dolphin
* Malawi Eye-biter
* Linni or Elephant-nose Cichlid
* Livingstoni
* Polystigma
* Venustus
* Deep-Water Haplo
* Electric Blue Haplo
Mbuna Cichilds
* Red-dorsal Afra, Dogtooth
* Fuelleborn’s, Fuelleborni
* Trewavas, Red-finned
* Electric Yellow Mbuna, Lion’s Cove Yellow
* Malawi Golden
* Johann’s Mbuna
* Parallel-striped Mbuna
* Purple Mbuna
* Aurora
* Bumblebee Mbuna or Hornet
* Elongatus, Slender Mbuna
* Snail Shell Mbuna
* Kennyi
* Eduard’s Mbuna
* Zebra Mbuna, Zebra Malawi, Cobalt Blue or Nyasa Blue
Peacock Group
* Baensch’s Peacock, Yellow Peacock or Sunshine Peacock
* Red Shoulder Malawi Peacock
* Lake Malawi Butterfly
Lake Tanganyika
* Pearly Compressiceps
* Compressiceps
* Frontosa
* Black-finned Slender
* Striped Clown Goby, Striped Goby, Tanganyika Clown
* Dickfeld’s Juli
* Checkerboard Julie
* Golden Julie or Ornate Julie
* Regan’s Julie or Striped Julie
* Masked Julie or Black-and-White Julie
* Fairy
* Daffodil Brichardi
* Lemon
* Elongated Lemon
* Ocellated Shell-dweller
* Pearl-lined Lamprologus
* Five-bar
* Otostigma, Tripod
* Blue-eyed Tropheus
* Duboisi
* Blunt-headed
* Poll’s Tropheus
* Aulonocara
* Lamprichthys
* Synodontis
* Afromastacembelus
Cavity Brooders
* Altolamprologus
* Lamprologus
* Julidochromis
* Neolamprologus
Mouth Brooder Group
* Cyphotilapia
* Cyprichromis
* Eretmodus
* Tropheus
* Xenotilapia
Other African Species
* African Butterfly
* Zebra Haplochromis
* Two-spotted Jewel
* Blood-red Jewel
* Purple or the Common Krib
* African Blockhead or Lumphead
* Zebra Tilapia
* Clown Tilapia
North American Species
* Firemouth
* Convict
* Pearlscale
* Texas
* Midas
* Large Lipped
* Long Fin
* Friedrichsthali
* Jaguar
* Jack Dempsy
* Salvin’s or Tricolor
* Red-spotted
* Black Belt
* Nicaragua
* Quetzal or Red-headed
South American Species
* Oscar fish or Velvet
* Peacock Bass
* Festa’s
* Port Acara or Black Acara
* Pike
* Banded
* Festive
Acara s
* Blue Acara
* Green Terror or Rivulatus
* Saddle or Two-spot Acara
* Keyhole
* Flag Acara
* Golden Dwarf
New World Dwarf s
* Agassiz’s Dwarf
* Yellow Dwarf
* Cockatoo Dwarf
* Three-Stripe Dwarf
* Ramirez’ Dwarf
Angel Species
* Angelfish
* Altum Angelfish
Discus Species
* Brown Discus Fish
* Green Discus
* Royal Blue Discus
* Heckle Discus or Pompadour Fish
* Waroo or Triangle
Eartheater Cichlis Species
* Cupid
* Pearl or Mother-of-Pearl Eartheater
* Red hump Eartheater
* Paraguay Mouthbrooder
* Demon Fish
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