General Care and information:

General

Astronotus ocellatus,break down to Astronotus - star on back and ocellatus - spotted with little eyes

Who's common name is the Oscar(velvet or marble cichlid also pops up once in a while which I belive is mostly a sales gimmick by switching it's name), is one of the largest of the popular New World Cichlids.They are a great cichlid to raise in a tank all by itself or a great cichlid to raise as a group in a tank. They are very intelligent fish and have great personality. That’s right, personality! They learn very quickly when it’s feeding time they reconize their keeper and there is virtually no limit as to what an Oscar can do when enticed with food. They will, with a little training, eat out of your hand and perform simple tricks. Oscars have been a long time favorite of cichlid lovers and because they have been around for over 50 years, there are (or have been) several variations of Oscars available which is another reason many people are drawn to them.

WILD Habitat:

Oscars are indigenous to central South America and have been introduced into many waterways in florida.The introduction into florida is rumored to be from released pets and import shipments gone wrong. DO NOT release your oscar when you decide it's to big . This is a BIG DON"T! The Oscars may do fine, but in most cases they disturb the whole ecological balance of the water their released into and cause other species to disappear.In the end a few people "being nice" to their oscar could effectivly cause strict laws or bans to be impossed on all oscar keepers.

Care:

Their natural environment is the soft acid waters (both black and white water) of South American rivers, but they tolerate just about any water conditions well.In the wild oscars are reportedly found in water rangeing from 50-90 degrees depending on season and water conditions.In an aquarium the average suggested temperature range is 76 - 84 degrees.

I keep my oscars at:

• 78 - adults not breeding/spawning
• 80 - small oscars I'm growing up
• 82 - for spawning pairs
• 82 - for eggs and fry (until about a month old)
These are the temperature ranges that have given me the best results over the years,others have had good results with temperatures slightly higher or lower.