Re: Concerns
Big Oscars Not In Sales Floor Anymore  3/18/09
Chuck, Would the tanks be kept in the back? I remember that Meijer had 3 Albino Oscars that were bigger than the 3 tiger Oscars. In a matter of days the albinos that were in the tank were replaced with the tigers. All the tanks at the store are the same size and all are crowded. I am sorry if I make big deal of this but I do like Oscars. Neal
<I am not personally familiar with this store or its policies. Usually fish that don't sell can be returned to the wholesaler for credit or placed on sale at a reduced price to be sold. Tanks do not go bare for very long. It
still costs money to maintain these tanks with no possibility of income.
When all else fails, just ask the store manager.-Chuck>

Albino Oscar Not Growing  - 03/12/2006 My albino Oscar jumped out of the tank when I was feeding it. Since this he does not seem to be growing. It has a spot on it's side but that has healed. I have a tiger Oscar also that was bought at the same time. It is almost three times the size of the albino. The albino also buried it's head in the gravel about a week after I got it. I thought it was dead when I got him out of the gravel but he started swimming around just fine. The albino seems to be swimming fine and is also eating it just is not growing. Any suggestions? < Typically albino fish are weaker and less aggressive than non albino fish. I think that the tiger is more aggressive and intimidating and pushing the albino around to the point that he will not aggressively eat. So he will not grow as fast until he is separated and allowed to feed without being hassled. If you place him in a second tank increase the water temp to 83, feed heavily and keep the water very clean you can increase the grow rate and maybe catch up with the tiger.-Chuck>

Getting An Oscar  - 01/09/2006 I am interested in getting an Oscar. I've never had one before. I have tried to research them but, not having much luck on figuring out how to tell the males apart from the females. I also am confused on what to feed them. Some sites say to feed them smaller feeder fish, and other say not to. What do you suggest?? I am confused....... Can you help???    Jess <Oscars get up around 12+ inches so you will need a big tank of at least 75 gallons when it is full grown. They are messy cichlids so you will need a very good filter too. Get one that pumps the volume of the tank at least 3 to 5 times per hour. I would recommend an outside power filter. Water should be around 80 F. When small feed flakes and small pellets. Larger fish could be fed earthworms, pellets and frozen foods. Feeders are not recommended because they are living fish that can carry diseases into your tank. Treating a large tank is not any fun. It is expensive, time consuming and difficult on your fish.-Chuck>

Wild About Oscars 8/2/05 Hi there, We are currently setting my husband's 110 gallon aquarium back up after five years or so of disuse. We are hoping to populate it with a breeding pair of Oscars, which is what the tank originally housed. We're in the process of fishless cycling the tank (I've got a 1ppm and rising ammonia spike using my KISS approach--strips of white bread in the filter), so we are starting to look for somewhere to purchase fish (we live in a fairly rural area, so it's either PetSmart, a two hour drive to the closest aquarium specialty store, or mail order). The catch is, he is really hoping for wild caught fish if at all possible. Which brings me finally to my question--do you know of any suppliers possibly still importing Oscars into the US? Thank you in advance for any help you can offer! Laura Lawrence < Wild Oscars are too expenses for most importers to bring in. Oliver Lucanus does occasionally get them in but he is in Canada. Contact him at his website at: Oliver@belowwater.com.-Chuck>

Wild About Oscars II 8/3/05 Hi Chuck, Thank you so much for your help! I will get in touch with him and see what I can work out. Just to clarify for the archives, this is a custom tank with a 60x18 footprint, not a standard 110XH with a 48x18 footprint (which in my opinion would be quite cramped for two full-grown Oscars). WetWebMedia.com and Fenner's CMA have been invaluable resources for us in our aquatic ventures--please keep up the good work! Laura Lawrence < Bob and the WWM Crew thank you for your kind words. I hope you get your wild Oscars. I have seen some sporadically over the years and they truly are very cool fish.-Chuck>