Rescued 2 huge oscars

cichlidgirl · 07-01-2008, 01:43 PM

Hi, i had been considering buying these oscars, then decided against it until i found out that they were housed in a half of 75 gallon with a divider (flowerhorn on the other side). I got them last night and put them in my six foot 135 gallon tank. They are settling in ok, and seem to be ok with my water that has a high ph. The place they came from they lived in ph of 8.5 for several years, so my water is not that big of a change for them. The Red oscar is 11-12 inches and the tiger is 12-13 inches, (i had them swim infront of a tape) I did not want to stress them when they are still new. I will get a more accurate measurement later. They seem very happy now, i just felt so bad for them in that tiny area. I was not doing anything with my big tank in the livingroom and my hubby likes oscars so i got them for him. If my water is close enough to what they have been in for several years i will keep them, if they do not do well in it i will rehome them. Im hoping they will continue to do well in it, no ph shock that i can see so far. They are so big my six foot tank almost seems too small for them. The pics dont do justice for how big they actually are.

The red is the dominant one and by his body shapes seems several years older than the larger tiger. He is shorter but heavier than the tiger. Here is a couple pics, keep in mind they are pouting and moody from the shock of the move, this was taken about an hour after arriving. They should color up nicely in the next few weeks :

Judge · 07-01-2008, 02:03 PM

Wow, they are beautiful. Congrats on the rescue and thanks for sharing with some pics!

orb4me · 07-01-2008, 04:15 PM

Great pics, wow fish!!! wheres the flowerhorn???????????

Thank you resident fish rescue/girl.

cichlidgirl · 07-01-2008, 04:47 PM

Thanks you guys. The flowerhorn is still with the owner, he wanted me to take it too but i did not have a tank for it. I would not have divided the six foot tank , not with oscars so big !! Here are a couple more pics of them i took today. I really like them alot. I have missed keeping oscars so much. To give you an idea on how big they are , on the third pic down that is a 7 inch snake skin gourami next to them and on the bottom of that pic there is some 2.5-3 inch peacocks. These fish are monster sized. They seem so happy to have swim room. I feel bad for the red one, he or she has stunted fins real bad, they both do, but especially that one, like it has been kept in a tiny tank all its adult life. I dont think they will uncurl and ever look like they should but maybe they will improve. Poor babies.

trojannemo · 07-02-2008, 12:23 AM

this is so amazing to me...nearly unbelievable! i've been keeping fish for 6 months only so of course, not a lot of experience, but i never even considered keeping fish that big!

i think my biggest fish so far was a <3" angel? hehe good luck with those guys!

by rescue do you mean you got them for free or did you buy them? how much if you dont me asking? what do you feed such large sized (carnivourous right?) fish?

cichlidgirl · 07-02-2008, 12:37 AM

I have always loved the big fish, the bigger the better LOL. I guess thats why i have such big tanks now. (a six foot and seven foot long ). I also keep frontosa , they get up to 16 inches long. Mine are just babies now though. I will try to take a video later and post a link to it, the oscar is such a slow graceful fish when not riled up or hunting small fish to eat. Then when they get active boy is it a sight. It sounds and looks like explosions in the water LOL.

Some people like to feed live fish (small feeders) but i dont like to do that, always feel sorry for the supper . They eat regular pellets, shrimp, crickets, night crawlers etc..

It is really fun to try to train them i had one years ago that i trained to bang the glass lid when hungry. He was entertaining. I also had one that liked to be touched, would swim over to my hand. I never tried to force it and he was always allowed to swim away so i never got bit. The only time i got bit was when i tried to touch a new one that i got and it didnt want to play. Learning lesson. Ouch. They have teeth behind their lips LOL

Oh, I almost forgot. I have rescued fish before and it was free, these however i paid for , 30 dollars each because i felt pity for them. I had decided not to get them then found out they were in half of a 75 gallon tank . Poor things.Im uploading the video of them now. I will post the link in a few minutes.

Ok, here are a couple short video clips i took of them tonight. These two seem joined at the hip.

http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/f...arvideo021.flv

http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/f...arvideo020.flv

http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/f...arvideo019.flv

Well, i hope you enjoyed the short videos.

missfish · 07-02-2008, 02:51 AM

I'm sure you have noticed it but close up photo shows a really poped out eye. I have read that large adults eyes pop out and novice oscar keepers (just like me!) get worried and stick a whole lot of medicines in the tank to fix something that dosn't need it. I know you have kept oscars before and was wondering how you tell when an adult fish has pop eye and when its just how it is?
I love personality fish too, but for me its a murray cod!

cichlidgirl · 07-02-2008, 03:04 AM

The red oscar seems to have it in both eyes. I never had a fish with it before so im going to have to research the proper treatments for it etc... I was wondering myself if it was just how this fish was since both eyes looked the same, he has it equally in both eyes. I will get back to you on this.

harley3k · 07-03-2008, 08:50 AM

Poor guys, I ended up with my Oscar cause I felt so bad about him. One of the LFS in town had 4 oscars and a JD all about 3" in a 10 gal. I had a 75 that I was going to turn into my office African tank, but couldn't help but save one of them. He's still got some markings from the HHE and Ick that he had when I first got him. I've been amazed at the change in color though. These guys give me hope, as I'm still not sure that mine will see full size after such tight confinement.

cichlidgirl · 07-03-2008, 12:23 PM

I think they will see full size, just maybe have stunted fins like the red oscar has. He has no fin extentions on his fins on the lower half of his body but his body is huge. There is hope for yours yet, just give lots of space, clean water and good food. That make miracles happen.