Since I'm starting over on my tank after losing my last Oscar, I would like some info on which of the two are a hardier fish, the albino or the red tiger. I had a red albino that I lost after a couple of months for unknown reason, so I need to know if they are touchier than the normal tiger Oscar. I have a 75 gallon, and the only thing that I have in there right now is a pictus cat and a green pleco. The Pleco is going to go, it's going to get too big, but I do have a bristlenose in my platy tank that I've been thinking about putting in there in place of it. Any info you can give me on this matter would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

In the wild, albino creatures don't last very long because
they are target for attack. Probably due to the fact that they have a generic disorder and are different to other creatures. You will not find albino Oscars in the wild. Personally, these type of Oscars are my least favorite. I've never actually kept these type of fish before so I couldn't advise you on the mortality rate. Personally, red Oscars are much nicer, they're absolutely beautiful. There's something about an albino that isn't quite right if you ask me.

I was wondering about that, because the red albino that I had, although a beautiful fish, was quite a bit different in many ways to the tigers that I've had. Unfortunately I plopped down $20 for this fish at the time, and he/she was only about 3" long when I got it. I think I'll keep with the regular tigers and that's it. On another note, I've caught some threads here and there on other forums about the salinity of the tank, but there's been no good information regarding what it should be, etc. I have a soft water conditioner here in my home, and I'm wondering if that's been an issue too. Do you have any thoughts/ideas/comments on that?

I never add salt to any of my fish tanks. I honestly don't think salt is needed. Some people use on a regular basis. Remember that every fish is different, if you do use salt and you have a variety of fish, you've got to find out which is most sensitive and go with that measurement.

That KIND of answers my question, but maybe I didn't explain it right (I do that at times). Will having soft water harm them, or create more health issues. If having soft water is an issue that I need to address, then when I do a water change I've got to do some things different. This tank is on the second floor of my home, and the only unsoftened water in the house is on the outside faucets. When I had a couple of Oscars over 20 years ago, I didn't have soft water, and they lived for 6-7 years before I adopted them out to someone because I moved and wasn't able to take them with me.

I would say that soft water isnt the best idea. I would check on the hardness and Ph levels before using it. Oscars can live in a wide range of water conditions. Check on how low they can go and see if you water is compatible

If your water is not acceptable, the problem you are going to have is refilling your tank during a water change. The easiest way is to connect a hose to a mixer tap of hot and cold adjusted to the same temperature of your tank. If you need to do both unsoftened you will need to install a heater for the unsoftened waster

Test a mix of unsoftened water with softened hot and see if this mix is ok for oscars. If it works set up a mixer tap of unsoftened cold water and softened hot for your water refills.

In my case, tiger and albino have the same bearing, both are easy to raise. My tiger oscar lasted more than two years. I lost them when my son accidentally removed the power supply for the aeration. I lost my albino when we were hit by strong typhoon and we have no power for more than 8 days. I felt bad on those two occasion but what can I do. Today I have two red oscar.