hi guys,

i dont want to repeat a thread, but i have done a forum search on color changes of oscars but not found quite what i was looking for.

if someone could give a DEEP explanation about oscars and their color changes it would be fantastic.

want to learn about it as much as possible.

eg. oscars fade as they grow but when they mature do they get their colors back?

i feed my oscar a wide variety of foods.

Frozen:
Beef heart
brine shrimp

Live:
Crickets
Woodies
Earthworms

Manufactured:
Cichlid "oscar" Pellets


as he is a juvenile he gets three meals a day. And is guaranteed each meal of the day is different.

he is about 4 - 4.5 inches long and is a red tiger oscar. he has lost quite alot of his red/orange color and isnt real dark in his black either. any suggestions?

just to add to the above,

my fish is very active and is definately not sick.

eats mad like any oscar:laugh: and swims happily:)

its just his color i am worried about.

another possibility that popped into my head, could it be his water?

The colour of an Oscar changes as the fish matures and grows in size.they often look nothing like adults when they are juveniles. Not being an expert on colour i would suggest that this is to do with the Oscars survival in the wild with the ability to blend in with their background as they maybe move from one area to another. As adults the coulor of the fish is normally useful for attracting a mate and this again is why the markings and colouring would change. The Oscars we see in our tanks today are a far cry in colour to those in the wild and have been selectively bred over the years so as to offer the aquarist a choice of colours. Take for example the albino Oscar which Because of its colour would never be able to survive in the wild. |Why not? well it would be able to blend into the background instead would stick out to predators like a sore thumb. To a certain extent the colour of a fish can be intensified by the diet the fish have. I was lucky enough to have a salt water lagoon near my house and was able to collect live river shrimps (similar to krill) in huge quantities. I fed them regularly and over a period of time the red and orange colours became much richer than they were, especially in red Oscars. I have seen video footage of fish farms in Thailand where they breed Oscars and they use mealworms to enhance the red and orange. You have done well to select a varied diet for your Oscar and this will definately benefit your fish as they grow.

thanks dinger,

it seems as my oscar grows the more color he loses

any ideas on this?

thanks.

Timmo