G'Day!
I just got an oscar yesterday, my husband got him for me for Christmas, (along with half a dozen black widow tetras, sarosa tetras, rummy nose tetras and a 5cm bala shark) he's about 20cm, I have a 200L or so tank,about 4 foot (actually I have 2 of them), sorry I don't know what that is in Gallons! I had 2 12cm silver dollars, a siamese fighter and a 3 cm Bristlenose, I moved the fighter and the bistlenose along with the tetras and the shark into the other tank, as I think he would eat them, the dollars should be fine I think, but what I was worriead about was that my dollars had spawned on Tuesday (I know he'll eat the eggs, that's OK) but in the process off doing so the female got pushed against the heater and got big burns on her sides. I have been treating them with Pimafix,is it Going to hurt Oscar? I haven't had tropical fish for long, only about 5 months, had gold fish before that, so all new to me!
Thanks to anybody you can help me!

Didn't think heaters got that hot. The medication shouldn't harm your Oscar. If you've got any carbon in your filtration, make sure you take it out before medicating the tank.

Anyway, enjoy your new Oscar and if you have any queries or problems, don't hesitate to ask on here, we are here to help keep your fish healthy

Thanks for that! Didn't know I had to take the carbon out, that makes sense though.
I didn't think heaters got that hot either, but apparently they do! Guy at the fish shop said that the temp might only be 26C but it has to get hotter than that to keep it there. Don't know how to stop that from happening, hope Oscar doesn't burn himself.
Cheers!

hi there to be honest with u i cant really see how a heater can get so hot that it will burn yr oscar maybe there is sumthing wrong with yr heater.

if you look at it this way,yr heater max setting is probably in the 38deg C range in quite a few places in africa that is the average temp and all sorts of animals and humans live in those conditions.

Get that heater looked at to save you alot of problems in future

The heater in the tank can burn your fish. The problem is, the fish won't react to the burn as quickly as we would because they are cold blooded.

Some fish seek out the heater and actually rest on it because it is a source of warmth for them. If it isn't actually sat on it for any amount of time its fine. Little pecks at algae or brushing against it won't be a problem.

If your worried about it, then you can buy plastic heater guards which are a thin cage around the heater protecting it from fish getting too near.

wow,i didnt think the heaters got that hot.I've seen my pleco suck on the tip of it from time to time and it doesnt bother him.Although he doesnt stay on there for long,its still surprizing.Hope everything works out

Thanks Guys!
The few people that I have spoken to about the burning say that it is not a common occurance, and as d8ncer said that it's because they are cold blooded, and it happened in the "throes of passion" and Oscar hasn't got a mate, so figure he should be right, I've sort of shifted the heater too so will make it harder for the dollars to get near it.
I've finished the course of Pimafix for the dollar, and they all seem to be good, she still has the burns, but they look healthy, and look to be getting better.
Oscar looks like he's settled in well, he watches everything that you do, follows you round the room. My kids (3 and 2) love him! He dances for them when they stand up to look at him, I think he's just begging for food! He actually took a pellet out of my fingers this morning as I was feeding them!
I think I've attached a pic of him and also of the dollar so you can see the burns and what they look like.
Thanks again guys, you are a wealth of information!

I attached 2 of the same pic! I'll try again!

Yikes, that burn sure is noticeable. I managed to hurt one of my firemouths sometime ago when I lifted some big piece of wood looking for it, and put it back right in the moment he tried to squeeze himself through. Had been thinking I poked him in the side somehow, but now thinking I possibly pushed him against the heater, it looked just like in your pic.
Scary looks but healing fine here too it seems, so I'm glad your silver dollar seems to be healing as well.

And nice Oscar, they can be so fun!

Thanks metoo!
I think he's fun already! He jumped up and took a pellet from my fingers this morning as I was feeding him! (wasn't trying to get him too) He must have just been hungry, was distracted with the kids running around, he must have thought I was taking too long so grabbed it before I could drop it.
I'm glad the Dollar is OK too, think they are pretty good too. I'm thinking she might get a scar there now though, oh well, better than a dead fish! I had the guy at the Fish shop tell me that you can tell if it's a burn because it's deeper in the middle and has a ring around it but is smooth, no jagged edges. He said a scape will have jagged edges and probably wont be kind of symetrical.
Thanks to everyone who answered!
Cheers! And hope you all have a great New Year!