i am a new and novice owner of three tiger oscars each measuring about 3.5 inches long, i was wondering are there any rules on how often to feed them? i am currently giving them about 5- ten millimetre pellets each a day but when i go anywhere near the tank they go crazy with anticipation of more food. any tips on sexing the greedy buggers as well?

Welcome to the site. yes they are greedy little sods aren't they? Just be careful you keep the tank lid on when we are feeding them, Oscars have been known to jump out of the tank. As for feeding, I would feed them for around two minutes and then stop. I don't mean keep putting food in for two minutes, put it in then let them eat it and then stop after a couple of minutes. The baby Oscars will eat a lot in the first few months of her life and then from my experience, they do slow down a little and aren't so greedy. Having said that, I'm sure some Oscar owners will tell you that their Oscars stay greedy all their lives. I think you're okay with twice a day, just don't be tempted to keep feeding them because they look like they want food. Oscars are professional beggars and a lot of people cave in and just feed them, this is not the right thing to do, you must not overfeed fish, it is not good for them.

You have got three Oscars at the moment? How big is your tank? You may find that two of them pair off after a while, if this happens, there is a very good possibility they are a male and female. Problem is, you've heard of the saying, "two's company, three's a crowd" this is very much the case with the Oscars and cichlids in particular. If you have three Oscars and two of them are a pair, you could have serious aggression problems. Just bear that in mind

thanks for your reply. i have noticed a possible pairing off situation already but what do i do with the gooseberry?my tank is 80 litres ( im english but i think its roughly 18 gallons )any idea how old my fish could be?

Hi markcon, your fish are only about 3to4months old, they grow very quickly in the first few months, around an inch a month until they are a year old and then it slows down.They should get to around 9inches at a year.
Re the feeding, you will need to feed them 2to3 times a day while they are small.
Re the tank, your tank is very small for oscars, the rule is 55gal per oscar as they are messy fish and do need alot of room, can you get a bigger tank, to keep two of them you can get by with a 75gal but strict weekly water changes will be needed and this is if they get on.
It is very hard to sex oscars, the main way to tell is when they spawn if you have a pair, and then sometimes two females can still have eggs.

Welcome to the world of oscars and hopefully you will be able to get a larger tank:)

You said your tank is 18 gallons? If this is the case, it is nearly 3 times too small for even one Oscar, let alone two Oscars. Problem is, they probably look quite small at the moment. That won't be the case in seven or eight months time. If you don't seriously think about getting a much bigger tank, you are going to find it very hard to maintain good water quality within a very short time.

He is right, you need a big tank and fast

EDIT!. omg how did you even dig this up ben xD

lets hope he has re-homed by now ben... 4 years ago? lol