I just purchased a baby tiger oscar and wondered if he was lonely or do they prefer to be alone? He really is not doing much but hiding when he sees me, is this normal and will he start to be more playfull??

oscars will take a day or so to get accustomed to their new homes. just make sure that the water parameters are correct for your oscar and he will come around in time(ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates less than 40,temp between 78-80, and ph between 6.5-8 and stable)

as for if they prefer to be alone well they are not a schooling fish like sd's are so one oscar in a tank by himself will be fine. i beleive it is the owners who want to have more than one fish in a tank not the fish themselves.


btw welcome to the site

The behavior your baby Oscar is showing is common. As for tank mates, that depends on your tank's volume and size.

One of my Tiger Oscars took some time -2 to 3 weeks- to feel comfortable with my presence, now they both eat from my hand. Keep the lights out most of the time, and avoid sudden movements and loud noises. Take your time to interact with your oscar, and provide him/her with time on his/her own as well.

Please check and post your water parameters ( Temp, pH, Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, and if possible dGH, dKH? ).

If you are concerned about loneliness, consider peaceful and easy to keep tank mates as a small school of five Silver Dollars. Also read the articles on oscar-fish-keeping in this site; there's a lot of easy to understand valuable information there.


Pepe
Santo Domingo

welcome on board!

every time i bought fishes, i always get in tandem.
i put myself in their place and ask "how would i feel
living alone?" that's why i always have a tandem. i am just
lucky enough having male & female in the end.

moreover, having a tandem always removed the infighting as they
grow up. introducing a juvenile when they used to be alone usually
caused trouble due to territorial supremacy.

Hello! Sounds like your a bit like me and a newbie to the wonderful world of Oscars, well at least i was a few months ago, now i have two... ne warned they are highly addictive!!! And you can have fun and games with them but I have to say these peeps on here really really know there stuff so your in the best place!

To answer your Q from my own experience as it seems that what counts the most here which is great! When i first got my large Oscar (Oscarami!) she had been rescued from some fool that had kept her in too small a tank, because of this she had a massive chip if you know what i mean. She too, despite being very aggressive in the care of the fish shop was very very shy when i first got her, she found an area of the tank, dug a hole and stayed there!!!! She got more adventerous the next day and following on finally started to come out more, then she started destroying the plants and making sure that i knew she was watching me when she was hungrey!!!!!!!!!

Since then she was OK by herself and now with tanks mates she is great... occasionally looks at me like she wants to have a nibble on my hand again!! (long story)but other then that all good... interestingly my male albino oscar (Albi) shows none of this at all and adapts very well to change!!

I think its safe to say thet are all a little different in character but i reckon yours will be just fine once it has found an area to call its own, and got used to the tank and of course, the movement outside of the tank... ie... foodtime!!!!!

PS Agreed on getting some mates for him/her? at some point if you want to... I mean mine seemed fien alone but then she is a big so and so!!! Silver Dollars defo go great and these days the Oscar and my Dollar seem to be joined at the fin!!!

Thanks everybody for the quick responses, it's been really helpfull!!!! It's been 3 days now and my new oscar seems to be swiming around more, but still a little timid when he sees me. I checked my water parameters and everything is good, can't wait till I am able to feed my oscar by hand!!!!