Hi guys im new to this website and also to oscar fish keeping.

Right now i have a long 40 gallon tank with a ehiem 620l/ph filter canister.

In there i have

2 yabbies about 12 cm in size
1 convict ciclid 12 cm in size

I am looking to buy a 6cm Tiger Oscar for the tank.

I'd like to know

1) Will the Tiger oscar be ok with the tank mates?

2) Im gonna feed him basic ciclid food pellets, but move onto hikari gold later, is that ok?

3) Is the tank big enough? Should I buy another filter?

4) Where can i buy a water testing kit?

Please put any advice you can for a newbie!! Like what i should be prepared for!!

Thanks so much. age

Hi etwee:
I'm a newby oscar fishkeeper too, but I can tell you that 40gal is not suitable to keep just one single Tiguer Oscar (or any Oscar). It is true that at 6cm they look like cute babies -which they are, but they grow so fast! I suggest that you start by reading, all the useful info in this site.

I live in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, but I guess any Local Fish Store would have test kits, please look for liquid reagent test kits, strips are, for the most part, unreliable and not accurate.

There is a section on suggested compatible tankmates for Oscar fish. But the size of your tank is of paramount importance, as well as your filtering capacity.

If you are patient, and take fishkeeping seriously, you could easily learn, as I am learning, to care for Oscar fish the way they deserve. This is an incredible fish that requires good care -maybe not as much as Discus but they are delicate tough fish!

I can't tell you how personally attached I am (in fact the whole family is) to our young Tiguer Oscars. And they've been around for a short time (one a month or so, the other one came home last Saturday).

Don't let the info overwhelm you, take your time. And enjoy the ride. Did you know an Oscar could live for 15 years? Think about that for a while...

Pepe
Santo Domingo

well to begin with

1-depending on the aggression of your convict you might be ok.i know that they can be aggressive but not all are so its a try and see thing
2-personally i only use hikari pellets but if your just finishing of your current supply it should be fine.
3-as stated before you will need a larger tank. how big is a question only you can answer. if you plan on keeping your current fish i would suggest around the 75 gallon range. but if you plan on increasing the number of fish you have i would say bigger. as for filtration you will need enough to at least twice the size of the aquarium that you decide to go with.
4-water testing kits are available at your local fish store. pwersonally i use the api test kits. i find them to ber reliable and fairly inexpensive

as for advice for now try to vary your oscars diet with other foods such as krill bloodworms beefhearts and worms

hope you enjoy your oscar as much as i do mine

hey thanks for your help guys.

Most likely i will perhaps give my ciclid away if it causes too much problems to a friend.

Also i have been looking at the API aquarium pharmaceuticals brand. Looks comprehensive.

thanks