It's been a year or two since there's been any discussion of tropical 
fish in this conference, so it's obviously time to start a new item.

Around the start of the year, I was looking for a 55 gallon tank, since 
I had a more or less empty 5' wall, and a fish tank seemed like just 
the thing.  I wound up buying a 55 gallon tank, a 50 gallon tank, and a 
stand that holds them both, along with some lighting, all for 
practically no money.

I spent the next month or so outfitting the 50 gallon tank, spending 
hundreds of dollars on this, that and the other thing, and finally I 
got some fish.  I have neon tetras, plecostomus, angelfish, a kuhli 
loach, some glowlight tetras, zebra danios... community-tank fish.  
I've had some turnover (fish dying and getting replaced), but some of 
the fish have lived for a while, and I'm more or less happy with it.

For a few months, I worriedly didn't fill the other tank, since I was 
concerned the floor of my apartment building might not hold it.  I got 
over that, and have kept the tank filled just with water for the last 
couple of months.  It's been fine so far...

Yesterday I went out and bought most of the garbage you need to put in 
a tank... gravel, filters, plastic plants (live ones carry snails and I 
hate snails), all that stuff.  I plan on populating the tank with 
Oscars, since my son thinks they're cool.  I'll probably have to order 
them, since I like tiger Oscars, and will probably want at least a half-
dozen small ones.  No one around carries that many.

10 responses total.

Oscars are interesting and also pretty fish.  They're cichlids, as are 
angel fish, Jack Dempseys, firemouth meeki, etc., but they're 
relatively peaceable cichlids.  All cichlids are aggressive, both among 
themselves and with other fish, but oscars at least don't seek out 
other fish to pick on.  Oscars will eat anything that's enough smaller 
than they are.

Oscars can grow to be a foot long, though not in a tank as small as 50 
gallons.  They can be bred but I guess you have to be kind of 
knowledgeable to raise them.  We'll see if I can grow some up to 
breeding size.

how do they taste?

When I was a teenager, we had about 25 fish tanks in the house.  My dad 
gets enthusiastic about things sometimes.  After a few years, my mother 
got tired of taking care of them and we got rid of them all.

While we had all these fish, we bred a number of different kinds.  My 
dad got interested in African cichlids; they're mouth-breeders.  They 
lay their eggs, then the father will carry the eggs around in his mouth 
until they hatch.  We bred bettas and pearl gouramis, which lay their 
eggs in bubble nests.  We bred angel fish, which lay their eggs on flat 
rocks.  As anyone has done who has guppies, platies or swordfish, we 
bred these types of fish, which are live bearers.

At one time, I knew a lot about tropical fish, how to keep them, breed 
them, pronounce their names, etc.  It's amazing how knowledge departs 
from a guy.

re #2: A 12" Oscar would be worth about $50; a proven breeding pair 
would be worth about $400, I think.  I don't think too many people 
would want to eat fish like that.

Probably in South America, where they originate, they are eaten.  
(Piranhas are a food fish, too.)

When I worked at a pet store, people would bring in their 12" Oscars 
and try to sell them to us. Occasionally, the owner would take one of 
them but she never would pay any money for them. We hardly ever sold 
any and the price we charged (which was much less than $15) didnt even 
cover the cost of feeder fish that they ate. She kept that big tank 
mostly for show. 

Really?  When I see even 6" Oscars for sale, they cost $25-30.  It's 
been a long time since I was involved in fish shows and fish clubs, but 
people really did greatly value breeding pairs of Oscars.

Also breeding trios of angelfish -- it only takes two, of course, but a 
male and two females is more likely to produce offspring.  As I recall.

Anyway, I've seen really highly priced Oscars.  Not recently, I'll 
admit.

I dont think the store ever had a breeding pair. 

It takes a lot of tank to support the bigger Oscars and not everyone 
knows that when they get the little Oscars. That is why we would have a 
lot of folks bringing back the big ones. They eat a lot too and they 
dont sell fast because not everyone has the kind of tank where they can 
be kept. 

A breeding pair on the other hand would produce lots of the small 
Oscars people seem to really love to buy and would, therefore, be a 
money maker. 

I'm not sure how feasible it would be for a store to breed Oscars.  
Many cichlids (and other fish) are skittish at breeding time.  If you 
had some kid tap on the glass of a tank with a breeding pair of 
angelfish, they'd likely eat their own eggs or offspring.  I'd think 
Oscars would, too.

Do fish stores buy little fish?  If I ever manage a breeding pair of 
Oscars, it would be exciting.  If I might have an outlet for getting 
rid of the little buggers, that would be much more exciting.  Breeding 
fish takes a lot of effort, but raising the fry and keeping them 
through their lifetime takes much more effort and much more money.

I'm getting ahead of myself, of course.  I've ordered 6 baby tiger 
Oscars; they'll be in on Thursday.  It'll be a couple of years before I 
could possibly have baby fish to sell.

I cant speak for pet stores nowadays because they are mostly big chains 
but the pet store I worked for definately would have bought small 
Oscars. 

If they did then, I'm sure they will now.  The chains are looking to 
make a buck any way they can, same as anyone.  But if all else fails, 
there's still an independent fish store in Adrian.

This is assuming I ever breed Oscars.  (-:

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