Weird, very weird

ive been noticing over the past month or so, that my oscar seems to fade.

normally (and when i bought him) he is dark, black looking.

it seems when the aquarium light is off, he turns to a ligher brownish/tan color.

his tail fin always stays the blackish color.


pictures soon

hm,provide your oscar high quality food that can growth their colour..."tetra doromin" or "oscar grow" are that type of food....

Food is definatly your problem. Remember that even though their carnivrous they still eat plants in the wild.You need a good food thats made for oscars as well as things like earth worms etc as well as some live plants. They love a shoal of neon tetras every week as well. If their looked after properly they grow very fast though so make sure you have a tank more than big enough for them. My four are now in a 6x3x3 foot tank.

Although I have never kept Oscars, I know that some fish change color intensity based on their mood or physical condition. Colors often fade at night or when the fish is stressed. Healthy, active fish and those preparing to spawn often have more intense colors. If the water parameters are correct, you may want to try some of the flake food that is supplemented with vitamins. Once a week is usually enough to feed the supplemented stuff. Tetra sells a vitamin enhanced flake food called Tetra Color, and Angels Plus, an on-line store, has a number of supplemented foods.

I have a cichlid peLlet food, give them algae wafers and flake food every now and then

How about adult frozen brine shrimp? Fish seem to really like it, and they need a varied diet. I usually give them a frozen food once a day.

Unfortunatly brine shrim are to small for a big escar. Ive tried they just ingore them. Anythig over 1inch in size seems to get their appetite up. Includeing the odd finger.

OUCH! Finger Food??

Do you think frozen beef heart would work? You can buy it in fairly large chunks. Years ago, aquarists would buy the stuff from the grocery store and do our own processing. Uneaten, it can make a mess, but you could make Oscar bite size food. Just watch your fingers.

They do say you can feed it in very small amounts but it can something inside them that it shouldnt. So even though you can i wouldnt try it.