The Oscar (Astronotus ocellatus) is a large species of cichlid. Oscars originate from the rivers in the area from Venezuela and along the east coast of South America, down to Paraguay. The fish come in a wide variety of colors and patterns such as Tiger, Black, Albino, Zebra, Red and Fire Red. Oscars typically reach a maximum size of 12-13 inches. Due to their size, they are often paired by aquarists with other of the larger New World cichlids. The Oscar is one of the most popular large home aquarium cichlids.
Oscars have a large body, and a slow, majestic appearance but they can be quite devastating to their surroundings as they tend to uproot plants and move other objects in the tank. They are very territorial and aggressive fish that will eat anything small enough to fit in their mouths and can quite easily be trained to eat from their owners' hands. Oscars will frequently fight vigorously with other Oscars which leads to much chasing and splashing, although they typically do not hurt each other. The usual recommendation with Oscars is to pair them only with larger fish because they have been known to eat smaller fish that are introduced into their territory. An intelligent fish, if the Oscar is raised with a set of fish it will tend to leave them alone, but will attack newly introduced fish even if they are of a similar size and species as ones already there.
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