# Possible Mix Up Between Oscars?



## basshead (Dec 11, 2012)

i recently bought a "tiger oscar" from my LFS to occupy my 55 gallon that my Jaguar cichld grew out of. tank was never taken down after the jag was out, just left running with my pleco in there. temp around 81 degrees, double filters ph of 7.5, anyways... i bought the tiger oscar a month ago when it was about 1.5", he was black with grey striping all and white strips all over like a tiger oscar, (just not red) i was guessing that was because he was very young and his colours hadent developed.he was extremly skinny when i bought him and obviously starving because he ate 2 mins after i put him in the tank. the next day he turned BLACK. no more stripes no more patterns.. just black. sometimes he will have tiny white spots, thats it.

now a month later he is still black and he is about 3.5" to 4" long now, feeding twice a day (normal sized portions)
he is growing very fast and healthy and is not afriad of anything unlike my jag, who will still shy away at times at 8" long

did i get ripped off and buy a common oscar?
still an amazing fish, but was hoping for a tiger.

sorry for the book i wrote, i hope someone can shine some light here. thanks


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

"Tiger" is simply a way to describe coloration... its still the same species of fish, A. ocellatus. Which has been known to change coloration, especially between juvi and adult stages of its life. Personally i would say a totally black oscar is more rare than any tiger oscar... especially if it doesnt have the false eye at the base of the tail.

Did you get ripped off? no, still going to be an awesome fish. And maybe his stripes will develop with age. Hopefully you have a bigger tank for the future, and lots of filtration on that 55 gal for the time being.

post a pic?


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## basshead (Dec 11, 2012)

yes i will be getting another tank for him at a later date. I will try and get a pic of him later when I am home for you. when I first got him he had stripes and the fake eye on the tail. all are completely gone now. I also went back to the store where I had bought my fish yesterday. the same group of Oscars were there I picked him out of, they are still the same size as when I saw them a month ago, still have stripes etc.

I didn't mean that I got ripped off.. I just meant they got their facts wrong is all. still has a great personality!


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## basshead (Dec 11, 2012)

here a couple pics of him from this morning.. he is grey in the mornings when the lights turn on, then when i get home from work hes black and the spot on his tail goes away / blends in. you can sort of see a pattern on his side in these pics, but like i said its completely black at night


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## basshead (Dec 11, 2012)

crappy pic i found on the internet, but this is exactly what he looked like when i got him,


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

What are you feeding?

What are the water parameters? (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, temp, ph)

Both of those things, as well as the dark substrate could affect his coloration.


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## basshead (Dec 11, 2012)

nitrates 8
amonia 0 nitrites 0
ph 7.5 steady
temp at 81 F

feeding a mixture of small cichlid pellets, bloodworms, and small live minnows.

i do weekly water changes 20 percent
with a gravel clean every 2 weeks, filter change have not done yet with this fish, but i had cleaned it about 2 weeks prior to when i got the oscar, when i still had my jag in there.


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## basshead (Dec 11, 2012)

alright weirdness going on with him lol.
last night i was adding some new plants to my red belly tank, which is about 2 feet beside the oscar tank at an angle.. anyways as i was moving plants around trying to find a good location i happened to look at the oscar only to find him in full white stripes looked amazing!!! then soon as i got closer for a pic, he turned pitch black again within the blink of an eye... anyone ever heard of this?? i have never seen a fish change its colour so durascticly so fast.


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