how cold of temps can oscars handle??

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
i shoud flush the fist down the toilet while im at it to huh??


i dont understand how its being cheap just because i dont wont to have to worry about it blowing up like one has before. if its not bothering the fish why over do it?

but i guess you ASSume and get it all figured out, prick.
 
if your going to do it anyway why ask? they are trying to give you advise and alternatives

theirs no need to bash on him just let him do what he wants...

good luck with your fish hope they dont die but my guess is they will as its going to start getting colder in the next few months hence the term winter...
 
The reasons an Oscar should not be kept below about 76ºF are many. Fat is difficult to digest and keep mobile at that temperature. It will accumulate in his tissues faster and could cause fatty liver disease, blocked vessels, etc. in time. Also, at the cooler temperatures being discussed here, the Oscar will go into a turpor as if winter has come. You won't want to feed him more than once or twice a week when he's in that kind of state because his metabolism has shifted from growing speed to 'idle'. In this turpor he will not grow. His life will be 'on hold' and he will eventually succumb to the opportunistic ailments that are just waiting to infect him. Again, from the cold, his immune system will be shut off to conserve energy and survive the harsh winter he'll be experiencing at your hand. He might survive a few months, but will eventually give up and die if spring never comes. So if chilling a tropical fish to death is really what you want, you've on the right track. Buy a heater. Get a good one.
 
Heaters dont blow up without a reason to. Believe me, Ive had about 10 different heaters in the last 6 years, no problems.
Tropical fish NEED a heater. Period. Unless you live in the tropics. Room temp and Water temp differ. Evaporation causes water to be about 5 degrees cooler than the air. More evaporation in the winter. This means you will be at around 65-70 degrees with no heater. This is going to leave your fish turpor like Knifegill stated and also make him alot more suseptable to disease. Even if its a $10 cheapo made for 10gallons. That will give you at least the 5 degrees you need to have healthy fish until you get a real heater.
Tropical animals require warm temperatures. Theres no way around it. Without a heater in other words you are "flushing your fish down the toilet".
Being cheap and not taking care of your pets ARE NOT the same.
 
I apologize if I bashed you in any way, this was not my intention.

I was simply trying to answer your question and share some information with you, and put it in a terms that may be relevant.

Your question was what temp could oscars handle, and that has been answered. I think the concern that members of this forum voicing is why you would want to give your fish less than optimal conditions.
 
Man ya'll are making me feel so bad for my gimp..
I should let him out once in a while
 
i have a heater......i just hate messing with it. calling me cheap cause i dont want to use it for other reasons is a little off base.


going turpor is good to know, so now i see a reason for the need in higher temps. if that did not happen untill in the 60's none of this would be a problem. furter more i am not basing my temps off the house temp, that was read from the tank......last night it got pretty cool in the house and well i was just wondering the temp ranges of the fish........


the tank usally stays mid to uper 70's. i just have to remember to turn the heat on at night, for mine and the fishes sake.


is it not good for them to go thru like seasons??
 
seasons are fine but you have to understand that the seasons where oscars come from are not like our seasons, there is the rainy season and the dry season wuth the temperatures staying relatively the same
 
blowfishRus;4529993; said:
Is it not good for them to go thru like seasons??
Click to expand...

most people wouldnt recommend it, as mentioned the growth will slow dramatically when temperatures drop, and it opens up the possibility for health issues

keeping the temp constant in the high 78-82 degrees will yield the best results imo
 
I don't know of any reliable data on the effects of providing fish with seasonal variation. As stated, Oscars experience a very different set of parameter shifts than North American fish would. Nevertheless, I am a promoter of simulating nature whenever reasonable to do so. In the winter I adjust my thermometers down to the 77ºF range and feed a little less. In the summer I'll bump it up to around 80ºF and feed a bit more. No idea how much difference it makes but I suspect it gives the organism a chance to store nutrients and rest. Perhaps the months of slightly lower metabolism will extend the life of the creature since slightly cooler temps do lead to longer lives to an extent. The rise in temps also triggers spawning in many species. But tropical means tropical and temperate means temperate. That's pretty much the bare bones of it.

I would advise against turning your heater on and off. Those kind pf potential thermal swings are even worse than being too cold. If set at a reasonable 78ºF it won't use that much energy.
 
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