Maturity Thing?

[BDawg364]

So, I bought an oscar about a month ago from walmart (yeah, I know, big mistake....usually), but it is turning out great. After ridding itself of ich after a few stressless days in a much bigger tank with no tankmates, it started to develop a great personality. He(I'm guessing its a male, I have no idea) comes to the top every time I am near it, and will eat directly from my hand. I believe he may be a longfin, but I am not sure. When I got him he was a brownish greyish color with beautiful spots leading from the front of his body to his tail, with an eyespot on his tail. Now that he has grown another half inch in my tank, he is starting to get his tiger stripes on the rear of his body. Do the stripes come in as the fish mature, or do most tiger oscars have their stripes when they are young? I got him at 3.5" and he is now 4".

 

[Fry]

Oscars change and develop colors quite a bit as they grow up.

 

[DanDanUK]

So, I bought an oscar about a month ago from walmart (yeah, I know, big mistake....usually), but it is turning out great. After ridding itself of ich after a few stressless days in a much bigger tank with no tankmates, it started to develop a great personality. He(I'm guessing its a male, I have no idea) comes to the top every time I am near it, and will eat directly from my hand. I believe he may be a longfin, but I am not sure. When I got him he was a brownish greyish color with beautiful spots leading from the front of his body to his tail, with an eyespot on his tail. Now that he has grown another half inch in my tank, he is starting to get his tiger stripes on the rear of his body. Do the stripes come in as the fish mature, or do most tiger oscars have their stripes when they are young? I got him at 3.5" and he is now 4".

Oscars are great fish i've always loved them i've had them from my early fish keeping days there great. You can't sex oscars physically and they are really tame fish or can become tame i had a 13" one once and he'd let me tickle his belly and hold him in the water while eating out of my hand yeah there colouration get's brighter as they mature and the patterns stand out more you can expect your Oscar to grow from half inch to an inch every month while still a juvy.