tips for Oscar coloration

[Cheifwalnut]

diwa anyone have any tips to help me get my Oscar to color up more? He's only 3-4 inches right now. I have pool filter sand and a black background. I feed hikari cichlid gold medium pellets, freeze dried krill and usually whatever fruits or veggies we have for dinner that night. The krill I only feed on Wednesday when I do a 70% water change. He just doesn't seem to be getting any oranges or reds. When I had black gravel he stayed jet black. When I changed to pfs he got a little orange around the "eye" but is staying mostly black. I can provide pictures later tonight when I get home from work

 

[convict360]

A lot of it is luck with genetics, but you're doing the best you can by varying the diet. I found prawns helped mine, but I didn't overdo it what with the whole thiaminase (spelling?) content

 

[Cheifwalnut]

This was him when I first purchased him, over black substrate. The lfs said they had been feeding hikari cichlid bio gold + exclusively. I will see if feeding raw shrimp will help. But anyone else have any other suggestions?

 

[alecrromine]

You may try a new life spectrum food. I've heard(no personal experience) that this stuff and help enhance colors.

 

[NickBenson]

I use to have an oscar and it would change colors to the different substrate I had as a sort of camouflage maybe try a lighter substrate

 

[JONNY CICHLA]

trouble with Oscars is that" so meney people breed them! and put crap with crap and produce not very colourful fish! Don't think he will colour up much from that buddy!

still good as Oscars have wicked personalitys

 

[boldtogether]

You aren't really going to get the true coloration until they are near to adulthood and so many things can effect the color until then. My Oscar would go from jet black to olive green to grey....just if you put your hand in the tank....
...but I didn't get a stable coloration from him until he was about 2 years old and about 8"...then the color seamed to pop....when I first got him he was almost completely black with a little circle on the tail.... (ocellarus)....
so just keep up what you are doing. I had a live caught Oscar that was unbelievable at 3"....but a nasty little fckr!.hahahah!!
Diet and water parameters will be your best bet to color him up.

 

[xraycer]

Diet and water parameters will be your best bet to color him up.

+1. Adding some dither may also help get its color out

 

[Cheifwalnut]

I use to have an oscar and it would change colors to the different substrate I had as a sort of camouflage maybe try a lighter substrate

I recently switched to pfs. It's almost white. Kinda tannish

trouble with Oscars is that" so meney people breed them! and put crap with crap and produce not very colourful fish! Don't think he will colour up much from that buddy!

still good as Oscars have wicked personalitys

I don't believe that this is one of those "crappy oscar" I got it from a pretty decent lfs labeled as "wild"

+1. Adding some dither may also help get its color out

he has two dempseys a channel cat and a bala shark as tank mates

 

[xraycer]

he has two dempseys a channel cat and a bala shark as tank mates

This may also be the problem since these fishes aren't really dither per se. Your O could be feeling intimidated by his tankmates thus remaining dark.

Your O has torn fins. Is anybody harassing him?