"Derek W. Benson" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 26 Aug 2005 22:00:03 -0400, "NetMax"
wrote:

Between all of us, we have probably visited 100s of petshops, perhaps
1000s of times, and overheard comments which made our ears go red.
Does
anyone have any favourites?

- and of course the perennial classic:
"Oscars are fine in a community tank".

;~)
Oscars are perfectly fine in a community tank as these people have
told you. The size of Oscars in the stores is usually around 1 1/2
inches or so. These Oscars can be put into any community tank you want
to, as long as you don't have itsy-bitsy neons or other extremely
small fish. Of course, the Oscars will be 4-5 inches in a few short
months, so then in the vast majority of community tank situations they
or other fish will have to be moved somewhere else. This is probably
the type of info which LFS kids are not giving their customers. The
times that I've owned Oscars I've always put them in the community
tank with my other fish and never had any problems with it -- the
first months! I had plans made to do something else with them or the
other fish when the Oscars got larger.

-Derek

Using a community tank as a grow out tank can be a little risky at the
best of times, and requires some skill (which the average hobbyist would
lack, not including any posters here of course ;~). Especially with
Oscars as they seem to have a very good instinct when it comes to eating.
If it fits, try, and having carefully watched their technique, it is
admirable. They open their gill plates, extend their mouths out (almost
to their front profile) and pump the water out of their gills while
giving a little push with their tailfin. They effectively 'vacuum' the
space directly in front of their mouth (and this happens very quickly).
I've seen them swallow fish without occupying the same space the victim
was in.

Going back to "if it fits, try", if it doesn't fit, they will *still*
try. It's not uncommon for an Oscar to take a day or two to grind an
oversize victim to fit down their throat. During that time, they swim
very defensively with a chunk of dead (or live) food hanging out of their
mouths, but as long as their respiration is not affected, this doesn't
seem to bother them (unless it's a pleco, which is where I get involved
with needlenose pliers to twist it out). There is a reason Oscars and
plecos can share the same rivers, Oscars who try to eat plecos often
starve to death with a pleco hooked in their mouths (their dorsal and
pectoral rays become a 3 prong fish-hook). Sometimes the pleco will
eradicate themselves (if they can) when they think the Oscar has had
enough or is weak enough to let him escape. Sometimes they die together,
so as a defence mechanism, it's not perfect, but it's better than any
other fish which is small enough for an Oscar to think it can eat.
--
www.NetMax.tk