Oscars at 70F?

[Frank Castle]

Anyone raise an Oscar at 70F? I know most people would say 72F for tropical, but does the 2F really make a huge difference?

Obviously CAs would be ok and I have/had several species that do perfectly fine well into the mid-to-low 60's, but I'm curious about how an Oscar would do.

The only SA I think I've tried it with are "Geophagus" brasiliensis which did great all Spring and fed like normal, but could this have to do with their Ocean-going ability?

 

[fishfanatic80]

Me personally I wouldn't do it, optimal range for an Oscar is 74-81 degrees. I wouldn't keep any tropical fish that low, the ideal temperature in all my tanks is 77 degrees including my reef. I can't see them doing well long term in those temperatures. Either their immune systems will go down and metabolism slows.

 

[tlindsey]

Anyone raise an Oscar at 70F? I know most people would say 72F for tropical, but does the 2F really make a huge difference?

Obviously CAs would be ok and I have/had several species that do perfectly fine well into the mid-to-low 60's, but I'm curious about how an Oscar would do.

The only SA I think I've tried it with are "Geophagus" brasiliensis which did great all Spring and fed like normal, but could this have to do with their Ocean-going ability?

pops
duanes

 

[Covetous]

I've never tried keeping them that cool, however I'm gonna say it can be done. Not nessicarily that it's best for them. But they should be able to adapt. And my reasoning behind this is where I live in Florida you on occasion can catch Oscars in the lakes around here. Either from people releasing them ect ect. And I know in the winter the lakes get pretty chilly (for a Florida boy) Easily in the 60's. So I figure it's safe to say they can. Also, for a many years my father has kept Oscars in an outside tank with no heater except for the coldest months of winter. Although he never keeps a Thermometer on his tank either so I couldn't tell you the temp. XD
Again, not saying these are ideal conditions. Just sayign the fish can and will adapt if it's done right. His Oscars lived years, hell he has one in there right now that's at least 10

 

[duanes]

I remember back in the old literature, temp range for oscars being very large, low 60- 80s.
Although I believe some of the designer oscars of today would have a hard time with it, some of the wild type from Paraguay, or feral oscars from Florida could easily handle a 70'F tank long term.
I would imagine winter temps in Florida would have weeded out those with less tolerant genes, but allowed the ones with cold tolerant traits to thrive. I have seen many oscars thriving in Florida where water temps get into the 50s.
The ones below were in a pond just outside Everglades City.


And since Geo braziliensus come from southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentine where in winter ice sometimes forms, its no surprise they can handle low temps. I always keep my braziliensus, Gymnogeophagus and others from that area without heaters.

 

[Southjerseycichlidz]

I ended up havin 2 at 68 degrees do to a heater getting unplugged on accident not sure how long they were at that temp for but they ate and were fine the whole time I only realized because I stuck my hand in to fix a filter and water was very cold

 

[Frank Castle]

I remember back in the old literature, temp range for oscars being very large, low 60- 80s.
Although I believe some of the designer oscars of today would have a hard time with it, some of the wild type from Paraguay, or feral oscars from Florida could easily handle a 70'F tank long term.
I would imagine winter temps in Florida would have weeded out those with less tolerant genes, but allowed the ones with cold tolerant traits to thrive. I have seen many oscars thriving in Florida where water temps get into the 50s.
The ones below were in a pond just outside Everglades City.


And since Geo braziliensus come from southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentine where in winter ice sometimes forms, its no surprise they can handle low temps. I always keep my braziliensus, Gymnogeophagus and others from that area without heaters.

ok, that makes sense - I could definitely see LOTS of invasives not being ale to survive cold-snaps in FL, as I do remember some SERIOUSY cold winters down there, especially March. I didn't even realize the Brasiliensis went that far south, I thought they were more Amazonian.


Cool, thanks for your help, guys

 

[pops]

I keep one of my oscar tanks between 70, and room temp which can be upper 70ies during summer. never had any issues, always very active feeder. jags I run at 76.

 

[pops]

so all in all, I do not think 70 a problem for them, least none I have ever ran into.

 

[Frank Castle]

I keep one of my oscar tanks between 70, and room temp which can be upper 70ies during summer. never had any issues, always very active feeder. jags I run at 76.

It is done. I "adopted" a 1.5" Red Oscar and he seems healthy - I watched him eat pellets but he is skinny, so I got a little work to do on him, but I think it'll be ok. it was the smallest and skinniest by far among a group of 10 or so. I'm pretending it's a new species since I never had a Red Oscar, just Tigers and Albino Tigers lol

so all in all, I do not think 70 a problem for them, least none I have ever ran into.

I have my larger Nicaraguan Jags at 73.5F and my smaller Hondurans at 78F. The larger ones have been at 70 for 2-3 months until last week and the aggression level has taken off rapidly w/ a 3.5 degree difference, surprisingly enough. I figured 73.5F was enough to keep them docile

The Dovii are between 70-74F and the lone male RTM is at 80F. I have Jewels and Convicts at 70F, which is room temp, so as long as he is feeding I will not add a heater. I'm expecting at least 3-4 days before it starts eating and it has displayed it's typical overdramatic Oscar-just-been-moved behavior, lying on it's side, pretending it's the end of the world etc lol

TBH, it's a beautiful fish.....there is very little black or brown on it....and a ****-load of reds and oranges.