# I Saved The Life Of An Oscar!



## BettaNamedHerbert (Nov 23, 2014)

Recently, a friend bought a tank online. It was a 38 gallon, and came with an Oscar. He only wanted the tank, and planned to kill the fish. He showed up at out house with the poor guy in a bucket.

Now, as a betta keeper, I don't have tanks that are big enough for these kind of fish. But I did have a 25 gal with one female betta, that I had planned to turn in to a sorority. It was lightly planted, and Oscars can't have plants.

I quickly grabbed all the plants, and put them in a 10 gallon. I put the betta in there, and found some plastic plants to put in the 25 gal. I put the poor, stressed Oscar in the tank.

Having such a large fish in that size of tank requires constant cleaning and water changes. I'm dealing with it, though. It's worth it to save a life.

I've had him in the tank for 4 or 5 days now. I've been keeping the ammonia at 0, and giving him medicine. The cloudy eye that he had when I got him has started to clear up. I gave him a minnow, the only feeder fish I had on hand. After refusing to eat for a couple days, he finally started to eat his chichlid pellets.

I've been emailed by someone who has a large tank and is interested in taking him. All this care has been worth it, because I was able to save the life of an incredibly intelligent fish.


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

That was a great thing to do and I like happy endings  Any chance you can post a picture of him before he leaves?


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Good job!


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## kjg1029 (Jun 14, 2014)

I love Oscars! He/she was lucky to have found you!!


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## BettaNamedHerbert (Nov 23, 2014)

Update: I got some pictures!



Sorry that they're flipped...


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## Schmoo (Oct 3, 2014)

Aw, it's a tiger! I have a soft spot in my heart for them. Kudos to you, though!


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## Creativemind243 (Dec 13, 2014)

Aww!! That's so sweet of you to save him!


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## BettaNamedHerbert (Nov 23, 2014)

After reading more about oscars, I found out that they are smarter than most dogs. They also like to be pet, and petting doesn't hurt them. Also, they form a bond with their owners, and like to watch them.

The person never responded, and probably isn't going to take the oscar. I was going to give him to a non-chain fish store that has pretty nice tanks, until I learned about how smart these poor guys are, and how long their memories are. I just can't bear to put him in a bucket and drive him for 45min. And I won't know the quality of care that he's getting.

My mom started looking online last night for 60-100 gallon tanks! She posted an ad and everything! I think, for the first time, she actually loves one of my fish!

I love this big guy, and it's great that I might get to keep him! Unless any of you have a large tank and are located in Oregon... I'll give him to someone that I know will take good care of him.


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

Good job! Glad your mum is interested. As they are that smart and bond so well it will be good that you can visit him now and then!


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