Smarter than the average fish

I've been keeping tropical fish almost without interruption since 1987 when I got my first 20-gallon aquarium as a birthday present. I've kept everything from guppies and mollies to piranhas and goldfish. When I wasn't keeping fish, I had turtles (red ear sliders, to be precise).

Of all the fish who have graced my aquariums, oscars are far and away the most interesting. It goes beyond the visual appeal. They are incredibly intelligent. The oscar I had from 1998 to 2001 was beyond smart. He was a control freak. He could see me when I walked to the bathroom in the morning, and if I didn't stop to feed him on the way he would make his displeasure known by splashing water so hard he ruined the poster hanging above the aquarium. That's smart - and highly annoying!

Chief Brody is just as smart, although not quite as annoying. Perhaps that will come with time. With the flaring of gills and quick nods of his head, Chief Brody is just as capable of getting his point across. He can't talk, of course, but his behavior leaves little doubt about his thoughts. "Are you going to just sit there while I'm clearly starving?" Or "Will you look at this tank. I'm not cleaning this mess! Will you?"

Clever one, that Chief Brody. Anyone who says Oscars are boring fish have obviously never had the adventure of keeping an Oscar.

A battle of the wills

My oscar and I are locked in a battle of the wills ever since I cleaned the aquarium last weekend. I decided that his messy eating habits were deliberate and spiteful. Chief Brody doesn't really eat his food. He gobbles up a big food pellet whole, then spits it back up as hundreds of tiny pieces (see the picture above that I took today. That's just one food pellet! What a mess). He'll then eat a few of the pieces, letting the rest fall to the bottom to decay.

This annoys me greatly because it's a waste of food and makes the aquarium dirty again just days after it was thoroughly cleaned. Thus the recent battle of the wills.

I have only been giving Chief Brody one food pellet at a time. I thought that perhaps if food was scarce, he would be less likely to be so messy and wasteful. So far he hasn't learned his lesson. The truth is that a healthy oscar can go weeks between feedings. I would hate to suspend his food privileges more than I already have, but that may be necessary.

I read all the time about how smart Oscars are, and I believe that is true, but in this case Chief Brody is being very dumb and I intend to win this battle of the wills. I refuse to be outwitted by a creature with gills! Wish me luck.

Oscar hates being transferred to holding tank

One thing I learned when I cleaned the aquarium
today is that Chief Brody hates being removed from his aquarium. The transfer is traumatic for the fish and fishkeeper.

I realized today that Chief Brody is simply getting too big to be removed. As much as he hates being in the aquarium while I'm vacuuming the rock and replacing portions of the water, this mild annoyance is certainly preferable to being netted and placed in the small holding tank.

From now on, Chief Brody is simply going to have to cope with life inside the aquarium during routine cleanings.

I've already decided that the holding tank is being retired after this episode.

Growing bigger, getting bolder

Chief Brody has done a lot of growing since our last blog entry. Last time we checked in on this tiger oscar, he was a young fry. Now he's a feisty adolescent who's quickly grown comfortable in his environment.

Today I cleaned his 29-gallon home. Most oscar books I've read say you can keep an Oscar in a 29-gallon tank, but I'm already shopping around for a bigger home for Chief Brody because I want him to have plenty of room to grow and swim. I have my eye on a 50-gallon aquarium.

I am definitely an acrylic aquarium convert. They are so much easier to maintain than glass and I don't have to worry about leaks like I always did with my glass 20-gallon aquarium. I've heard plenty of horror stories of tanks of 50 gallons and above suddenly sprinking or leak or completely imploding. No thanks! I cannot afford to risk that here in my second floor apartment. Can you imagine trying to explain that to the landlord - or apologizing to the neighbor downstairs when the ceiling falls down. Yikes!