To prevent swimming bladder problems, keep the water clean and change the water regularly, adding a water filter may help. Anyways, under proper care they can usually live up to that unless they developed a cure-less diseases or swimming bladder problems. The Oscar fish can live up to 15 years however some can exceed that, there are also some which cannot make it up to 10 years. And Albino Oscar has a slower growth rate. Usually, Oscars can reach 20cm as young as 12 months old but if they are fed with live food, they can grow faster. However, expect an aquarium housed Oscar to reach sizes of around inches 25-30 cm. The Oscar has the potential to exceed 35cm in length and weigh up to 1.6kg in weight. (one of the most active Facebook group about keeping fish with over 50,000 members) For more information visit my previous article:

The Oscar in the feature image above is Grumpy, it is taken by Sam Hodge, a member in Wet Pets Global. Also, sulking can be a pain in the ass, you MUST UNDERSTAND SULKING BEFORE GETTING YOUR HANDS INTO KEEPING OSCAR!!!!!! *

Therefore, knowing the nitrate level is an important factor and most beginners don’t even know what’s nitrate level.

*Usually I would not recommend beginners to get in touch with Oscar fish because they need very large tanks, the minimum will be 50 gallons for a single adult and they produce a lot of waste, that will build up nitrate level which is unhealthy for the fish.

Fresh water oscar fish