Quick Overview
The Oscar Fish is a freshwater tropical Cichlid native to various rivers and waterways located in the Amazonian basin in South America. Even though the Oscar can be found living wild in other parts of the world, including some of the waterways around Florida, these are fish that have been released on purpose and have started breeding.
Oscar fish normally reach a maximum size of 11 or 12 inches in captivity and can weigh up to approximately 3 lbs. Oscars can exceed 14 or 15 inches, however, fish like these are quite uncommon.
Oscar fish grow at an incredible rate. Fish stores normally sell them anywhere between 1 and 2 inches as babies. Once in your aquarium and being fed on a regular basis, you can expect an Oscar to gain nearly an inch each month for the first seven or eight months. At about nine months, your Oscars growth rate will start slowing down. Once they reach 12 months you should expect your Oscars size to be close to 10 inches, maybe even bigger. Oscars will probably reach a maximum size at around three years old.
