Minimum tank size for an Oscar

[Buphy]

Since he said they were into light stocking I'm guessing they're saying 125 in the minimum.

 

[Cichlids_Are_Life]

ya that's a waste of a good 125

 

[Buphy]

If the Oscar is by him self, ya. But some people really like oscars.

 

[pops]

ya it is. they flip over my pair of jags in a 145, or my pair of Oscars in the 180 with a catfish a pleco and a BKG, let alone my 30 or so jag grow outs in the 90g with a sail fin pleco.

 

[pops]

I really like oscars, never be with out one or 2. you can say they need a 300 gallon tank, would this be bad for the oscar? no. do they need it? no but not be bad for him.

 

[pops]

sounds like not very many folks been running Oscars very long or not at all and just trolls.

 

[Aquanero]

IMO I like a 90 for one, a 75 bare min for an adult. What did the other site say?

 

[ehh]

I'm guessing they are either saying the 29 I have heard by those uneducated individuals that have tried to make me think they are experts, or the 125 of the overly cautious

"Overly cautious"? There's nothing overly cautious about that.
I suppose a 75 a good bare minimum but I don't think a 90 gallon is any better. The issue isn't volume imo. The issue is swimming space. I have an 11" red devil/Midas that I thought would do well long term in a 75. Next tank I buy I will a 125 for him because the tank really is cramped with just him. He is 25% the length of the tank and I can't really add too much driftwood because it gives him no swimming space.
In conclusion, I would suggest a 6' tank. Is that a lot for one fish? Maybe. But I think the fish living his days out in a glass box deserves it.

 

[pops]

well if you get nothing else, consensus is 75g, bare min, least none have said a 29g, or 40g, or 55g, we can all agree this is not acceptable.

 

[ehh]

I agree a 75 is good bare minimum but i don't think it's ideal. After keeping my big guy in the 75 and seeing how much room he doesn't have I don't think big cichlids belong in anything less than a 6' tank.