Breeding pair or a single Monster?

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I would say 6 x 2 x2 is minimum for an oscar, they are big and chunky and need some space.

Im personally not a big fan of most cichlids, have never kept them and the ones i like are too big for my 70. I would go with Stanzzzz7 Stanzzzz7 and say that tanks with a group of a species are much more interesting
 
As far the pair vs single fish I wanted to share my limited experience.

I have a breeding pair of GT's. Male is about 3 inches and female a bit Smaller.

Before they are about to spawn they get pretty feisty, once the eggs are laid the female defends them like crazy. Also from prespawn both fish are a little banged up. Scruffs around the mouths, missing a few scales and a bit of fun damage.

Most of which heals up pretty fast. Once free swimming all hells breaks lose, male is trying to eat the fry and mom is just pissed.

I personally don't like this cycle and because they spawn so frequently I have decided to get rid of my female if things don't improve over the next few spawns.

So I guess if that sorta stuff won't bother you then get a pair. Often enough I see large cichlid pairs being divided on YouTube due to this very reason.
 
I respectfully disagree. I have 3" fish in a 4' tank that's 16 times the length of the fish and still have issues. That would be the same as a 12" adult male in a 16' tank. Who is keeping tanks that large?
 
I respectfully disagree. I have 3" fish in a 4' tank that's 16 times the length of the fish and still have issues. That would be the same as a 12" adult male in a 16' tank. Who is keeping tanks that large?
Yes but you have 3 andinoacara rivulatus in a 75,Things would be different if you had 3 herotilapia multispinosa.
 
I guess your right in that sense. But my point is that in order to keep large cichlid pair in any hobby size tanks that majority of us actually have you are likely to have male female disputes.

Also, out of curiosity what size tank would my pair need to not fight come spawning. My guess is that doesn't exist. Based on the fact that prespawn behavior is rough no matter the tank size. Which is not something I like to see.

Granted each fish is different and maybe others aren't as rough as my pair but my males mouth got fairly beat up due to prespawn locking.
 
I seem to remember having a detailed discussion, or at least reading it, stating that a 75 could work a while for a pair of GT's. Key words "could" and "for a while."
 
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There is also exercise and mental stimulation to think about.
There is no way an Oscar could swim even close to full speed in a 75.
lol it/s still better than some of the stuff I see....Oscars w/ tankmates in a 30s, 20s, even 10 gallons. Everyone that had an Oscar as a kid likely had it in a small tank, sadly. I just talked to the manager at the old LFS I used to work at and he said he found a 12" Oscar in a bucket at the door when he opened the store. I asked if it had HITH and he said "Of course"

*SMH*
 
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