3 Os in a 90

[Chromobotia]

I do 50% water changes each week.Have a FX5 and 2 AC110 filtering tank.And you are still telling me minimum 125 gallons for a pair.Think sometimes you guys go a little overboard when it comes to tank size for a particular cichlid.Sure I agree the bigger the better,but lets be reasonable when it comes to this.Some people just dont have the space.I know some will say then you should not have Oscars if you cant provide them with the space.I dont see anything wrong with a pair in a 90 as long as nitrates are kept to a minimum.I believe the width of a 90 is 18 inches,and its kind of rare to have a Oscar grow to that.

Let us know if 50% water changes per week is enough to keep the nitrates down in a 90 for a pair of adult oscars. It might be, I don't know. I suspect that more frequent water changes will be in order. Some people have loads of time to do more than 1 water change per week. Other do not.

 

[knifegill]

That's a great point. 50% a week barely cuts it for me and I have one O in a 125 with a few raphael catfish, an L200 and an old liosomadoras morrowi. If you add up the cats, they probably equal one Oscar. So I've got the approximate bioload of two Oscars and my nitrAtes do exceed 20ppm sometimes. That's with adequate filtration, floating plants, light feeding and a bare bottom.

 

[livebearerfreak]

ONE oscar min for a 90. i have 2 in my 5 foot 112 and cant see myself with another oscar. the 2 oscars i have take up the whole room of my 112. well i got a divider in there right now for my pair of cons and there frys but soon that will change. so my oppinion is 1 oscar for the 90.

 

[creepyoldguy]

Counterpoints in favor of the OP's view:

Oscars are only as messy as the food you feed them. My Oscar is not very messy at all most of the time!

Filtration aside, mr limpet's maintenance schedule is on par with typical Oscar care. If he keeps the nitrAtes at a reasonable low and adds lots of decor to break up the aggression, there is a real chance of it working out with two Oscars and one tiny pleco. It's not my idea of a good time, but in reality it could work. Until one Oscar decides to kill the other one.



I say all this knowing he has that 125g at hand should he need it eventually.

I have to agree with you there. I didnt catch his 2nd post. Thats awesome filtration on top of doing 50% w/c each week(more the better). Either way, you do have a 125 which im sure you can find a place to put if you need to tear the 90 down, its 2ft longer. I think if i were you, i would give it a shot. I mean, you do have another good 6 months. your plan of attack is just fine imo

 

[knifegill]

Yes, LBF, the OP is familiar with that recommendation. He wants to know how far he can bend the rules and I suspect any help with that would be welcome.

 

[Sab_Fan]

I know some will say then you should not have Oscars if you cant provide them with the space

yup . . .

I dont see anything wrong with a pair in a 90 as long as nitrates are kept to a minimum.I believe the width of a 90 is 18 inches,and its kind of rare to have a Oscar grow to that.

I agree with you on the width . . . a 12-14" oscar should be able to handle an 18" wide tank . . . my beef with 90G is that I like to see a tank that is several times longer than the fish, for swimming purposes . . .

a decent size oscar will easily be 12"+, which means a 90G is only about 4x the length of the fish; not much room to swim there

personally, I would not keep oscars - - or any other 12" cichlid - - unless I could give them a 72" long tank . . . preferably 72x24 . . .

but that's what I would do . . . I cannot tell you what to do, and I don't doubt that a pair of oscars can live in a 90G, with good care

 

[dlp40]

I had 3 7" o's in my 125 with 3 AC 110's and 75% water changs every week. Plus the tank had a bare bottom to keep the waste moving until the filters got it. My nitrates stayed around 10PPM but i did not like all the waste and maint. I had to do every week. I had to ring the sponges out every 5 days just to keep them functioning at top proformance.

With that being said, I think you could make it work in a 90 but your going to be doing something with your tank every other day or so. Just my thoughts.

 

[carnivorous24]

personally for me and my pairs i wont go with less then a 175 for 2 adult O's

 

[badlad53]

it is true they will live in a 90... hell I've seen pairs in 55's more times than I can count. But just living isn't nearly as much fun as THRIVING! And I guarantee they will not thrive... you'll never have GORGEOUS oscars... and it will be a challenge for you to maintain water quality, that is also a guarantee... eventually you'll get sick of it, then let it slide, then let it slide longer, than... well ya know... and its no joke that if you don't have the space you shouldn't purchase the fish to begin with... why throw out that rule for a fish? Next you should get a thouroughbred. Wouldn't that look lovely tied up next to your tank of mediocre oscars?

 

[Industrial]

I think if you had a good pair, they could live in a 90g. The reason people buy big groups of cichlids for a pair is to ensure the probability of a good pair who gets along instead of a forced pair who only breeds and fights with eachother.

If you had a good pair of oscars I think they would be fine in a 90g, but there is a good chance that the tank will be too small for them each to establish their own territory and there is a high chance they will fight.