hello from gillette wy

[dark stranger]

hi im james age 13
im new to big fish
im going to get a 55 gallon tank so i can get some oscars.
i had a red belly pacus but it died
i was wondering if anyone could give me some advise on oscars and red belly pacus' like what works best live food or pellets and if thay will do ok with fish of equal size.
i guess im looking for something that comes from a person instead of what little i find in the books i have .

 

[fishyz]

to ]V[FK

 

[chochiss]

Good to know that you have this hobby started at such a tender age........sigh...reminds me of myself when I was young.

 

[thesober]

hello mate, welcome

 

[chochiss]

after 5 postings.....still da same. how can I active my account?

 

[rottbo]

so red belly pacus get way to big for a 55 but a pair of oscars should be fine in that size of a tank little buddy

 

[Peanut_Power]

Eh....go to the cichlid forum and post your questions mate...

 

[gorillazsw]

nice to meet you james.
I didn't now that there were kids my age on MFK.
about the oscars i want to tell you what someone told me.to decied how many oscars you con put in your tank just think 1 gallon per inch for your fish.
i'll ask some people i know for your information on the oscars for you.

 

[guppy]

Hiya james, welcome to MFK,
I would avoid pacus except the hard to find sheep pacu, a 55g is only 12" wide and red bellied pacu grow quickly and get to more than 43" long and over 66 pounds, it is also very hard to find homes for oversized ones. Here is a picture of an medium sized adult
You would be better advised to get one of the Metynnis species like the altidoralis (4 1/2"), lippincottianus (5"), or argenteus (5 1/2"). here are pictures of these, they are similar in form to the pacu

Hiya Gorillazsw, Welcome to you as well,
The 1" rule does not work for larger fish unless you do it as 1 cubic inch of fish per gallon, here is why;
One gallon per inch for a 10" oscar (not even full grown, they can (rarely) reach 16") would mean a 10g tank,
a 10g tank is usually 16" long and only 8-12" wide depending on style.

To use the rule use the size of an adult fish, for an oscar figure a minimum of 10x4x1 1/2= 60g, even a standard 55g tank is really to small as you should have a tank at least 18" wide, a 65g (48x18x17) would work.

 

[USMCtanker]

welcome welcome