I know everyone has their own opinions on what size tank an oscar needs, so I have a question. I'm not planning on getting an oscar, it's just a question. The guy at a LFS told me that most oscars kept in 55s for longer than 6 months tended to develope HITH. Granted, the average person probably doesn't water change once a week, and is most likely a lot less responsible than we are. A friend of mine kept an oscar with a pleco in a 55 for about 3 years, and sure enough, it WAS HITH that killed the fish. So, I was wondering if there are any members here who have successfully kept oscars in 55 gallon tanks for a long time?
Keepers of oscars in 55's
- Thread starter bluegryffin
- Start date
kept 2 oscars from baby form in a 45 with alot of fish until they starting to disapear, so they were moved to a 55 for 4-5 months, then moved to a 75, they can be kept there if thats all you have, but its cramped and will not grow to their full potential, even the 75 is too small for 2 full grown oscars, but if you change the water and check water conditions and feed correctly, they will live, but will be cramped
Angler;2226729; said:
Exactly. A fish that can potentially reach 15, even 16" shouldn't even be thought about in a 55. HITH would obviously be a concern, because oscars are very "dirty" fish. Their level of waste is very high. More waste= more organic compounds= depleted water conditions. Anyone that tells you they've kept one in a 55 long term either does water changes about every day or has another 55 as a sump, and has a seriously stunted fish.
1 oscar in a 55 will do great for well over a year, i've had a pair for almost seven years now in one and they've done great. they've spawned countless times and don't have any signs of hith.
i agree, it is definitely cramped, and i know just because it has worked for me doesn't mean it will work for everyone.
also hith is a huge prob with oscars because they will literally eat themselves to death so people tend to overfeed them and since fish have inefficient digestive systems the overfed oscar excretes lots of partially digested food, which pollutes the water terribly.
as for not being able to keep an oscar in a 55 for six months, thats just a sales ploy, a well looked after, non-overfed oscar, shouldn't have any trouble in a 55 for six months. also hith doesn't killfish as far as i know, it attacks the fish's lateral lin network, so essentially it just makes the fish def. i had a pike cichlid with it's entire lateral line eroded, including its entire face leaving its eyes out on stocks, and he was king of the tank.
the pic of him is only a few months into the disease.
anyway, in my opinion an oscar will do fine in a 55 as long as he is treated well, but bigger is always better.
i agree, it is definitely cramped, and i know just because it has worked for me doesn't mean it will work for everyone.
also hith is a huge prob with oscars because they will literally eat themselves to death so people tend to overfeed them and since fish have inefficient digestive systems the overfed oscar excretes lots of partially digested food, which pollutes the water terribly.
as for not being able to keep an oscar in a 55 for six months, thats just a sales ploy, a well looked after, non-overfed oscar, shouldn't have any trouble in a 55 for six months. also hith doesn't killfish as far as i know, it attacks the fish's lateral lin network, so essentially it just makes the fish def. i had a pike cichlid with it's entire lateral line eroded, including its entire face leaving its eyes out on stocks, and he was king of the tank.
the pic of him is only a few months into the disease.
anyway, in my opinion an oscar will do fine in a 55 as long as he is treated well, but bigger is always better.
MyFishEatYourFish - LOL showing a pic of one your fish half eaten by HITH isn't helping your point. But many have kept O's in a bare 55 without problems but you need to over filter and do water changes every 3-4 days. It's also kind of cruel, just because it can be done doesn't mean it should.
HITH has nothing to do with tank size, rather poor diet and water quality. I wouldn't keep a Oscar in a 55 only for the reason that its will be longer then 12" so having a tank thats not even 12"ID isn't really smart. I think I 75 is better and you could even add a buddy for the Oscar. A convict, firemouth etc.
Chago09;2227932; said:
I think the guy at the store was making the point that it's hard to maintain good water quality with a fish that large in a tank that small.