Oscar Research

[Dmaan.]

i'd recommend a 75-90 gallon for a single oscar.
i doubt they can break tanks but they doo attack their reflections a lot.
the only way i see an oscar getting HITH is through bad water quality.
if the owner does 35-40% water changes each week the oscar will remain
healthy all through out life as long as the right food is added to the tank to.
they grow pretty quick to, grow even faster in good conditions.

 

[mssassysan2000]

I would recomend for two oscars 120gals of water should house them nice i had my oscar went from 55 to 75 to 180 from there i got rid of them.

 

[Veto]

My Blood Parrot is about 2 inches , and is large and in charge in my 55 g tank with my 2 young oscars(3-4 inches). He is the alpha fish in this tank no doubt, but does not hurt my oscars, yet. I had another small BP that attacked my oscars non stop, I removed him/her fast. Keep an eye on any tank mates you put with oscars, thats what I am learning. And yes a 55 g is a perfect tank for small oscars to grow up.

 

[blockhead595]

A 55 gallon will be too small for a grown Oscar. A general rule of thumb for Oscar growth is 1 inch per month up to 12 inches. That's if they are in the right sized tank, water conditions are good and they are fed a healthy varied diet. You should be striving for all of these things from the begining though anyway. I have a Convict with my Oscar and they get along just fine. Make sure you g=have alot of hiding spots for the Convict though so he can get away from the Oscar if he needs to. I wouldn't do a breeding pair of Convicts unless you have a very large tank though because once they pair up they will become extremely aggressive over their territory and they will stress out you Oscar. I would go with a 90 gallon tank, 1 Oscar, 1 Convict and 3 to 5 Silver Dollars. That's what I have.

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

oscars and cons will work out good for the most part, especially in a 6'+ tank

 

[polarbear]

I love this board you guys are an amazing wealth of knowledge. My girlfriend wants to ground me from this board so that I won't go and buy something I shouldn't. Now I go to work early so she doesn't know.

 

[oscarcrazy]

sweet!!! mfk's the other woman.

 

[polarbear]

sweet!!! mfk's the other woman.

Dang it I never thought about that. Now I feel guilty being on here. Does this mean she can start laying claim to half my junk? I hope there is no MFK or her threats cause I do not know if I could promise no MFK.

 

[Danger_Chicken]

Interesting. Like I say this is mostly just learning stuff about the fish not buying one soon although I will have to one day. How long does it take to grow from a wee little guy (they are like 5 inches in pet stores when I see them) to the 9"? How big are people truly experiencing these guys? Again I searched and get a variety of answers. Do you guys feed them live food? Find live or frozen better? Are the aggressive with everything? Say I throw in a convict pair in a large tank to provide some scenery and maybe some fry for the Oscars to much on is this going to be war? Again just asking I love the guy I seen at the store now I'm reading everything I can but I find I get better answers here than on any page I have read.

I feed a high quality pellet as the staple and I breed Con's and Crayfish as feedes as a live food treat. I also give Crickets and night crawlers. Never goldfish. I've noticed they grow faster on live food. For frozen market shrimp is also good but not to often and Peas. Breeding Con's are nasty little critters so you'll need a big tank, if you want them to breed in the main tank, they may lay claim to half a 6" tank. The con fry wont grow fast enough to really be a snack for a big Oscar unless you put them in grow out tanks for several months.

Oscars aren't aggressive in a proper sized tank. Most of the aggression you hear about is when they are in tanks that are too small or the other fish are small enough to be eaten. And that's not called aggression, that's called feeders

55 is reasonable

Not for life. A 12" fish shouldn't be stuffed into a 12" wide tank. Oscar's will get to 13-14" if cared for properly.

 

[FSM]

I think 55s are terrible tanks for big cichlids. People see them as a large tank, but really I don't think a 12+ inch fish should be in a tank where it has no room to swim front to back, only side to side. A 75 gallon is an excellent size, though. Look on craigslist for a cheap used one, just make sure it doesn't leak lol.