Tank minimum for 2 tiger oscars? opinions

[Sab_Fan]

tank dimensions are important; you want a tank big enough for the Oscars to swim, turn around, etc., and have enough volume so that you can maintain good water quality with proper filtration

the problem with 55G tanks is that they are arguably too narrow for an Oscar, being only 13" wide, about the same as an adult Oscar . . . so I would suggest that 75G - - which is 18" wide - - is where you should set the bar for 1 Oscar

if another rule-of-thumb is 30G of water for each add'l Oscar, than you would want to have something in the 100-120G range for 2 Oscars, though I personally think you could keep a pair in a 90G successfully

 

[fishy12]

If i do the 2 in a 90 wit a fx5 and ac 110 will i have to do 2 50% wc's a week?

 

[Allan01230]

2 in a 90 will work as long as they get along. Weekly 50% w/c religiously and no other tankmates.

 

[kdrun76]

If i do the 2 in a 90 wit a fx5 and ac 110 will i have to do 2 50% wc's a week?

Let the results of your nitrate test tell you that. If the nitrates are 20ppm, do a 50% change.

If they go back up to 20 over night, do anther, if they go back up to 20 5 days later, then do one 5 days later.

How much and how often you feed and how quickly they grow will cause the rate to change a bit here and there. So one simple rule, nitrates are 20ppm, time for a 50% change.

 

[Bderick67]

150 gallons

 

[erk419]

tank dimensions are important; you want a tank big enough for the Oscars to swim, turn around, etc., and have enough volume so that you can maintain good water quality with proper filtration

the problem with 55G tanks is that they are arguably too narrow for an Oscar, being only 13" wide, about the same as an adult Oscar . . . so I would suggest that 75G - - which is 18" wide - - is where you should set the bar for 1 Oscar

if another rule-of-thumb is 30G of water for each add'l Oscar, than you would want to have something in the 100-120G range for 2 Oscars, though I personally think you could keep a pair in a 90G successfully

A 55 gallon is only 12 inch's wide on 13. I just went and measured mine before posting if you don't measure the thickness of the glass like from the inside of the back glass and the inside of the front glass is 12 inch's.

 

[slimmer]

2 in a 90 i think would be ok with 2 huge water change a week if you watch your feeding. I have 3 in a 125 and need 2 large changes a week to have good water quality. I run a fx5,a xp3 and a ac70 on this tank and if i am not on top of my changes this tank will run away with nitrates real fast.

 

[Err]

If i do the 2 in a 90 wit a fx5 and ac 110 will i have to do 2 50% wc's a week?

I dont mean this to be rude, but I dont think you understand the concept of the water change vs filtration. The fish put out the same ammount of waste no matter how much filtration you have. An extra filter is not going to make them poop less right? And a filter only traps waste and breaks highly toxic ammonia down into less toxic nitrates. But poo in the filter is still poo in the system. So the only way to keep your system clean and healthy is to regularly service your filters properly, as well as regular water changes to remove the nitrates. Oscars are really, really, really messy fish, and 125g tank will allow you to have more time between wc's b/c it will dilute the concentration of waste better than a 90 will. Other than that, if you have a happy couple and are willing to do the WC's in order to keep the nitrates at a healthy level then you could keep them in the 90, but no ammount of filtration will remove the need for water changes.

 

[Sab_Fan]

A 55 gallon is only 12 inch's wide on 13. I just went and measured mine before posting if you don't measure the thickness of the glass like from the inside of the back glass and the inside of the front glass is 12 inch's.

*yawn* was that really worth posting? the point was about the dimensions relative to the adult fish, and the point still stands

but yes, you're correct, interior dimensions are smaller than exterior dimensions . . . thanks!!!

 

[CTU2fan]

That filtration is enough for the 2 fish in the 90, but as Err said the filtration won't keep those nitrates in check; only w/c (and plants, good luck planting an oscar tank) will do that. But those filters will do the job as far as getting the amonia and nitrites from 2 big oscars broken down quickly.