Oscar tank size

[troublesum]

You can keep the Oscar temporary in a 65gal, but be ready for every other day water changes. As Oscar's are very messy fish as they eat and produce massive poops. A full grown Oscar's poop in as big around as a pencil, several inches long.
Look around for used tanks Offer up, Craigslist. I once got a 125gal for 1$ per gallon so $125 with stand and lights. Also several times a year Petsmart has 125gal combo's (tank, stand,lights) on sale for around $550. I bought two of these.
View attachment 1555251

Jex Those Petsmart tanks how long have you had them? i see them all the time for

You can keep the Oscar temporary in a 65gal, but be ready for every other day water changes. As Oscar's are very messy fish as they eat and produce massive poops. A full grown Oscar's poop in as big around as a pencil, several inches long.
Look around for used tanks Offer up, Craigslist. I once got a 125gal for 1$ per gallon so $125 with stand and lights. Also several times a year Petsmart has 125gal combo's (tank, stand,lights) on sale for around $550. I bought two of these.
View attachment 1555251

Jex how long have you had those PetSmart tanks? i want to buy one but i have heard horror stories about them. The tanks usually leak and the stands are very cheap and will fall apart
Sorry to HiJack the tread!!!!

 

[Backfromthedead]

As others have said, 65g just a temporary growout tank for a small Oscar. 8'x2' footprint probably ideal size, 6'x2' footprint still really good. 6'x18" or 5'x2' is a townhome, 4' tanks a studio apartment--good for when you just got out of school and starting a career, but you move the hell outta there soon as you get that first big raise....

 

[duanes]

The problem is not only territorial space.....
But in a small tank nitrates build up more quickly to toxic levels, and tend to cause HITH disease as oscars age.
So the smaller the tank, the more you need to do larger and more frequent water changes.
In a 65 gal tank, you may need to change 50% of the tanks water every other day by the time it reaches 6".
In a 125 gal tank, maybe 50% of the water every 3 days, etc etc.
The larger the oscar gets, the more water changes needed, because it continues to produce more and more waste

 

[Jexnell]

Jex Those Petsmart tanks how long have you had them? i see them all the time for

Jex how long have you had those PetSmart tanks? i want to buy one but i have heard horror stories about them. The tanks usually leak and the stands are very cheap and will fall apart
Sorry to HiJack the tread!!!!

I had the first one for about two and a half years, the second one for a year and a half before I was forced to sell all my tanks and move.
Yes the stands are made from particle board with a black skin glued on. The key to longevity is not to let them sit in water. Any water that gets on them needs to wiped away. They are engineered to hold the weight of the tank and if used correctly come with a life-time guarantee. The person that bought one of the tanks in question had a stand start to delaminate. He was given a brand tank stand combo and allowed to keep the old ones after sending in pictures and a copy of his receipt.

 

[cockroach]

I kept a decent sized oscar in a 75gal after the others passed away.
It was happy enough and was healthy, ate well and all....but, it was a PITA to keep clean. The amount of waste from a full-grown oscar in 75gal is an ask in terms of bio-, and mechanical, filtration.
With enough water movement it could lesson the need for vacuuming. Also, in 75gal you not really in the market for any décor that is taller than about 4-6" as the oscar needs that space to swim. Anything under 75gal I have seen them in, they just seem miserable and/or angry.
When kept in a 6' tank, the oscars did much better and were less aggressive. especially with the extra lateral swim space.

 

[jjohnwm]

I agree with @Toby_H that paying a store for a poorly-kept fish only prompts them to repeat their performance with another fish. That's not a rescue; it's a sale...and that's exactly what they are hoping for.

As far as the Oscar in a 65-gallon tank is concerned, well...IMHO the analogy would be moving from a studio apartment to a small one-bedroom unit. It may be a small step up...but it's still no way to live.