Oscar tank

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bobz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 22, 2006
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Hey guys i was wondering if i could keep 1 or 2 oscars in a 180 litre tank. MAbey with a bristlenose pleco aswell.

Just wondering......
 
he he
 
bobz said:
Hey guys i was wondering if i could keep 1 or 2 oscars in a 180 litre tank. MAbey with a bristlenose pleco aswell.

Just wondering......

I dunno 180liters....translates into only about roughly 48 Gallons...I'd say you need a bigger tank just because Oscars are so damn dirty....not to mention you have 2 of them and even a Pleco in there as well.

If you're really low on money and need a small cheap tank for them...get a 75 gallon. If the 2 O's get along...they should do great in there with good care. :thumbsup:
 
:iagree: 75 gallons minimum (imo) for 1 oscar or 2 that get along (breeding pair or 2 females). I don't think you'd be able to keep 2 males in a 75 but then again you wouldn't really know you have 2 males until they reach maturity (~6") and start fighting. also, if you want to keep 2 oscars in a 75 make sure there is excellent filtration. I'd want the water to turnover at least 12-15 times per hour and do 40% minimum weekly water changes and even doing that I'd still keep an eye on the nitrates once they start getting bigger. :thumbsup:
 
what are the dimensions of your tank? if you have a 50 wide (36x18x19), it is enough for 1 oscar, better than a 55 gallon
 
sure, a 50 wide would be fine....for a growout tank. once the oscar gets to around 10" or more it should be moved to at least a 4' long by 18" wide tank. :)
 
no a 50 wide is fine for life, but bigger is always better, tanks are all kind of like jail cells unless you put a guppy in a 30 gallon or so and treat all your fish as well as that guppy, a sufficient minimum size is the issue
 
and a sufficient, minimum size for a fish that can grow upwards of 14" or so is at least 48" long and 18" wide. I've seen a full grown oscar that was around 15" in a 55 gallon tank and it looked miserable, not only because of the 13" width of the tank but also because of the tank only being 4 feet long. that oscar should have been in at least a 125, which incidentally is the minimum size tank that I would use to keep an oscar for life. however, a single oscar would probably be ok in a 75 as a sufficient minimum size to live a halfway decent life. just because the fish has enough water to stay wet and stay alive does not mean it should be kept in that size tank. a 3 foot long tank is good for fish up to around 8-10" at the very most. any fish larger should be in a larger tank. :)
 
tank raised oscars generally only get about a foot long, wild oscars have been seen at 16" or even 18", a 12" fish is ok in a 50 gallon wide, not great but ok, better in a 75 but not great either

does a fish need a tank 3 or 4 times it's body length, that's personal opinion but we both agree that 4 times is better, i just think 3 times is ok too, of course both are cruel but that's the tragedy of keeping fishes in tanks in our homes
 
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