But ofc if you don’t plan on upgrading a before a year I wouldn’t bother getting more than one.
Tiger Oscars, and convict cichlids
- Thread starter Hank82
- Start date
So you think I wouldn’t be able to keep them for life?
If I said yes the tank size fanatics on this site would crucify me. I don't have a huge aquarium and I have 4 oscars (6") and 2 pbass! I have been slammed so much it would make your head spin. I am setting up another tank, a 200gal in a week or so to split up the group. And that's still not enough room.
In 2 years these 2 oscars could be 13" or so. So in a tank that's 5ft long and 18" deep it would be sorta rough on these full grown oscars. Plus you are looking at water changes about every 3 days. Expect a lot of water changes even with a bigger tank.
Oscars are messy fish and water needs to be pretty pristine to maintain them disease free.
You would be ok IMHO to have one oscar and a few other smaller fish. I like silver dollars. Maybe a pleco. Still would be a bit of work to maintain. What's your experience with fish?
I wouldn't do two in that tank, not at 5ft. Maybe two in a 6ft 125, if grown up together, real good friends, no other fish in the tank, water changes ever other day...
Think of it if they decided to fight in that five foot tank, each a foot long..... there is no where to go ..
Would you like to live your whole life in your bathroom? I used to think they same way, wanting multiple fish in a tank, more to watch right? Then I grew out an Oscar and really saw what they need and how big space and massive water changes rewards you with a big beautiful Aquadog/pig
Look thru my thread here, all the good and bad that I did to raise this.
Into this big beautiful beastie
Toni and Nemo my albino Oscar's
In this thread I am going to be posting updates on the development of my pair of Oscars. So I started a community tank of cichlid juveniles. My 14 year old son is the one that actually picked Toni and named it. This is the first pic i got of her. She was about 1.5in long. And as all Oscars do...
www.monsterfishkeepers.com
Agreed. But I spend a lot of time in the bathroom... But that is a different thread.....
I have had a 30 gallon for years with some large gold fish, then went to moores. Currently the 30 gallon has some assorted African Cichlids. The 112 gallon is the biggest I have ever gotten. I have two aquaclear 110s and a power head for water circulation.
U can do 2 oscars ur tank is better than where they all go tbh just make sure to do a good amount of water changes.
If you can hold off a bit I would use the search function in the forum to read up a bit on oscars. I just did a search for oscar and tank and came up with this thread.
120g Oscar tank stocking
Duanes weighed in on tank size on this. I respect his opinions very much though he is a bit conservative.
I did a search on oscar and filtration and came up with similar threads. Oscars can be prone to hole in the head disease which is in theory caused by stress. Be it water quality, nutrition, tank mates etc. etc. Another thing worth reading. Oscars are easy to rear. They eat practically anything (but read up on what to feed). Just need to givem some space and good water quality.
I just searched oscar and came up with
New Oscar Keeper
thread. Interesting stuff. Jex and Poisiden have good input.
I think I can speak on behalf of most people in the MFK group that the more you read up on other's experience (not just the internet stuff), the better prepared you will be to make a good decision. What appears to be common is that new (big) fish keepesr get a little advice or info and run with it. Only to find out they made a mistake.
My advice - Bigger tank. Or get smaller cichlids.
Lots of people only have one oscar (alternative) but after what I have seen I wouldn't do it. But that's just me. The interaction these fish have with each other is so interesting. But you need to be prepared with big tanks or mulitiple tanks.
Oh. Also it appears you are new to MFK. Welcome and I hope you enjoy the forum.
Thank you! I have gotten a lot of help from everyone which is awesome. I would love to get the Oscars but if it’s going to be a problem with tank size then I can hold off.
What kind of fish should I get established in a tank this size?