4ft tank

[Tom H]

Today i have the offer of a 4ft tank, complete with filter and heater. The guy who i am thinking of getting it off used to keep oscars in it, and they were quite some size!!

I was wondering what other fish would be suitable? Discus fish, oscars, or perhaps pirhanas? what would be most suitable?

Thanks

Tom

 

[Cat]

I think discus are hard to keep.I likeoscars but you have to watch what you put with them and pirhanas are a no no I like my fingers

 

[modernhamlet]

What are the other dimensions of the tank? That plays a big part in what you can keep.

Also, what fish are you the most interested in? Discus, oscars and pirahnas are pretty much mutually exclusive. Are there other fish you'd be interested in?

 

[J-Money]

A friend of mine has a 5' 120g tank and he has an Oscar, a Jaguar (Cichlid? huge, mean) 3 tin foil barbs 1 pleco and I think he has his shovelnose in there now too (it was getting beat up by the Green Terror in the 55) Pretty soon the Terror should be big enough for the big tank too

 

[Matty]

Personally, i would keep one or two oscars in it (is it a 75 or a 90g?)

Discus are too finicky/demanding and piranha s are really cool, but you could only have one as they might eat each other when really hungry.

 

[Tom H]

thanks alot for the feed back.

Im not sure exactly how many gallons it is, and i will find out the full dimensions tommorrow. As for fish, would quite like something that would grown quite big! I do like cichlids, and 'unusual' fish, but im looking for something big!
Oscars sound good. Aren't they supposed to be quite intelligent? Any more info would be apreciated.

thanks alot

Tom

 

[fufanu360]

oscar are cichlids, many cichlids are big. whats cool about oscars is that they have a personality. i really like mine. also very intellegent. and a 4 foot tank wouldnt be 90 gallons, its probly a 55.

 

[rvm]

yup, most likely a 55g, and if so, barely big enough for a single Oscar with little to nothing else!!
with a 55g there are loads of options open to you, but it depends on what you want. I don't know much about piranha, but I thought they were a schooling fish (the red bellied ones anyway!) I'm sure someone else could tell you how many you could keep in a 55g

 

[modernhamlet]

If it's 13" wide, it's likely a 55g. If 18" wide, it's probably a 75g.

You could keep a single oscar (and pretty much nothing else) in a 75g, but not a 55g.

If you do have a 55 (or don't want just one fish), take a look at some of the South and Central American cichlids that don't get quite as big as oscars, such as:

Jack Dempsey
Firemouth
Convict
Nicaragua Cichlid
Rainbow Cichlid

Hope that helps. Good luck with your new tank!

 

[fufanu360]

ok its not liek oscars are 20inches long, everyone is so way over estimating the tank size. really it s not nessesary to have a 75 g for one oscar thats pretty patheic, u can easily keep two in a 75, and a 55 one for sure

 

[mwm]

I agree you can keep one in a 55g but someone i know had 2 in there 75g and they faught soo much. thats why people are saying 100g+ for 2 becuz they are so territorial..I think..correct me if im wrong

 

[modernhamlet]

Having watched the slow demise of a 55g tank with an oscar in it (1 dead catfish, algae blooms, difficult maintenance), I would strong urge against it. Sure, you can probably keep it alive in there, but a full grown oscar in a 55g is a pretty sad sight, IMO.

 

[kevin007]

discus are VERY easy to keep imo....it's easier to keep than clown loaches, if u can keep clown loach, discus is easy, it's like this rumour about how hard it is to own discus..or it may be just be but discus are fairly easy

 

[enchanted]

It very well good be a 90 BTW. Need to know width and hieght because a 75 and 90 are the same width, different hieght.

 

[Becca]

oscar are cichlids, many cichlids are big. whats cool about oscars is that they have a personality. i really like mine. also very intellegent. and a 4 foot tank wouldnt be 90 gallons, its probly a 55.

Actually - unless you get a special, or custom tank - the 55, 75 and 90 are all 4 feet, according to Perfecto, Oceanic and All-Glass. The difference is this:

55 - 48 inches wide by 12 inches deep by 20 inches tall
75 - 48 inches wide by 18 inches deep by 21 inches tall
90 - 48 inches wide by 18 inches deep by 24 inches tall

Also - if you're unsure of how many gallons the tank holds, and you happen to have the measurements handy, here's a formula you can use to calculate the tank's capacity:

(Length x Width x Height) / 231

For example, with the 55, you'd multiply the dimensions together (48 x 12 x 20) then divide that number by 231.

Hope this helps.