Help with 55 Gallon Tank

[Sondan]

Hello all,
I am wanting some advice here. I have a 55 gallon tank and I have 1 tiger oscar (about 4 inches) and a black ghost knife (7 inches) in it. I have been doing searches on the net to see if it is a good idea to have them together. As it stand right now I have an additional small red oscar in the tank but he is leaving soon. I mention the red oscar because he is the aggressive one of the two. I realize how big the oscar will get but so far I have not seen the oscars bother the ghost at all,,,,in fact if anything the ghost has picked on them when they got in his tube. I was able to find one mention of a ghost and an oscar on a site but it sounded as if the oscar in the tank was all ready aggressive. Any ideas?
Also since the ghost will get up to 20 inches and the oscar about 12 (32 in total) I was wondering if I could add 1 to 3 angels into the tank while the oscar was still small. We had a large medium sized oscar as a kid and he grew up with a giant danio and he never seemed to bother it. I know I have heard many horror stories of how mean oscars are but so far I have not seen this for myself. I know the general rule of thumb is one inch per gallon. Some friendly advice on this would be much appreciated. Thank you
Signed,
Sondan

 

[smb]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I would scrap the whole idea of anything but 1 Oscar in a 55g. He's small now but in just a few months he will be a lot bigger. They grow about an inch a month.

I imagine if you had a 150g tank then maybe the BGK and Oscar could co-exist, but a 55g would be too small but for the first 3 months.

I wouldn't add the Angels to the tank because in just a little while you'll have to seperate them again. I wouldn't suggest putting the 2 together as far as compatability either. Although Oscars aren't generally noted for being aggro, some can be and an angelfish is no match.

I know the general rule of thumb is one inch per gallon.

That doesn't apply to the bigger cichlids. I would say that 1" to 5-10g of water is a better generalization when it comes to the big boys.

 

[Sondan]

Thank you SMB,
I don't like what you are saying but I think you are probably right. With that said then at what size of the oscar do you think I should move the ghost out of there?
Signed,
Sondan

 

[Eelzor]

wow, i had no idea how fast BGK's and oscars grew so fast. wouldn't a red oscar or a BGK be ok alone in a tank that size?

 

[cichlidmaster]

While a 55 is adequate for an oscar, a tank that is 18" wide is way better!!

An oscar when full grown (up to 16") really needs this extra width to turn around comfortably.

A BGK can attain an adult size of 2ft, although more likely 12-14" in an aquarium, but given a large enough tank, proper diet and good husbandry can grow larger than this in an aquarium.

CM

 

[missyintx_99]

Yep, I would find a bigger home for the BGK and just stick with the one Oscar. You really are pushing it in a 55 with just the Oscar. And I would not add angelfish to the mix. If you do, it will just end up with the Oscar having a very expensive meal.
JMO.

 

[Sondan]

Thanks all,
I guess in six months to a year from now I will have to get a 75 for the oscar. (Which would just break my heart anyways ) But I guess one thing I don't understand is that it seems as if everyone says that oscars just can't be with other fish that are not just huge. But as a kid we had an oscar who had a pictus catfish, a blue gourami, and a giant danio as tank mates and he lived that way for years. He was about 9-12 inches long (sorry I can't remember the exact size of him...it was over 15 years ago.)
Anyways I hope no one takes offense to this...it just that I have personally not had any bad experiences with oscars. Again as I read this it almost sounds like I am being snide but I hope everyone realizes that is NOT my intention. Thanks for all of the input and more will galdly be appreciated. Thank you
Signed,
Sondan
P.S. I forgot to add...in a few years after I get out of chiropractic school my dream is a 125g. Some day Spanky,,,,some day.

 

[smb]

I guess in six months to a year from now I will have to get a 75 for the oscar.

That's a great idea.

Like CM mentioned above, a 75g would be minimum for life because of the depth.

Anyways I hope no one takes offense to this...it just that I have personally not had any bad experiences with oscars. Again as I read this it almost sounds like I am being snide but I hope everyone realizes that is NOT my intention.

No worries at all! I'm glad you gave us that info because it's from your experience and it can't be discounted. We all learn from each other this way.
The thing is, in a forum we have to make generalizations based upon percentages. IME, Oscars aren't very aggro (others dissagree and have aggro Oscars) but will eat anything that they can catch and fit into their mouth. To me, this doesn't make them mean because with like-sized fish, they could get along great with. Mean is a fish that will kill something else in the tank out of hatred just because he doesn't like to share the territory with anyone. (actually, the only kind of fish I keep to be honest)

But I digress. There are very many instances where you can probably keep smaller fish with Oscars and be fine with it, but the percentage is low so I just generalize and advise against it. That by no means means that it can't work, just a slim chance of it based on my experience. Your experience is different and others experience is different from ours, and you just has to add all of our replies up and see what you think after reading them.

Sorry to use your thread as an example of us generalizing, hope you don't take offense to it or take it personally.

Always feel free to reply even if it goes against what others think. We all may learn something from it.

Let us know how it goes and what you decide to do.

 

[Sondan]

OK I think I am really going to like it here. Everyone seems like a great bunch of people. So again thank you all for the input. Now smb back to my question....at about how big (the oscar) should I seperate them? As of right now the ghost is the bully of the tank. In english that means he is blind as a bat so if you are in front of him he runs into you. I will be moving to start Chiropractic school in about 4 to 6 months so I really don't want to buy a great big 75 and have to do the whole tear down, move, put back up, blah blah blah. Thanks again for all the help in this wonderful place.
Signed,
Sondan

 

[smb]

It's hard to say for sure but I would say in about 5-8 mos. they will need to be seperated. A lot depends on how often you feed, what you feed and how often you change the water.

If you mean you are asking if you can wait for 4-6 months until you go to school to do the switching, then yes, I think you'll be ok if...

You are diligent with the water changes. These are only recomendations by me so don't count it as rule but I've heard from CFC ( a guy I respect very much when it comes to knowledge of all fish) but he said last week that BGK's are intolerant to high nitrates. With the knowledge already of Oscars being the same way and the fact that they are VERY messy eaters...
I would do water changes in 1 of 3 ways-

• 5% - Daily
• 20% - 3 times a week
• 35%-40% Twice a week

Others here might disagree with me and reply with their ideas, so make sure you check back, but this is what I suggest.


BTW, good luck in school!