Oscar Tank Question

[shortymet55]

How many gallons is a good Oscar tank. I dont mean like a minimum of 75 for one, but if I get multiple, what size should it be. Like, do they do well in groups of 1 or more, or is it like 1 or 5+. You get what I mean. Are odd numbers gonna cause any issues? Also, is it 75 gallons each, or is 75 gallons a min, because of width requirements. Likw would 2 really need 150 gallons?

Thanks

 

[aloys]

i think the general rule seems to be that keeping 2, a male and a female, is ideal, Adding a third doesnt work well unless the tank is huge with plenty of space for 2 to pair off and have their own space. That is unless you just want to keep one, as this is probably the best for most tanks, pretty much any tank under 100 gallons or so. If the tank is big enough it is possibly to keep a bunch in one tank, I've seen big tanks with 6-8 oscars but that was at least a 300 gallon tank if not bigger.

I personally think a 75 gallon tank is big enough for one oscar to be very happy, I dont think you have to double it for 2, 125 is probably enough, but many people would say it is on the low end of the scale.

So I guess if you want to keep 4 oscars, with 2 males and 2 females, your looking at 225 or more? I'm not really sure, that is pretty huge. I think it is safe to say that in all of these different sizes you can have other bottom feeding fish, and possibly even some other decent sized community fish? or less aggressive cichlids?

 

[Spishkey]

oscars are HUGE waste producers, so the bigger the tank the better. Dont forget though you need a super duper filter too to cope with the waste or be prepared for lots of tank maintenance.

i have a 500L with 2 oscars (male and female) and 4 catfish. this gets messy very very quickly and i have to do gravel vacs and water changes very often to keep it clean.

if you are not prepared to keep the water in top notch condition you run the risk of your oscars getting hole in the head disease, which is not nice

you cannot sex an oscar until it breeds, so if you want a 'pair' you would have to either buy a group of 6 individuals and wait until two pair off (they reach sexually maturity at 14-18 months so be prepared to look after 6 oscars for this length of time) or alternativly look specifically in ads for a breeding pair.

if you stick any old 3 together in a tank chances are they will fight unless you have a huge tank, so you may be better sticking with one oscar for this a 75g tank is the minimum tank size you should be looking at, but the bigger the better!!!!

 

[aloys]

Good stuff Spishkey, I was not sure how to sex oscars and I didnt even think about it really.

So basically if you want more than one oscar in a tank you have to buy a "bunch" of baby oscars and wait for them to pair off, and then depending on the size of the tank, you can leave 1-? pairs in the tank and take the rest out, I've never had more than one oscar in a tank...

They do make a mess, but with proper care Oscar's can have great personalities and are tons of fun!