Some Oscar Questions

[Mako Man111]

Ok guys i'm considering getting an oscar and it will be put in either a 75 gallon or 100 gallon tank and I have a few questions before I do:

1) If I got a 75 gallon tank, would this be enough to sustain an oscar with a pleco(that I currently have in my 20 gallon tank with some other tetras, gouramis and barbs)?

2) I go on vacation a lot in the summer, would the oscar be able to survive a week with out food?

3) Is there any special filtration system I need for one of these?

4) Will I have any trouble feeding the pleco some fresh veggies if the oscar is in the tank?

5) Is it true that if I put live plants in the oscar will dig them up and/or eat them?

Thanks guys 8)

 

[jayjay]

yeah, it will be ok in the 75g but is likely to eat the other fish except the plec, the plec if it gets big will make masses of waste.

a 75g tank is the minimum for an oscar, i'm not sure if you could keep a plec with one aswel in that size tank as they are both high waste producing fish.

yeah they can go up to two weeks without eating so a week would be ok.

as for filteration you will need extra good filteration, without a turnover of the tank about 10x an hour i think.

you may have problems feeding the plec you may not.

an oscar needs alot of open swimming space and will move around rocks uprooting plants etc.

 

[KathyM]

75g is okay for an oscar by itself (100g even better), but depneding on what kind of plec you have I wouldn't really think it'd be okay for both, unless it's a temporary home for the plec? Commons and gibbies can both reach 2ft (commons do so more frequently) and your tank dimensions would inhibit it's growth, which could lead to serious problems (illness, death).

I think the best size permanent tank for a gibby would be a 5ft x 2ft x 2ft or bigger, with a common needing a bit bigger in the long run too (6ft x 2ft x 2ft+).

 

[vancouver]

Some oscars tolerate plecos, some don't... Mine sure didn't..

About feeding a pleco.. just feed it when the lights have been off for an hour.. the oscar should be asleep.

 

[Mako Man111]

Thanks for the replies.

One more question, can a oscar be kept in a hexagonal tank? Space wise that would be better for me then a long rectangular tank.

 

[KathyM]

No, sorry. Hexagonal tanks (if you ever find one that's 75g+ *lol*) don't give them any swimming space.

 

[SamUK]

woah that would be one big hex tank lol.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it depends a lot on the individual O if they would tolerate a plec or not, I'm lucky mine's docile as anything so I have quite a good scope for what tank mates I can have, not the same for everyone though. If you really wanted to try it then just make sure you have somewhere suitable to re-home the plec if it's getting picked on. And yes you'd need a v good filter to cope with all that waste.

Yes Oscar's will uproot plants and move rocks etc, I'm currently trying some java moss tied to a rock that's too heavy for him to move, it's doing OK so far and hasn't been attacked but only time will tell. In general most people have no real plants with O's.

As for feeding, my advice would be just before bed time distract the O with some floating food and drop some veggies in t'other side of the tank and turn the lights off, hopefully the O will be distracted enough with his food to leave it alone long enough for the plec to get to it.

I won't leave mine for a week without food, but you can get automatic feeders that are quite good, mine was about 15 quid and that tided him over.