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1 or 2 oscars

3K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  statenfish 
#1 · (Edited)
hi im new.... nice two meet you8)
iv hade blkmoor gold fish for a few years now. recently i wanted to get 2 oscar's. at the moment i got one 1inch oscar in a 25 gal but plan on getting a 55 for him "them" but the more reserch i do, i find a 55 might be to small for one let alone 2.
you see the space i have i too small for a huge 500gal tank in my apartment. (not to mention the cost)

what do you gyes think? can i put 2 oscars in a 55 or should i stop at one?
 
#6 · (Edited)
no plecos make a big mess. If it was a 55 gal, 55 gal is the minimum for one oscar by itself. Also you will need heavier filtration since oscars are messy fish. It doesnt matter if you get the 75 for filtration purposes. Once you get to bigger tanks 55+ gallons. Filtration is always expensive. And for the 75, you would still need to run a filter capable for a 75 gal tank.

edit: also a gravel vacuum and an algae scrubber, and not overfeeding will require the need to have a pleco. It would probably get really big and you would need to get rid of it also. Plecos need food, they dont eat poop as some other people think.
 
#8 ·
hold on a min im looking at rena XP3. and the one im looking at is for a 175gal. that about a 120 gal more than i need. so ether that fish is rrreeeeeaaaalllllllllllyyyyyy dirty, thay make a smaller rena XP3, or my math is really off
 
#10 ·
They make smaller ones XP2 and XP1, the rena XP series IMO does not stand up to its ratings. I have the XP3 on a 55gal and it does not seem like a lot of overkill. The flow is set at about 60% of what it can do and that provides a good current around the whole tank. I stock heavily and wouldn't want any filter that does less. When looking at a filter you want to look for two things: 1) is that it provides proper circulation this can be determined by GPH(gallon per hour) 2) that it provides enough room for bacteria to grow. If you put the XP3 or a similar filter on a 100gal tank, it may filter the tank fine. But IMO you need more room/media for bacteria to grow. The filter is also going to need frequent cleaning. A XP3 could not filter a 175 despite what they say, at least not on its own.

But yes the fish you are looking at are large messy fish.
 
#9 ·
I wouldn't go for the HOBs they don't big tanks. IMO anything above a 55gal needs a canister for decent stocking levels. For one oscar in a 75gal, you would still need a canister that is rated at least for 75gal if not more. It just doesn't need to be as over filtered as the 55gal. 55gal would work if you filter x1.5-2=filter rated for 80-110gal. 75gal would work if you filter x1-1.5= filter rated for 75gal-110gal. This is because of the bioload.

You could get away with 2 oscars in a 75gal, but again you couldn't stock much else. And again you would need to really up the filtration= a filter rated for 110-150gal. Preferably two smaller canisters instead of one big one.

For 2 oscars a common pleco and maybe a few other fish you would be looking at a 125gal. At this tank size mutiple canisters become too expensive, IMO you should go w/ a sump filter. You could also go with this option on the 55 & 75 it may be cheaper. Sump filter are usually DIY they take some work and take up quite a bit of space.
 
#11 ·
Try to go at least a 75 gallon for an Oscar. The 18" width gives the fish better turning room. Oscars can get to 14" and 55's are only 12" wide. And you can't have too much filtration for Oscars. The more the better. They are messy fish! lol
 
#12 ·
Try to go at least a 75 gallon for an Oscar. The 18" width gives the fish better turning room. Oscars can get to 14" and 55's are only 12" wide. And you can't have too much filtration for Oscars. The more the better. They are messy fish! lol
I was going to say that. It not only comes down to filtration its also space that matters aswell.
 
#15 ·
i have 2 oscars and 5 silver dollars in a 90 gallon. i have an eheim 2217, and a eheim 2215 as well as a rena xp4 set up as a giant water polisher...seems fine...everytime someone gets a fish someone always seems to say that the tank is to small....lol we all cant install 500 gallon tanks in the house...
 
#17 ·
i have 2 oscars and 5 silver dollars in a 90 gallon. i have an eheim 2217, and a eheim 2215 as well as a rena xp4 set up as a giant water polisher...seems fine...everytime someone gets a fish someone always seems to say that the tank is to small....lol we all cant install 500 gallon tanks in the house...
you right you can't install 500 gallon tanks in the house, but you can keep less fish.
 
#16 ·
The problem with keeping two Oscars aside from the heavy bioload, is that these fish while small, may get along well. It is when the fish become more mature that one or the other will assert itself as the dominant fish and if tank size is not large enough for both to claim an area ,then frequent squabbling up to and including serious damage ,is likely.
In my view a 75 gal tank would be the minimum for one Oscar and the filter should turn over, six to eight times the volume of water in the tank each hour.75x6 =450 gal per hour.IMHO
 
#18 ·
i understand what ur sayig but to be perfectly fair no fish should be kept in a tank....90 plus gallons for 2 oscars dosent seem unreasonable to me..for even the most common and petite aquarium fish, any size tank wont provide as much room as their natural habitiat. most of what i read saya to allow 40 gallons per oscar.
 
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