29 gallon Oscar Question.

Zombie

I am looking to get a Albino Tiger Oscar. I have a 29 gallon that is to be set up. Would that be okay for a Juvinile Oscar? And I know everything says 55gal is the minimum but is that really true? I've known people that keep Oscars in 20gals sucessfully. (ONE IN THE TANK, NOT MULTIPLE.) Would the 29 be okay in the long run, or is a 40+gal in the future? Thank you so much.

Sincerely,
Charlene

Zombie

I scratched the Oscar idea. The 29gal is going to the Mollies and the 10gal will be a nursery.

jeaninel

That's a good idea to scratch the Oscar. A 29 would be too small for the long run and would only work for for a few months while the Oscar was small. They grow fast. A 75 gallon would be better for an Oscar.

Lupin

Good plan. Jeaninel is right. A 75g should be minimum for oscars. It doesn't take long before you needed the 75g.

MrWynO14

I know I'm going a little off topic here, but what ends up happening to an Oscar fish when they don't have the necessary space to live in? I mean, do they get more vulnerable to disease until they eventually catch one, or one day do they just die or what?

Zombie

I would imagine the water quality would go to the rubbish pile and he or she would eventually die of stress or amonia levels or something else being off the charts.

jeaninel

In too small of a tank the fish will become stunted and they will have problems with their internal organs and its lifespan will be shortened. Zombie is correct in that water quality will be affected in such a small tank and this will also affect the fish's health. Oscars are very messy fish and need larger volumes of water and lots of filtration.