opinions on oscars

ok i couldn't take my 17 month old daughter pacing in and out of her room looking at me and wondering why all her fish are gone(the 55 gallon tank is in her room, lucky girl). so i have decided to look into oscars. i know i can only keep one in the size tank i have. any particular kinds i should really look into? i do like the look of the red tiger. i have got the tank cleaned out with fresh gravel and two different filters going. i am getting the temp set to about 80. i have driftwood set up and heavily weighed down for them. i put in stuff to keep the pH at 7. anything else? thanks for the info

I had and loved Osacars, they are the only fish I ever kept. What size tank is it? I kept 2 to 3 in 55's and they do fine as long as they are all put in together and are about the same size. Some times you will have one go dominate on the other 2 but not often if they are all intorduced to the tank together.

I like them all, the blues and reds are some of my favs!

i have a 55 gallon tank. how many can i keep in it? i thought one was enough along with a pleco or something that could get along with it. would 2 oscars and a pleco work?

a larger pleco should be fine if Oscars are same size of getting them. There is really only one major disease that Oscars get and that is the hole in the head syndrome. A parasite I think. There are some beautiful long fin Oscars available as well these days. Remember that Oscars as a lot of other chic-lids like to move their tank landscape to fit their needs. Kinda comical when you walk in the room and notice everything in the tank has been switched.

Ive never had a pluco or looked into them so Im glad Mike knew the answer to that one!

What I normally did when setting up a new Oscar tank was to get all the heat and ph correct, then add whatever plants and such.

Then hunt down the perfect oscars and plecostomus. I would make sure the oscars were of same size and preferable already in the same tank they were being sold from. With the Plecostomus I would get 2 that were twice the size of the oscar, the Oscars grow much faster and that allows them to cohabitate.

And they will move things as they so desire and make a mess from time to time but I took that all into them wanting things their way.

Now Im thinking about setting up one of the old 55's, hmmm I think you have gotten me hooked again!

a 55 is way too small for 2 oscars and 2 plecos.. 2 oscars should be in at least 125-150 gallons, and plecos are huge, i would get 1 small oscar for a 55 gal, and let it grow out in that tank, if you want another, upgrade

my father has been keeping oscars for over 30 years, never had then in anything less then 150 gallon tanks

they are great fish though, they are like big dogs, they will interact with you and all that..although, we have a monster 14 incher that will take your hand off in you put it in the tank, haha

but yeah, a 55 is too small for 2 oscars..let alone 2 oscars and 2 plecos, that would be way cramped...hell i have 2 discus and 4 angels in my 55 and it looks cramped

personally, i would not even get them..they are great fish and all, but the size of the tank, and how big they can get is putting up red flags

if you want other bigger cichlids, i would go with a south american tank, maybe a pair of firemouths, a pair of convicts(black, or pink) a pair of severums, and a few dither fish like tiger barbs, or a few tinfoil barbs

i would steer away from an oscar for a 55..that comes from years of experience

I have nver had any problems keeping 2 in a 55 but I never had one get to 14" either lol My largest got to 11" and most of mine only hit 10".

The rule of thumb is that you need 1 gallon of water per inch of fish to be in the tank, but with oscars I prefer 2 gallons per inch of fish so if you have 2 adults that are their max normal size of 12" you would need 48 gallons which leaves you enough for the plecos at 4" adult length. (Queen plecos are a mx of 4" adults others species do get larger so make sure what you are buying)

well after much reading and asking of questions, i have decided against an oscar. don't want to a chance on not having an enough room for the big guy. i have decided to make an anglefish tank. we have added 4 black mollies and 4 veiled angelfish babies to start the tank up. we'll see how it goes before we make anymore additions. i purposely got a male molly and 3 females to get some babies. i even bought a square of plant to lay in the tank for the babies to hide in. i want to thank you all for your opinions and info for helping me make my final decision. maybe if i ever get a bigger tank we'll see what will happen.

Black mollies and angelfish?
Not a good mix at all.

Angelfish prefer low pH and soft water where black mollies prefer hard water with a more alkaline pH. Brackish water is actually best for them.

Good luck but I don't see this mix turning out very well in the long run.

different kinds. They are beautiful in a well landscaped tank. For bottom feeders probably several Cory cats oppose to a pleco due to size that plecos can get and they occasional will suck on the sides of flat type fish ( angle fish ). Remember angel fish like aquarium wood in their tank that helps with pH ( not salt or brackish water soaked woods though ).