# need advice from experienced oscar keepers!



## philliesdude4 (Apr 26, 2006)

i am going 2 get oscars, i need some help though. how many would you recommend for a 29 gallon tank. can i get more than one or would one bully the other? what other fish could i mix with the oscars safely? would you recomend albino, or the black ones? i do plan to buy them at a juvenille age at my local petsmart. any help on this would be greatly appreciated! thanks:mrgreen:!


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

29 gallon= none. Even one will quickly outgrow your tank. Give them at LEAST a 55.

From what little experience I have with them, I find albino oscars are the best. Very personable and they are usually less agressive, well at least the ones i've had, maybe i'm lucky.


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## ORCA. (Sep 27, 2005)

philliesdude,
Read this before buying your Oscar.
ARE OSCARS FOR ME: Well that is indeed a good question, and one that should be thought long and hard about before you go out and dive into this hobby. Many people see these fish in their Local Fish Store (LFS) and notice their impressive size and beautiful color and say, “I have to have six of those”. Below I have put together a series of questions to ask yourself and things to think about before you take the plunge.

TEMPERAMENT: It is widely recognized that Oscars will eat just about anything that will fit in their mouths. They are indeed a very aggressive fish towards other fish, but can be very much like normal pets to humans. Many Oscar enthusiasts can hand feed their Oscars (O’s), and most O’s will actually come to the top of their tank (acknowledging your presence and probably saying “Hey.. I am hungry) when you come near. So you need to ask yourself: Why do I want Oscars? If your answer is to be one of many beautiful fish in your tank, then you should probably not choose O’s. 


TANK SIZE: It is generally accepted that a 55 gallon tank be the minimum for 1 Oscar, and 75 gallons for 2 Oscars. 125 gallons or more will be the recommended tank size for 3 Oscars. Keep in mind that these are what we recommend as the minimums. The purpose of our keeping these fish is the enjoyment that they bring. Your Oscars will only be happier if you allow them more room.


FILTRATION: Next to tank size, this is the biggest mistake the new Oscar enthusiasts make when setting up and purchasing their Oscar set-up. It is commonly accepted among long time Oscar enthusiasts that the filtration of an Oscar Tank be no less that 10x per hour. That means that your filter be able to completely cycle (filter every gallon of water) your water ten times in one hour when utilizing only a Hang-On-The-Back (HOB) filter. If you are going to be utilizing a Canister Filter, you can bump this down to 5 times per hour, but it is not recommended to go below that. As with most Oscar tanks, usually a combination of both is utilized. This would mean that your overall cycle would be around 7.5 times per hour.
Examples: (Tank Size) x (Recommended Cyclic Rate)
HOB only: 55 Gallon tank (would require 10x per hour)
55 x 10 = 550 gallons per hour

Canister only: 100 gallon tank (MINIMUM 5x per hour)
100 x 5 = 500 gallons per hour.
** keep in mind that this is the minimum. For healthy results, it is recommended that the canister be kept to 7x per hour **



TEMPERATURE: Oscars will thrive (and their natural habitat provides) a constant water temperature of 78-84 degrees Fahrenheit. A general rule of thumb is that 3-5 watts per gallon will heat and provide a constant temperature for you. The more wattage you have for your heater, the better the tank will bounce back to stable temperatures after water changes and regular maintenance. A few other things to consider when purchasing heaters for an Oscar tank are these: #1) Oscars are commonly known to attack heaters. It is commonly accepted that they do this because of the red dot that most heaters have letting you know that the element is heating. For some reason unknown to me, the red dot makes them more aggressive, and thus, they attack it.

FOOD: The staple of every Oscar’s diet should be store bought Cichlid pellets. My Oscars receive Hikari Gold pellets twice a day. This promotes a good healthy diet with all of the need vitamins and minerals for a healthy life and has been shown to really bring out their true color. Feeders should be avoided unless bred by yourself or a good source.
Enjoy your Oscar if after reading this you still decide to get one.


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## philliesdude4 (Apr 26, 2006)

thanks for the advice guys. i did plan to get a new tank but i just wanted to see if i could save money and check with you guys first. i have a heater and a HOB filter. i have 2 actually but one is bigger than the other. the smaller one i use for my african clawed frog(she can take out 10 feeders in 15 minutes. i had to move my emrald catfish out of his tank cause she was getting big enough to eat it). and thanks for recommending the albino oscars. once im prepared, ill be sure to get those.


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

I prefer the red tigers but thats just me.. Please dont try to put oscars in a 29 gal tank - even as babies. These fish grow very rapidly and even one Oscar will outgrow a 29 gallon in just a few months.


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

Ditto all of the above answers.

Personally I'm partial to the "wild type" (ie "normal" ) colored oscars or the "red tigers" , but that's just because those are what I started with almost 20 years ago 

Right now I've got a single "albino" I rescued from a customer (worst HiTH I've ever seen ) , about 10" long or maybe a bit more, in a 125g. And I still end up doing about 100g water changes once a week (of course the two big pleco's in there don't help in that regard).


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Yeah, trust me once you put your baby oscar in his new 29g home, blink and he'll of busted out of it. Trust me, my 2 inch oscer grew to 12 inches in six months on a diet of oxheart, and that's no joke.


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## SkipT (Jun 15, 2006)

I agree even tho I have one housed in a 29 gal till this weeked  

I got this O about 4 months ago when he was about 2 inch long. I feed mostly Krill and worms to him. He is now about 5 to 6 inch long and very bright in color. I do a water change every 2-3 days of 25 to 30% and thus far he is doing great.

He is getting moved to his new 55Gal this weekend and I think he will do even better there


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