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i am thinking of changing my tank to an oscar tank after the fish i have go. i have a 55 gallon tank it is about 4 feet long how many oscars can i put in it?? i have been looking at all the diferent fish that i have never kept and i really like oscars i would like to have at least 2 if not more. how many would be a comfy fit in my tank. any replys woudl be great thanks

None. You need a tank at least 2 feet wide. Your 4ft 55G will only be 1ft wide. Oscars grow bigger than 12"s, so you need a tanke bigger than 12"s or they wont be able to turn around. At the most, you could keep one Oscar for about 8 months in that tank before needing a bigger tank. I've got 2 in a 4' by 2' by 2', and do 2 * 15% water changes per week to keep them happy. And they must be happy, they spawned for the second time last week

You should look into slightly smaller but just as entertaining and aggressive Central American/South American cichlids such as...

green terror
jack dempsey
salvini
Texas Cichlid
Convict

ill probly get in trouble for this,but,you could keep 2 very litte oscars in there for a little while,as long as your filtration is very strong(very messy fish)but these guys end up a moster size and you would be surprised how fast they outgrow it,

Yeah.............at one time we had two of them in a 55gal. & they were so big that I felt sorry for them. Their size compared to the tank was like us living in a bathroom all our life.

That's one reason I prefer the smaller fish. They have so much more room to swim around & be happy in. I have angelfish in a 55gal. now & even feel sorry for them. They must get bored in that small tank compared to where they would be in nature.

well that sucks lol o well i guess i will have to look for another type of fish lol thank you for your help im glad this page is here thanks again everyone

In a 55g tank, You could keep a single Oscar.
A 75g tank would be better. These fish grow to be
16 inches in length. A 125g tank would host room enough for 2 Oscars and maybe a big syno cat or similar.

Perhaps you should look into some smaller cichlids,
like red hump eartheaters or firemouths, or keyholes or
festivum or discus or angels or acaras or severums, etc.
In a 55g tank, myself, Id go with fish with a maximum size of 8 inches. That way they have plenty room to turn around.


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Even for cichlids, oscars are unusually gifted in the intelligence department; certainly moreso than other SA caquettes, and they will become, in the classical sens of the word, bored, if not given ample space and/or decor. As ststaed, nothing short of a 125 gallon is really suitable for an oscar, though they could assumedly adopt to life in something as small as a 75, albeit leading a dull and ultimately lousy existence.

Also true geophagus have no place in a 55 gallon. They are social, mobile animals that only show natural behavior in vast stretches of sand-based tank space, in which they are actively involved in resvaping the house.

i have angels right now i just am not that into them they are nice fish but not something i would want in my tank. i have had nothing but problems with them. i liked the oscars for there colour and shape they kinda reminde me of a bass and pirch mixed (im a big fisherwoman love to fish) i guess i will just have to find another fish that really gets me excited like they did but thats ok there are always other fish in the sea lol thanks everyone

16 inches?

I've heard of exceptional specimens reaching 14 inches, but 16?

Even so, I still concur that a 125 is a baseline setup for an Oscar, because it's not just long, it's a deep, chunky, muscular fish too. Oh, and as for intelligence, these things can become almost as much a pet as a big dog - and can learn silly tricks such as ringing a bell for food (yes, this HAS been documented, in TFH magazine no less!).

The big dog analogy also works another way. You wouldn't keep a St Bernard in a coal bunker, so don't keep an Oscar in a 10 gallon aquarium!

Another addition to the list of inappropriate fishes that are sold WAY too often in pet stores without due consideration for their requirements, along with Bala Sharks and Common Plecs. In my view, Oscars should be 'special order' fishes requested by name by those who know how to look after them, instead of being served up as if they were Neon Tetras ... speaking of which, people who stick Neons and an Oscar together, well, they should be put on an island somewhere and filmed for reality TV schadenfreude entertainment as they are asked to do simple tasks such as write a letter using an actual pen instead of a crayon ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Also true geophagus have no place in a 55 gallon.

I have tons of members in my Aquaria club who keep
and have kept nearly all species of Geophagus.
The Red Humps only grow to about 6-7 inches,
and many of the members keep these fish in large
breeding colonies of 9-12 fish in 75g tank.
55g would definitely be suitable for a group of 4-6
imo.
I have no idea why youre suggesting a larger tank
for these fish. Its really not necessary - they will be
perfectly content in anything 55g or larger.
The larger Geophagus species like the Demon Eartheater definetly need more space, with 125 or larger being needed.




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