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OK i have 55 gallon , i have 2 dempseys and one oscar and one pike , i know i need another tank which i did pick up today, i got a 40 gallon breeder thats all i have room for, now should i move the 2 jacks in there or the oscar (male jack is 8' female is 6' and the oscar is at 7' , now at first i was going to put the oscar in the 40 and i got the breeder so he would have enough room to turn around bc there 18 inches deep (tank)......but then someone suggested to me that i should just move the jacks in the 40 and keep the oscar in the 55 by himself........what should i do?? and how long does a tank have to run b4 u can but fish in it??

If the oscar is only 7", you can keep him in the 40 TEMPORARILY. Keep on top of water changes, very very often. Two jacks in a 40g would be major trouble. There's no permanent fix for these fish with the tank sizes, and you may have to give someone away unless you obtain a larger tank

I learned adult oscars need a 75g at least (though some sources suggest 55g, that isn't what I've heard here)

A pair of Jacks can be kept in a 55g for life, I've heard.

id move the jacks to the 40 n keep the pike n oscar in the 55 as the oscar aint done growing yet

id take half the water from the 55 n put it in the 40 then fill both tanks back up n jsut leave a filter run for a week on the other tank then add the fish itll b fine that way

I have to agree with smantzer. That oscar isn't going to last long in the 55. They get HUGE. Sorry. I don't think the other fish are going to work out either. They aren't finished growing yet, and if you keep them in aquariums that small they're going to be stunted.

if the dempseys are a breeding pair then the 40 breeder should be a perfect tank for them. as others have mentioned, the oscar will eventually get quite cramped in the 55. anyway you could try to sell it and find a good quality used 75?

as for cycling the new tank, how many filters do you have running on the 55? if you have 2 then just move one of them to the 40 as well as filling the 40 with 1/4-1/2 water from the 55 and you're set. if you only have one filter on the 55 then I'd take the filter media from the 55 and put it in the filter on the 40 and replace the filter on the 55 with new media.

yes there a breading pair thats why somebody has to get moved and yes i have to filters on the 55 , and thank you