username

What's the minimum size tank I'd need for 2 adult oscars and nothing else?

Gunnie

In my opinion, I'd say 100 gallons is the bar minimum.

robby270

I've heard with lots of matanence and cleaning a 75 gallon tank would work as a bare mininmum.... unless they are both males then there will be trouble with anything short of around a 150 gallon and there will still be the ocasional fight.

Gunnie

I have 2 in a 100 gal. tank along with a common pleco that is over a foot long. They fight constantly, and I have thought more than once that they probably need a bigger tank. I would not put two in a 75 gal. Oscars are very content with having their own tank and don't get lonely. When they are young, you will probably not see the behavior I am talking about here, but as they mature, they get more and more grumpy. I may have a pair, and some of this aggressiveness might be mating behavior, but it's still not a good thing when I see a plug out of one of them. I have had eggs layed on the bottom of the tank with both of them guarding them, but could not tell who laid them, and if they were fertilized. The eggs were gone the next day.

These fish grow up to an inch a month for their first year, and then taper off, but continue to grow for years. Mine are probably close to a foot long each and still growing. I can't imagine getting rid of either one of them, and the only other alternative is to buy another large tank to put one of them in, which I don't have room for at this time. My suggestion would be to get that 75 gallon tank, and only 1 oscar. You can get some kind of pleco that suits your fancy, but make sure it gets a good size, because an oscar will try and eat anything it thinks will fit in its mouth, so it will have to be tough and able to defend itself. My pleco gets nipped at every once in awhile, but once the oscar gets a little taste of those sharp spines, he only nips once. A royal pleco would be beautiful, but then again, my common pleco found at any WalMart is very cool to look at also, and cheap. If you get a small pleco, make sure it's big enough not to get eaten, and it will grow with the oscar.

Old Sloppy

I would put one (and only one) Oscar in a seventy five gallon tank.

darkwolf29a

As long as they are a breeding pair, 75 should fine. If they are paired together, or are the same sex...that 75 becomes an issue.

Honestly, unless you're breeding them...I'd look into a bigger tank.

I have one in a 55 with a pleco, for now. And, honestly, I can't wait until I move so I can get him a much bigger tank.

JasmynJade

I have a couple of questions for anyone. First, what bottom feeds would you get for
Oscars and Cichild's? Can you get regular catfish and a clown loach?

Second, I have now got a freshwater puffer tank with 4 puffers. We bought a
albino cory catfish the other night and put in there.....the puffers attacked it,
at least 4 times before we could get it out...any suggestions on what we can
put in THAT tank for bottom?

Thanks in advance!!!

darkwolf29a

I've heard plecostomus' work well, in general, with Oscars. I have a 4.5 in pleco in with mine, and they leave each other alone, for now. Obviously, the Osacr is going to be bigger quicker than the pleco. So, I'll find out then.

Honestly, everything I hear about puffers, is that they are very hard, the LFS' around here say impossible, to find tankmates for.

Not having one, I can't tell you. I decided to stay away from them because of that advice.

JasmynJade

I'm not familar with a "pleco", so I will have to look those up. Maybe that would work in the puffer tank too...??
I assume that I should purchase a LARGE pleco or plecostmous. I know the puffers will pick on ANY smaller fish. What excatly does the Pleco do...the same as the algae eater I need something to take care of some of the poop...lol!!

Any info is helpful, thanks!

darkwolf29a

Yes, a plecostamus is an algae eater.

However, I wouldn't recommend keeping them with Puffer fish.

Plecos will be between 5 inches and over a foot long, depending on the species. My common will get to be about 14in long. Honestly, I'm not sure how he's gonna get any bigger since he refuses to do anything but suck on the side of the tank all day. LOL But, that's his thing, not mine. I try to feed him other stuff.

Like I said...Pufferfish are mean, plain and simple. Every place I have seen them around here says a smallish, 5 to 10 gallons, and leave them alone, or you risk losing a fish, no matter the size.

I have no issues with my Oscar and pleco. Plato ignores Ody and vice versa, at this point.

JasmynJade

Is the pleco another name for the algae eater? Or is that a totally different fish?
The 2 BIG puffers in the community tank has not bothered the algae eater or anything that are close to their size, altho, so far, they have eaten 2 neon tetras,
1 little orange fish, and killed a baby puffer. But, they won't bother anything else.
As soon as my other 4 puffers are bigger, I will put the 2 BIG ones in with them, but not until. I have 1 baby puffer left, he is in the cycling tank and doing well. When I put the BIG puffers in with the other 4 med puffers, I will put the baby puffer back in the community tank for his safety.

darkwolf29a

The pleco, or plecostamus is an algae eating fish. I use the word pleco because, quite frankly, it's a pain to spell plecostamus without misspelling it somehow. LOL

There are various types of algae eating fishes. Some are meaner than others. I like the common plecostamus, because they are very laid back and usually don't cause issues with other fish.

I wouldn't put one in with Puffers, because puffers are more aggressive, as a rule. Obviously, there are always exceptions to every rule.

JasmynJade

But, I should have SOMETHING in there...wouldn't that be a logical choice?
Like I said, I bought these puffers knowing nothing about them...yes, I boo-booed.
So, to make the best of it, I thought a "just a puffer tank" will do.....NOW,
it seems there are MORE problems....GEEZ, everyone is right...READ UP BEFORE
YOU BUY AND BRING HOME!!!!!!!!!! I'll be doing that from now on!

darkwolf29a

I'm not sure that's the logical choice, based upon the aggression level of the fish involved. Puffers have a reputation for being mean. If you put something there they don't like, they will kill it or torment it until you take it back out.

The logical answer is not to put anything in there. I'll give you this example:

I have a crayfish, that lived in a 10 gallon tank with 1 tetra and 3 tiger barbs. Crayfish are notorious for killing slower fish, i.e. algae eaters, etc. I didn't think anything of it as my cray hadn't done that. Then I moved the whole crew over to my 55 gallon and added guppies. I had several die due to torment from the barbs. Ok, so I gotta be careful with that. Then, I rescued my plecostamus, and all heck broke lose. I put Plato in the tank, and the cray went after him. In short, I had to react very quickly, move the cray back to the 10 gallon tank, now a 20 gallon, in order to save Plato, or because of his lack of speed, the cray would have gotten him for sure.

In short, not all fish get along, no matter how big the tank is. Some fish don't care and will live with anybody. My tetra lives, quite nicely, with the tiger barbs, and they all live nicely with the cray, since the cray is slower than they are.

Pufferfish are very quick fish. Not a lot is going to outrun them. Obviously, you can try them, but be prepared for the result if they don't get along. The result of them not getting along could be the death of one fish. Myself, I wouldn't chance that. So, you have to clean the sides of the tank. Is that a big deal? Personally, I try and keep fish together as peacefully as possible. But, the choice is ultimately yours.

Shrimpy

at least 75 but 100 would be the best

Old Sloppy

Um,excuse me but 75 gallons would be O.K. for one Oscar.

I say 100 gallon minimum for two Oscars.

I have seen two in a 110 gallon tall tank and they were fine in that tank.

I have two Oscars in my 135 gallon tank.

(I allso have a Pleco and a Jack Demsey) and I am considering loosing one of the Oscars due to overcrowded conditions.

Harry S.

hugnkiss

hi all i have two small oscars in a four foot tank and sometimes grumpy chases wobbles around and then wobbles hides behind the filter but wobbles eat well when food goes in,loves getting pats and they eat out of our hand too

zpecialt

I just purchased a 55 gallon (currently cycling) and am considering one baby oscar and a pleco at this point with the intention to move them as they grow larger to a 100 gallon. Does anyone have an idea how long it would take these two fish to reach maturity? I'm just curious at what point in time I should have the 100 gallon ready...