New To The Forum! Upgrading To A 55 Or 75 Gal Tank!

hello all my name is Chef! I have been involved with aquariums since I was younger and I currently have a small 20 gal tank, I currently have 2 albino oscars and need to upgrade soon! I know its a small tank! I plan on getting a 55 or 75! I never went that large and of course I have many questions!
1) do I really need 2 filters?
2) should I or why should I do a canister filter? are they a pain?
3) is it better for my fish to be in a 75 gal vs a 55gal? I know they are both the same length and the 75 is wider?
4) should I go gravel or sand?
5) LED or NON LED?
6) what fish can live with my oscars?

I know there will be more questions! I look forward to be a part of this forum and I am passionate about this hobby!

 

Defo going to follow this to see tha answers ^.^ I could answer a few of those but I'll leave you in the hands of someone with a more complete answer.

Welcome to fishlore!

 

From Oscar Fish Tankmates | Compatible Fish to Go with Oscars

• 55 gallons is the absolute minimum for oscars so I straight away recommend the 75 gallon
• Cannot put small community fish in with an Oscar fish because they will just be an easy source of food (recommended minimum size of 5 inches)

Suitable Tankmates:

• Silver Dollars
  
• Black Convict Cichlids
  
• Severum
  
• Jade Eyed Cichlid
  
• Black Banded Leporinus
  
• JuruparI Earth Eater
  
• Blue Acara
  
• Firemouth
  
• Plecostomus
  
• Chocolate Cichlids

Seriously recommend canister filters for a tank that big, they are very powerful and can house a large amount of beneficial bacteria. There are plenty of single canister filters that are suitable for a 75 gallon. I think two filters is only necessary if your water is not flowing throughout the tank, but that can be solved with a wavemaker.

The LED lights consume less power, but are very expensive and should be based off their PAR value (someone more expert will have to explain this).

As for gravel or sand the benefits and drawbacks are discussed here Sand Vs. Gravel in a Freshwater Aquarium

I haven't personally had experience in any of this maybe someone who has can add or recommend different things.

 

thanks for the advice, I do plan on getting a 75gal tank when I get my tax refund check! I look forward to it and my oscars are only 5 weeks old and they are growing quickly! they have been together since I bought them and they seem very happy together, they always are next to each other and sleep together and always feed together, one is larger the other one and one is very white and orange and the other one is more black and white with some orange?

 

WELCOME to Fishlore!!!

A 75 gallon is actually the minimum for oscars , so you should have planned for a 75 when you got the oscars. A 55 is only suitable for a grow out tank but once they get 6" it is best to move them to a 75.

As far as filter canisters are definitely better since they are able to store more media. Canisters can take longer to clean but you don't have to clean it as often. However when it comes to filters you want a minimum of 10x the gph of the size tank for HOBs and 5x the gph for canister. So fo a 75 if you get HOBs you want a total of 750 where for canister you want a total of 375.

2 filters is a good thing to have since if one fails, you don't risk loosing all the BB

Sand is way better than gravel. Much easier to clean and you don't risk impaction.

For light LED is best since its much more energy efficient. There are many cheap options you can do