How to keep oscars

[Gelo_USA]

I have a friend tht wants 2 oscars and I was wondering what would be the best setup for 2 oscars if that can be done
aquarium size? and all the gear?

[cocoa_pleco]

a 75- 100 gal with a good canister filter, and maybe a HOB with the canister, no gravel, cause oscars are pigs, and a heater, a fake plant to play with, a handful of gravel to play with, and any other questions feel free to ask

[Fishguy2727]

75 gallon minimum, Fluval 405 (or two), Aquaclear HOB, 250 watt Stealth heater, one or two T-connectors for 6" PVC pipe, New Life Spectrum food only, temp: 82F, at least 50% water changes weekly (my have to work up to very large water changes to ensure stability), gravel as long as you vacuum it every week with water changes, one chair in front of tank, sit back, enjoy.

[cocoa_pleco]

i read in all 5 of my aquarium books no gravel with oscars- theyre super messy. Plus, its easier to vacuum up

[Fishguy2727]

It's fine as long as you keep up with the vacuuming. The food actually makes a big difference too. I noticed a huge difference between lower quality foods like Tetra and higher quality foods like Hikari and New Life Spectrum. After I started using just the higher quality stuff I stopped getting much of anything in the gravel, so I stopped vacuuming for a couple months at least. Then when I started draining one day I figured I would see how bad I let it get, almost nothing came up. With one fish eating every bit off food put in, enough flow to keep feces moving until the filters grab them, and high quality food (therefore less feces than with lower quality foods) that doesn't fall apart in their mouth, even 'messy' fish have a hard time being that dirty. Don't not vacuum gravel. They do like to dig in the gravel, so with not much else to do in an aquarium anything to safely give them something to do is a good thing. If you can't vacuum with water changes every week, yeah, gravel may not be the best idea. But as long as you can keep it clean it should be fine and provide something for them to do.

[cocoa_pleco]

agreed. If you have the time, put some gravel in. If you work alot and have a busy schedule, dont use gravel.

[Gelo_USA]

thanks.... will let my friend knw and recommend him to join AC he never had any aquariums he has reptiles now but kind of got interested in aquariums after I did LOL

[cocoa_pleco]

we need more members.

Gather em up and sign him up.

If you refer 10 people, you will have to request the bronze referral award, so go to the side and under plant species refer a bunch of people!

[djs2012]

75 gallon minimum, Fluval 405 (or two), Aquaclear HOB, 250 watt Stealth heater, one or two T-connectors for 6" PVC pipe, New Life Spectrum food only, temp: 82F, at least 50% water changes weekly (my have to work up to very large water changes to ensure stability), gravel as long as you vacuum it every week with water changes, one chair in front of tank, sit back, enjoy.

One thing i might change with your suggestion is the water temperature. i would keep it lower than 82, maybe in the mid 70's.....When I had Oscars (2 in a 75 gal), i kept the temp around 78-80....they were fine, but when i would open the lid to feed them they would practically jump out of the water to get the food...at times, the fish would be 75% out of the water! Not to mention the huge splash that occured....when asking around fish experts how to treat this, they said to lower the temperature, to slow down the fish's metabolism....so i lowered it to around 75...and they were much better!!

most important thing with Oscars is to keep up with the water changes...they are some dirty fish.

[Fishguy2727]

Yes, but that low temp can cause other problems. Biggest issue is that because of the lower metabolism they are much more susceptible to diseases because their immune system is suppressed. The higher temp allows for better growth and probably better colors as well, and since enthusiastic feeding responses are not a problem (actually they are a sign of good health) it is not something that needs to be avoided. I can see how it may be a concern though. What I did with my mbunas was cut a notch in the plastic flap on the back of the glass top, right in front of the HOB. This allows me to put the food in without opening anything, and since it is in front of the HOB, it immediately spreads out so they can all eat comfortably.

[djs2012]

excellent idea reptile...i'll have to do that if i ever decide to get Oscars again!

:)