will 1 oscar fish grow to 12" plus in a 47 gallon aquarium

[cooney]

i have an oscar in a 47 gallon aquarium and was wondering if that is enough for it to grow to full size. thanks

[MCHRKiller]

IMO....no. Your fish will be stunted and will not reach full size, even in 55G tanks they will never reach full potential. You need atleast a 70-75G tank with a 48*18" footprint for them to have the space needed to really thrive. Now your tank will make an excellent grow out tank and the fish will do well for 6-8months in it for sure, I just simply would not consider it a good long term lifelong setup for an oscar. Have you seen a fullsize adult oscar? I ask because seeing one will give you perspective, simply imagine a football with fins and that is honestly about it. My own pair is knocking on 14" long, and nearly 3.5" across. These fish get massive :22:

[Northernguy]

Great post Jenn,I strongly agree!
A full grown oscar will not be able to turn around comfortably in a 12" deep tank.
In this video you can see how big they get.The Oscars in this tank are near 20". When they have room to grow and swim they get very large![Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
When they get stunted in smaller tanks they have a considerably shortened life span and they get sick a lot.
The cost of the meds can possibly rival the cost of a bigger tank over time.
A healthy oscar can live 20 yrs or more!

[Red]

Agreed with both, you need somewhere around a 75gal tank to house.

[Northernguy]

Agreed with both, you need somewhere around a 75gal tank to house.
Minimum preferably!
They grow an inch a month for the first year and slow down after that but they are still growing!thumbs2:
There are many other fish that can live their whole lives in that tank.An Oscar will be good for the first few months until you need a larger tank.
Please think about a bigger tank in the near future if you get an oscar!
Your tank may seem large enough but it will out grow in months!Sorry if its what you didn't want to hear!

[krystalsohun]

sorry to tell you but your fish will not stop growing so that he can fit in that tank. I saw at a certain lfs that i would never buy fish from a at least 12'' oscar in a ten gallon tank:ssuprised: I asked the guy who works there if he was in there for quarintine he said no he's lived there all his life. I asked how long that was he stated about a year!! needless to say i went back to that store to rescue the fish when i got my 100 gallon but unfortunatley he already died. so that just goes to prove they will not stop growing just to accomidate the tiny tank you put them in. they will live very unhealthy lives and eventually succumb to the enviroment and die. sorry to tell you but if you cant find a bigger tank to put him in then you need to rehome him.

[Demi ^_^]

My Oscar, Aussy is in my 42G until my family can get him a 100g...
He is about 6.5" at the moment - the 42g is 3ftx15x18high btw.
He looks huge at only 6.5" in my 42g... I wouldn't advise it, you just end up stressing about getting a bigger tank.

[Lady Hobbs]

I agree with the 75. They are 18 inches wide giving an oscar room to turn around in the tank. The 12" wide tanks don't get it with big fish.

[cooney]

thank you all for your comments. i will upgrade the tank as soon as i can. i will get him into a 75 gallon tank as soon as possible. great help from all of you. glad i found this forum with so many people on it who no what they are talking bout. i am new to the fish world so you will probs see me on here a fair bit asking questions. thanks