New Hobby

[blugil]

Greetings,

I inherited the job of caring for my sons 55 gal. tank last semester and now it seems my wife is hot for us to have one and help him out by relieving some over crowding. I've been flying in the dark and luckily have not killed anything yet.

My question is how large a tank would I need to comfortably take care of the three 10" Oscars and maybe one 12" Pleco and a 6" Siver Dollar? I would like to add company for the Dollar as he seems lost since my son's 20" Lung Fish ate the Bala Shark he hung out with.

It hasn't always been this crowded until my son rescued for fish from a buddy who lost interest....many questions to follow....Thanks

 

[theotheragentm]

Plecos generally get very large, up to 24". If you sniff around the forums, someone has a picture of one that is just huge. I think you're going to need a much bigger tank for those unfortunately.

I will let the big fish experts step in with their advice as I keep lots of smaller fish only.

 

[gu2high]

For the 55 gal. tank, IME, it is too crowded to hold one Oscar and one Pleco. I had to change water frequently to keep tank clean, until I gave up. The fishes were 10" each and were sold to lfs.

 

[Jman17H]

I am not an Oscar expert or big fish expert but a friend of mine had 2 large ones in a 75 and that was not big enough. He ended up selling the smaller (10"or so) to a lfs.

I would guess maybe the 8' long 180 gallon may work with 3 Oscars but would guess a big fish expert will recommend something even bigger??

 

[Toirtis]

I would suggest a minimal 180 for what you currently have...bearing in mind that those oscars should grow another 4"-8", and the pleco another 12"-20".

 

[Cinder]

For the fish you currently have I would suggest something over 200 gln. if they are going to share the same tank. Could you dedicate the 55 gln. to the Silver Dollar and add five or six more to make a shoal? Then you could possibly get a 180 gln. tank for the remaining fish.
Just for information: Bala sharks are shoaling fish also and should be kept in groups of no less than three and in a minimum 120 gln. tank
I have no experience with Arrowana's but have heard over and over that they need at least 1000 gln. tank for themselves.
Good luck - it would be really cool to get a huge tank for your fish.

 

[Hara]

Wow, I imagine you are feeling a tad overwhelmed by now. Kudos to you for doing your best to care for your sons tank and for the desire to learn to do it properly.

You probably wanted to fall out of the chair when you read the size tank that would adequately hold the acquisitions. If all those fish are currently being held in that 55, it wont be long before you have major problems.

I think the first thing you need to decide is how much money you are willing to spend and how far you are willing to travel down this road. If after answering that honestly, you decide that you cannot/do not want to go "big", you might want to see if there are local fish clubs in your area that would be interested in the larger, more demanding species.

 

[blugil]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'm going to be limited to 125 for the space I have so I guess I'll work off of that. My son thinks I should go small and get rid of the large fish but my wife likes the responsiveness of the Oscars. I have been doing frequent water changes to try to maintain a healthy tank and I have seen some healing on the Oscars he saved who have "hole in the head" which I assume would keep anyone from wanting them.

It's obvious I need to do something quickly. Thanks to all for the input.

 

[jamesrm]

What kind of filtration are you running? Obviously, you need to really "overfilter" that tank. I would recommend atleast 2 Rena XP3s or comprable filters. That would turnover the tank almost 13 times per hour and give good flowrate for those fish.

When you move up to a 125 I would get XP4's if money was not an issue, or and another one or two XP3's. When you get that big, you might consider a Magnum 350 as well. They do a great job of mechanical filtration and polishing the water.

Check your craigslist, if your patient you can get big tanks on the cheep

 

[evercl92]

Check your craigslist, if your patient you can get big tanks on the cheep

Very true, I got my 120gal for $350, and and Jman17h (above) got his 150gal for $650. Be patient, and deals will come.

If you were planning on keeping just one oscar, a 75gal would be ok. That's what I have my 14in female in, pretty much by herself - couple spotted pimodellas and a lima shovelnose...

 

[blugil]

My son has a Magnum 350 on his 55 so I thought I might go with that since I'm familiar with its' operation. Would you recommend the biowheel that now comes with them?

Thanks for the advice on craigslist as I have limited my search for used to ebay.

I have been doing frequent water to changes monitoring the water with a in tank gauge. What do I need to monitor the water quality effectively. As I mentioned earlier the new Oscars are showing improvement so I assume things overall aren't too bad yet.

Thanks for much needed advice, I as you can tell I am truely a novice.