Tiger Oscars?

[rocksor]

Keeping the nitrates below 20ppm will get the Oscar to 10" in less than 1 year, and easily to 14" in less than 2 years. Oscars are fast growing until they hit about 8-9" in total length. Then they grow only about 0.5" a month.

 

[Mogurako]

Out of curiousity why do you feel a 75 gallon is to much but a 50/60 is not?

Oscars do grow fast yes but there's no point in trying to rush them to grow to their max size. in fact there are quite a few cichlid keepers including Don Conkel who say its allot better for the fish if you do not try to speed grow it with high water temps and allot of high protein food.

Keeping your Nitrates under 20 ppm is a good idea no matter what fish you keep but in no way is it some magical formula to keep them growing faster. The simple fact is the less fish in a tank and the more water changes preformed, you will see a very nice consistent growth rate.

Also it will still take about 2-3 years to have a nice healthy full size adult Oscar once all is said and done.

 

[Tigerosx]

Yea I agree, what is the problem with a tank thats 5 to 10 gal. more, not guna be that much bigger. Nor am I condoning u force feed your fish with high protein foods, Haha just saying it's possible given the conditions for then to grow big at a fast rate. I'll stick to my guns tho it would be cheaper to run an Oscar tank then a mantis shrimp one.

 

[rocksor]

He probably only has space for a 3ft long tank, which is what a 50g tall (36"x18"x17") tank will take up. However, I don't think he knows about a 70g tall (36"x18"x25") tank which will only take up the same space, except higher, as a 50g tall.

 

[Mogurako]

Height in a cichlid tank is pretty much irrelevant, it's all about length and depth. A 36 in tank doesn't not afford much side to side swimming space. Also you need to take into account how much space decor takes up.

 

[oscarchic11]

i have an albino tiger Oscar that ive had for a year, i keep her in a 40b, which is 3 feet long, 18" wide, and 16" deep. the filter i run is rated for 100g, HOB and i do 2-3(depending on how dirty and if i fed live foods) times a week, of 15-25 gallons, and ive had many people say she looks to be in perfect health. she is now 9.5 inches, and 14-15 months old. this is by no means her permanent tank as i want to get her a 75, but because of my dilligance with water changes and the filters i have on her she shourd be good for another 2 yrs or so. she did grow about an inch a month til she reached 9', and now grows about .5" as stated before. she loves crickets and other bugs, zucchini, grapes, and apples, as well as the occasional feeder guppy (fed only after a 1 week quarantine) and has even been trained to hand feed, as well as bite fingers when held over her tank. she has no plants in her tank as she likes to move her fake ones around 2 much and would kill live plants, and no decor really to speak of, a very wimple tank. her only tank mate is a 7.5" common pleco that i got when both were around 5". i love my baby girl, and good luck if you decide to get one! a really fun, and beautiful fish if you put in a lil extra work.

 

[rocksor]

Height in a cichlid tank is pretty much irrelevant, it's all about length and depth. A 36 in tank doesn't not afford much side to side swimming space. Also you need to take into account how much space decor takes up.

Decor in an oscar tank is irrelevant. Oscars redecorate to what they like, not how the owner wants it.

A 70g is still better than a 50g. Those extra 20g helps a lot with diluting wastes.

 

[Mogurako]

Decor in an oscar tank is irrelevant. Oscars redecorate to what they like, not how the owner wants it.

A 70g is still better than a 50g. Those extra 20g helps a lot with diluting wastes.

Hardly, if someone puts to much decor in it cuts down in swim space! I'd take a tank with a better width x depth footprint over water volume and just do more water changes or add a larger wetdry/ sump to compensate for the lost water volume.

Footprint and filter with sufficient surface area to break down biological waste IMO is > Than an extra 20-30 gallons. Relying on water volume alone to stave off water changes is not the way to go.

 

[rocksor]

Hardly, if someone puts to much decor in it cuts down in swim space! I'd take a tank with a better width x depth footprint over water volume and just do more water changes or add a larger wetdry/ sump to compensate for the lost water volume.

Footprint and filter with sufficient surface area to break down biological waste IMO is > Than an extra 20-30 gallons. Relying on water volume alone to stave off water changes is not the way to go.

At what point did I say hold off water change with the extra volume?

 

[Mogurako]

At what point did I say hold off water change with the extra volume?

At no point did I implicate that's what you said, I was debating footprint and biological surface area and you the extra volume.

All I was saying is just because the tank may have slightly more water volume does not give the excuse to slack on the water changes and that there are very simple ways to combat a tank with a nice footprint but less volume.

 

[rocksor]

All I was saying is just because the tank may have slightly more water volume does not give the excuse to slack on the water changes ....

agreed