Tiger Oscars

[Holmes08]

Im new to the forum and would like to thank anyone in advance for any information i may receive


Ive had an aquarium in my home for the past 10+ years ( mainly pirahnas ) however my daughter is now takin my 30 gallon aquarium into her room and girlie in it all up.. ( basically choosing PRETTY LOOKING FISH i do make sure they can co habitate ) The wife was given me permission to get a 125g or 130g and i would like to try tiger oscars....im not 100% sure on how im going to set it all up yet....but i have no idea how many oscars i could have in an aquarium 130g ? ? ?

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Well full grown i would think 2 oscars would be good in that size tank. Oscars get huge and have large bioloads so they need big tanks. You could have other fish besides the 2 oscars, but you would have to make sure they are compatable

 

[Holmes08]

thank you for the advice however not what i wanted to here Im kinda a 1 species in a tank guy.....thats why ive done pirahnas in the past....is there something i could do that im unaware of to have more and still have happy healthy fish

 

[Steve191]

In a 130 you could have a bunch of oscars provided you have enough places for them to hide from bigger oscars. I would say 5 or 6 or even more based on experience would be happy if you feed them often( not a lot, just often) and twice a week change the layout inside the tank.

 

[Steve191]

Also an old fish keeper with tons of oscars told me her trick to having so many in one tank was to let them watch tv for awhile when they aren't getting much attention. Worked for me when my fish would get too aggressive

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

I said full grown. If you want juvenile oscars you could indeed have multiple, but if you want full grown ones (maybe a pair) two oscars is what i would add.

 

[smallfry53]

What would you do with half a dozen full grown oscars though? It might take some time if you get juveniles, but getting a bunch of fish that will outgrow your tank doesn't seem to make sense to me.

Unless you had a plan for rehoming some of them I wouldn't go that route.

 

[bettaowner]

Yeah a pair of oscars would be the maximum amount. You need to take size, bioload, and amount of activity into consideration when you choose fish.

 

[Samzter]

In a 130 you could have a bunch of oscars provided you have enough places for them to hide from bigger oscars. I would say 5 or 6 or even more based on experience would be happy if you feed them often( not a lot, just often) and twice a week change the layout inside the tank.

What full grown oscars?

 

[Steve191]

Maybe 5 or 6 is pushing the bar a little but 4 is totally do able. Thank needs to be cleaned weekly and keep changing the inside and they won't try to fight to be king fish

 

[Steve191]

Oscars get a bad rep and they aren't really that aggressive. To each other they are pretty passive. I believe you would do great with 4 oscars.

 

[christine2012]

Oscars get a bad rep and they aren't really that aggressive. To each other they are pretty passive. I believe you would do great with 4 oscars.

Its believed that each Oscar needs 75 gallons due to their MASSIVE size. You really could only do two in a 130. This is a footlong fish were talking about here!

 

[Samzter]

Its believed that each Oscar needs 75 gallons due to their MASSIVE size. You really could only do two in a 130. This is a footlong fish were talking about here!

Couldn't agree more. Tbh I would only do two an NO more. If you want these fish you can't have it all. EG: you can't put six in a 130 g, only two.

 

[christine2012]

thank you for the advice however not what i wanted to here Im kinda a 1 species in a tank guy.....thats why ive done pirahnas in the past....is there something i could do that im unaware of to have more and still have happy healthy fish

If youre into schooling fish (like piranhas) you could do a huge school of hatchets, or even a medium sized school of silver dollars! If it were me, I would go with small schooling fish and build the biggest school possible. Since you'd like to keep it a species tank, just a thought.

 

[vaquero]

Well full grown i would think 2 oscars would be good in that size tank. Oscars get huge and have large bioloads so they need big tanks. You could have other fish besides the 2 oscars, but you would have to make sure they are compatable

Get some convicts they will clean up the mess created by the Oscars feeding. Great bottom feeders

 

[Cncr2962]

I wouldn't do more than 2 oscars myself, I have a 75g and was told (at fish store) that I could do 2, but honestly I just couldn't imagine there being 2 in there, mine grew from just under 3" to 12" in just a year. I started with a foot long pleco, and 4" Raphael Catfish., then added along with the Oscar, with a parrot and convict, also under 3". At the time I included 6 green tiger barbs, because the tank looked so empty and the schooling fish were nice. They all died off, and not due to the others. I never had luck with them anyhow
Keep the tank clean, provide plenty of hiding places, and as already stated, move around the objects in the tank if they get too territorial.
Or, as was recommended, go with just convicts (with many caves), or a schooling fish if you really want to keep it to a single species.