New Oscars/New owners

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cedarfallscichlid

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
5
Location
Cedar Falls
I have a albino tiger oscar and a regular tiger oscar that are about 10 and 12 inches respectively. We have them in a 55 gallon tank. Our tiger oscar seems to not be interested in any food and having little spasms or "seizures". Is this something we should be concerned with?
 
How long have you had these oscars? Sometimes fish won't eat for a few days after they are introduced because they are getting used to their new home. Good luck!:)
 
I wouldn't worry about them not eating yet...I would start to worry after a few days. Not sure about the spasms, but after looking it a a little bit, It might be stress from the move to their new tank:confused:. Good luck with your Oscars! They are very cool fish!:)
 
If it helps, I have an 11 inch albino Oscar and he "ticks" when either he is aggravated or mad/frustrated .
 
How long has your tank itself been up and running ( and cycled?)Have you checked your water parameters??? Be prepared to do 2+ major water changes weekly with that much of a bioload in that tank....
 
Wow your ridiculous.

IMO a single Oscar needs a 75G two need atleast 125G. You could get away with 1 single Oscar in a 55 but keep up with the water changes.
 
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Oscarr19 said:
IMO a single Oscar needs a 75G two need atleast 125G. You could get away with 1 single Oscar in a 55 but keep up with the water changes.

I agree with this, not only would there be issues with the bioload in having two oscars in a 55 but there would also be aggression and territory issues
 
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The point is were giving you correct advise, it's your choice to follow or not.
 
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The only reason we got both is because they were paired their entire life. The local shop we got them from received them and elderly couple and didn't want to move them across half the states. So we came to the agreement that they would be ok together in this size of a tank
 
cedarfallscichlid said:
The only reason we got both is because they were paired their entire life. The local shop we got them from received them and elderly couple and didn't want to move them across half the states. So we came to the agreement that they would be ok together in this size of a tank

Who came to an agreement on the size of the tank?
 
cedarfallscichlid said:
The only reason we got both is because they were paired their entire life. The local shop we got them from received them and elderly couple and didn't want to move them across half the states. So we came to the agreement that they would be ok together in this size of a tank

IMO either get a bigger tank or rehome one of them.
 
It was actually a tank we received for free with all the works a long with it. Just wanted fish to fill it. Our original plan was not to go this big with two but since the two have always been a pair, and the few other people we talked to thought it would be ok
 
cedarfallscichlid said:
The only reason we got both is because they were paired their entire life. The local shop we got them from received them and elderly couple and didn't want to move them across half the states. So we came to the agreement that they would be ok together in this size of a tank

It's definitely a problem having two oscars in a tank that small, but if you are planning a bigger tank in the future, it's always a temporary home.

It's not my place to say this, but please remember to be respectful on the forum. Being rude isn't going to make anyone feel better and certainly isn't going to help them.
 
Thanks for all the advice. Hopefully by tomorrow they will be settled in. Will definitely come back with future questions and concerns. Thanks again
 
cedarfallscichlid said:
Thanks for all the advice. Hopefully by tomorrow they will be settled in. Will definitely come back with future questions and concerns. Thanks again

Please.... Remember 2+ LARGE( 50%+) water changes a week... Oscars don't like dirty water and they have ALOT of bioload in a small area.
 
IMO either get a bigger tank or rehome one of them.

Bad advice to start, try to find a solution prior to jumping the gun and telling him to get rid of the fish. Have you ever kept and adult Oscar or two?

It's a tough road to follow having two oscars in that tank, with two possible issues. The first one is water quality, oscars are prone to HLLE due to poor diet and long exposure to high nitrates. The second issue is aggression being a limited space, the first one can be overcome with every other day 50-60% water changes. The second issue is a tough one to overcome, the shimmy your seeing is aggression with one fish viying for leadership of the tank or if your lucky at their size sexual maturity is a possibility. It can be done but be preparEd for alot of work. Invest in a qaulity water kit like the API master kit, when the nitrate levels hit 20ppm start changing water. Stocking fish all boils down to water conditions and aggression, most other obstacles like water chemisty(PH&KH) and diet can be overcome.
 
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